Product Positioning
Anuradha Sridharan
Product Manager
Cleartrip

Think about your product or service

Unique position that a product
occupies in the mind of a consumer

Web Search
“Reliable” - Google
“New” - Bing
My mind space
E-Commerce
“Reliable” - Flipkart
“Saves time” - IRCTC
“Simple” - Cleartrip
Email
“Emotional” - Yahoo!
“Productive” - Gmail

Created using http://www.wordle.net

Why?
"Positioning is the single largest influence on the
buying decision.”
Geoffrey Moore in his book “Crossing the Chasm”

Who owns positioning?
Product Management
OR
Product Marketing

Positioning <> Tagline

Positioning
Name
Logo
Creative Message
Requirements
Product Design
Tagline
Brand

Pre-Requisites

Segmentation of the market

Identification of Target segments

Competitive Analysis

Emergence Growth Maturity Decline
Market Life Cycle
Positioning varies with market phase

“It's not enough to invent or discover
something. You must be first to get into
the prospect's mind”
Al Ries and Jack Trout

New Product Category
Start with who you are not!
Horseless carriages
Frost-free refrigerators
Tubeless tires
Cashless payments

Existing Product Category
Who is your target audience?
What is the one most important problem of your
audience?
What is the one most important benefit of your
product?
Why is your product better than your competitors'
products?

Positioning Statement
Sentence #1

For (target customer)

who (statement of the need or opportunity),

the (product/service name) is a (product/service category)

that (statement of benefit).
Sentence #2

Unlike (primary competitive alternative),

our product (statement of primary differentiation).

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Picture Credits: http://www.amazon.com

Cleartrip for Business
Problems faced by our target audience
− No transparency in travel costs
− Less control
Positioning: Comprehensive travel management solution
Product
− Ability to define travel booking policies
− Get a snapshot of travel booking trends
− Link travel expenses to departments, cost centers
and projects

A few pointers

Keep it short and specific

Stick to one target customer's problem you will
solve and one significant benefit your product
offers in relation to competition

Share your positioning statement with all Internal
stakeholders (customer service, sales, technical
support, design, engineering, marketing)

B2B Products

Basic Principles remain the same!

Focus on channel strength (delivery model)
− Reseller capabilities
− Support systems

Validation
Does your positioning strategy
− Match with your target customers' needs?
− Compare your product/service with
respect to competition?

Expected Outcome

Differential advantage

Distinctive Image

Instant recall from consumers

Repositioning story from Jack Trout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YaSF2_K9l4

Source: http://www.engrish.com/

Thank You!!
Contact me at
Twitter: @anura
Email: anuradha.sridharan@gmail.com

References
Positioning: The battle for your mind by Al Ries, Jack Trout
Consumer Behavior 9th
edition by Leon G Schiffman, Leslie Lazar
Kanuk
Crossing the chasm by Geoffrey Moore