You must realize that your product or service cannot be
all things to all people. Very few items on the market
today have universal appeal. Even when dealing in basic
commodities like table salt or aspirin, marketing people
have gone to all sorts of extremes to create brand awareness
and product differentiation. If your product or service is
properly positioned, prospective purchasers or users should
immediately recognize its unique benefits or advantages and
be better able to assess it in comparison to your competition”s
offering. Positioning is how you give your product or service
brand identification.
Positioning involves analyzing each market segment as defined
by your research activities and developing a distinct position
for each segment. Ask yourself how you want to appear to that
segment, or what you must do for that segment to ensure that it
buys your product or service. This will dictate different media
and advertising appeals for each segment. For example, you may
sell the same product in a range of packages or sizes, or make
cosmetic changes in the product, producing private labels or
selecting separate distribution channels to reach the various
segments. Beer, for example, is sold on tap and in seven-ounce
bottles, twelve-ounce cans and bottles, six-packs, twelve-packs,
cases, and quart bottles and kegs of several sizes. The beer is
the same but each package size may appeal to a separate market
segment and have to be sold with a totally different appeal
and through different retail outlets.
Remember that your marketing position can, and should, change
to meet the current conditions of the market for your product.
The ability of your company to adjust will be enhanced greatly
by an up-to-date knowledge of the marketplace gained through
continual monitoring. By having good data about your customers,
the segments they fit into and the buying motives of those
segments, you can select the position that makes the most sense.
While there are many possible marketing positions, most would fit
into one of the following categories:
Positioning on specific product features – A very common approach,
especially for industrial products. If your product or service
has some unique features that have obvious value this may be the
way to go.
Positioning on benefits – Strongly related to positioning on
product features. Generally, this is more effective because you
can communicate to your customers about what your product or
service can do for them. The features may be nice, but unless
customers can be made to understand why the product will benefit
them, you may not get the sale.
Positioning for a specific use – Related to benefit positioning.
Consider Campbell”s positioning of soups for cooking. An
interesting extension is mood positioning: “Have a Coke and a
smile.” This works best when you can teach your customers how
to use your product or when you use a promotional medium that
allows a demonstration.
Positioning for user category – A few examples: “You”ve Come a
Long Way Baby, The Pepsi Generation” and “Breakfast of Champions.”
Be sure you show your product being used by models with whom
your customers can identify.
Positioning against another product or a competing business – A
strategy that ranges from implicit to explicit comparison.
Implicit comparisons can be quite pointed; for example, Avis
never mentions Hertz, but the message is clear. Explicit
comparisons can take two major forms. The first form makes a
comparison with a direct competitor and is aimed at attracting
customers from the compared brand, which is usually the category
leader. The second type does not attempt to attract the customers
of the compared product, but rather uses the comparison as a
reference point. Consider, for example, the positioning of the
Volkswagen Dasher, which picks up speed faster than a Mercedes
and has a bigger trunk than a Rolls Royce. This usually works
to the advantage of the smaller business if you can capitalize
on the American tradition of cheering for the underdog. You can
gain stature by comparing yourself to a larger competitor just
as long as your customers remain convinced that you are trying
harder.
Product class disassociation – A less common type of positioning.
It is particularly effective when used to introduce a new product
that differs from traditional products. Lead-free gasoline and
tubeless tires were new product classes positioned against older
products. Space-age technology may help you here. People have
become accustomed to change and new products and are more willing
to experiment than was true ten years ago. Even so, some people
are more adventuresome and trusting than others and more apt to
try a revolutionary product. The trick is to find out who are the
potential brand switchers or experimenters and find out what it
would take to get them to try your product or service. The obvious
disadvantage of dealing with those who try new products is that
they may move on to another brand just as easily. Brand loyalty
is great as long as it is to your brand.
Hybrid bases – Incorporates elements from several types of
positioning. Given the variety of possible bases for positioning,
small business owners should consider the possibility of a hybrid
approach. This is particularly true in smaller towns where there
aren”t enough customers in any segment to justify the expense of
separate marketing approaches.
As you continue to expand your business in the months and years
ahead, use the tips presented here. Prepare a budget and review
it frequently. Select your items for advertising to help solve
consumer problems and then present your advertising message as a
form of planned communication to strengthen your Market Positioning.
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