Positioning: A deliberate srotegy fo dliferentiote a product ‘cording fo its unique chovodteristics ond communicate the diferences 10 Positioning Think of a safe car. Did Volvo pop into your head? Now think about a cold medicine to take at night; did you bring forth an im- age of Nyquil? If you are looking for healthy frozen food, you prob- ably think of Healthy Choice. These products (or more generally, offerings) have well-defined positions in the minds of customers and are differentiated from the other offerings in the market on one or more dimensions of importance to customers. “Position- ing” in the minds of customers typically results when an organi- zation follows deliberate strategies to design products with char- acteristics distinct from those of its competitors and then com- municate these differences to the targeted customers. Thus, a dif- ferentiation strategy makes a firm’s product superior in some way, whereas a positioning strategy finds a superior position in the minds of customers. We use the term “positioning” to denote a management pro- cess that leads to a “position,” but firms can only garner posi- tions that customers in the targeted segment are willing to grant them. Some marketers argue that in today’s information-rich and customer-centric markets, positioning is an archaic and un- workable strategy. Others suggest today’s markets require firms to undertake a more flexible marketing approach that uses cus- tomized messages in different media to target different segments. Simon (1971, p. 40-41) expresses our view well: “A wealth of in- formation creates a poverty of attention.” That is, more than ever before, firms need well-conceived positioning and branding strategies that align with the limited-attention economy. Firms must seek a focused marketing approach that ensures custom- ers remember the brand, associate a compelling benefit with it, and have favorable experiences with the product or service that reinforce the brand name and its benefits. A well-executed posi- tioning strategy represents an essential ingredient for achieving these ends. Examples of clearly positioned products include Apple's ex- hortation to “Think different,” Red Bull’s conceptualization as anee gnergy drink, Subw. Forbes asa capitalist tool. Advertising provides a common way to For geya produit’ position. Recall some ofthe lassie advertising campaigns that have effectively conveyed positioning strategies, posit ‘such as Avis's “We try harder” and United Airlines's “Fly ‘the friendly skies.” ‘But these are remarkable examples. How can other firms fol- ‘and determine the most appropriate positioning strat- POSITIONING THROUGH BRAND LINKAGES Positioning requires an understanding of three types of brand linkages: (1) to the product category, (2) to the customer segment, and (3) to the relevant purchase or usage occasion, For well-established brands or those with descriptive names (e.g., Travelers Insurance), the first link occurs automatically, but with anew brand, the firm must manage its positioning to tell people what it represents. Converscly, the customer segment link, though perhaps the most important of the three connections, rarely oc- curs explicitly through either the brand name or its advertising message. Sometimes the targeted customer segment is obvious; Motel 6 clearly targets budget travelers with its positioning claim thatit offers a “comfortable night's stay at the lowest price of any national chain.” Other times, the positioning and advertising fail to resonate with customers in the target segment, who then ig- nore any claims. For example, GM tried to reposition its (Oldsmobile cars for a younger segment through improved styling and a creative ad campaign that called its offering, “Not your father's Oldsmobile.” Yet, this approach never played well with the target segment. Finally, in terms of its position within the market, brand po- joning can cometo reflect a battle for the customer’s mind. From this battle, several generic positioning approaches have emerged. Most brands follow either a central or differentiation positioning strategy, A central positioning strategy appeals particularly to brands in a monopolistic or dominant position within their target segment, BMW's “The ultimate driving machine” and Coke's “I's the real thing” represent two statements of a central brand, and Inte’s “Intel inside” or “the computer inside” taglines position the ingredient brand centrally. Similarly, a “me-too” or mimicking brand can employ a variation on central positioning by inhabiting aclone position, as long as the new copycat brand * Delivers the same benefits as the market leader, = Makes the benefits easy for the customer to determine ob- Jectively, and : Ores 1 product at a significantly lower price than the leader.Perceptual mop: A two erties deversonal deploy of customer perceptions of Competing lernatves momoret For example, in the 1980s, clones of IBM personal compu ers flooded the market. Experienced users could evaluate the per. ao rsnee ofthese machines, so this segment of customers consid. ered the clones a better value than the high-priced market leader wo. Many low-involvement, private-label retailer brands use a imilar positioning strategy. sim Penal poe joning is not available, the firm must choose a differentiation or edge strategy. The most difficult differentia. tion or edge positioning to execute creates a new product category, put more common and easier strategies involve using attributes not employed by the market leader, linking the product directly to segment (eg, “the Pepsi Generation”), or linking it toa specific customer benefit. Although many positioning options are available, the man- agement challenge is trying to understand current and possible future positioning options and communicating the selected option clearly. Perceptual and preference mapping techniques help develop and communicate the optimal positioning strategies. POSITIONING USING PERCEPTUAL MAPS To position products in increasingly crowded markets, man- agers must understand the dimensions along which target custom- ers perceive products or services in a category, as well as their views of the firm's offering relative to competitive offerings. To under- stand the competitive structure of their markets, managers should ask the following questions: * How do our customers (current or potential) view our brand? * Which brands do these customers perceive to be our clos- est competitors? © What product and company attributes are most respon- sible for these perceived differences? Perceptual mapping methods provide systematic, structured ap- proaches to answer these questions. _ Perceptual maps use graphs to provide the following infor mation: (1) The distances between products indicate similarities in the minds of customers, such that the shorter the distance, the more similarly Products are perceived; (2) a vector on the map (shown bya line with an arrow) that indicates both magnitude and direc tion, usually to denote product attributes; and (3) the map axes 2 Special set of vectors, which suggest the broad underlying dimen- sions that best characterize how customers differentiate amongal~ ‘Grates, Maps usually incomporate straight lines (axes) st.810 sable 0 represent dimensions, but these axes also can be right) ‘Dfated to aid interpretation, For example, in a two-dimension® @p, horizontal and vertical axes often characterize the two dimen~81 sions, but th in be rotated so that, for tnoves from the lower left (southwest) to the upeer eet Cone cast) quadrant, and the other refers to the shift from the lower right (southeast) to the upper left (northwest). e EXAMPLE Consider the perceptual map in Exhibit 4.1, which summa- rizes how a group of customers views the beer market. The perceived distance between Budweiser and Miller is ap- proximately the same as that between Coors and Michelob, and Beck’s and Heineken are perceived as the closest pait among this set of brands. Moving ina northeast direction from the origin, the vectors show that these beers increase in popularity among men. That is, Budweiser is the most popular with men, and Old Milwaukee Lights the least popular. Budweiser (and then Beck's) appears the farthest along the northeast direction. If we drop perpendicular lines from the Budweiser and Beck's points to the vector denoted “popular with men,” this connection becomes obvious. Similarly, a perpendicular line from Old Milwau- kee Light to the popular with men vector, extended in the southwest direction, clearly demonstrates its lack of popu- larity. Customer perceptions of these beers, according to each of their attributes, can be interpreted in the same manner. Note also that the horizontal axis (east direction) associates most closely with the attributes “premium,” “dining out,” and “special occasions.” In the west direction, the horizon- tal axis is affiliated with the attributes “on a budget” and Hey EXHIBIT 4, A perceptual map of the beor market showng [among other things) thot Budwerse's the moi! popular beer wih men, whereas Old Ibert light the feast popular The mop tummonces customer evaluations of beer ceccording 0 13 ttinbtes to two dimensions (1) budget promi ond (gh he Soace Moore ond Pessoa 1972 8 ine Cole Fat ate ona \, \ Ms