Brand Positioning
A.Kwanta Sirivajjanangkul
Albert Laurence School of Communication Arts
Department of Advertising
2013
Chapter Outline
• Basic Concepts of Brand
Positioning
• Target Market
• Segmentation bases
• Criteria
• Positioning Guidelines
• Defining and communicating the
competitive frame of reference
• Choosing and establishing points of
parity and points of difference
• Defining and Establishing
Brand Mantras
• Core brand associations
• Brand mantras
Reference Texts:
•
Keller, Kevin L. (2003), Strategic Brand Management: Building,
Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity (second ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
•
Aaker, David A. (2002), Building Strong Brands. New York: Free Pr.
•
Aaker, David A., Joachimsthaler E. (2002), Brand Leadership. New
York: Free Pr.
•
Haig M., (2005), Brand Failures: the truth about the 100 biggest
branding mistakes of all time. London: Kogan.
Brand Positioning
Positioning: identifying and establishing points of parity
and points of difference to establish the right brand
identity and brand image.
Basic Concept
Unique, meaningful points of difference provide a competitive
advantage and “reason why” consumers should buy the
brand.
“no reason why not”
• Brand Positioning: is at the heart of marketing strategy. It is
the ‘act of designing the company’s offer and image so
that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target
customer’s minds.
•
Position = Location (finding proper location of the product in
the consumer’s minds)
How it is different?
And why consumers
should purchase and
use it?
So, marketers need to know…
1. Who the target consumer is?
2. Who the main competitors are?
3. How the brand is similar to these competitors?
4. How the brand is different from them?
Target Market
• Market: is the set of all actual and potential buyers who have
sufficient interest in, income for, and access to a product.
• Market Segmentation: divided the market into distinct groups
of homogeneous consumers who have similar needs and
consumer behavior.
Segmentation Bases
• Descriptive or customer-oriented: what kind of person or
organization the customer is
• Behavioral or product-oriented: how the customer thinks of or
uses the brand or product
Descriptive or customer-oriented
Who?
Consumers VS Business Buyers
Consumer Segmentation Bases
• Behavioral
•
•
•
•
•
User status
Usage rate
Usage location
Brand loyalty
Benefit sought
• Demographic
•
•
•
•
•
Income
Age
Sex
Race
Family
• Psychographic
– Value, opinions, and
attitudes
– Activities and lifestyle
• Geographic
• International
• regional
Business-to-business Segmentation Bases
• Nature of good
• Kind
• Where used
• Type of buy
• Buying condition
• Purchase location
• Who buys
• Demographic
– SIC code
– Number of employees
– Number of production
workers
– Annual sales volume
– Number of
establishments
Behavioral or product-oriented
How?
**Depend on each product category**
EX: Toothpaste
1. The sensory segment: seeking flavor and product
appearance
2. The sociables: seeking brightness of teeth
3. The worriers: seeking decay prevention
4. The independent segment: seeking low price
Who the main competitors are?
How the brand is similar to these competitors?
How the brand is different from them?
• Points of parity: associations that are not unique to the brand
but may be shared with other brands.
• Points of difference: attributes or benefits that consumers
strongly associate with a brand and they believe that they
could not find from a competitive brand
Positioning Guidelines
• Designing and communicating
the competitive frame of reference
• To determine category membership
• Which products does the brand complete?
• Different categories will lead to different points of parity and
points of difference
• Ex: PDA – smart phone, laptop, palm
• Ex: Coca cola – soft drink, carbonated drink, general beverage
• Ex: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes – cereal, snack, morning meal
Positioning Guidelines
• Choosing points of difference
• Desirability criteria
• Relevance
• Distinctiveness
• Believability
• Deliverability criteria
• Feasibility
• Communicability
• Sustainability
Positioning Guidelines
• Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference
• Separate the attributes
ex. Clinic clear, Clinic clear for men
• Leverage equity of another entity
ex. Paula Taylor for Cannon IXUS
ex. Jame Ji for Toyota Vios
ex. Lady Gaga for Pepsi
• Redefine the relationship
ex. Coffio canned coffee: fresh, premium, ready to drink coffee
Positioning Guidelines
• Updating positioning over time
• Laddering: how to deepen the meaning of the brand to tap
into core brand associations or more abstract considerations
ex. Moving from tangible to intangible
• feature, functions, rewards, values, personality
• Reacting: how to respond to competitive challenges that
threaten an existing positioning
• Do nothing
• Go on the defensive (self-protective)
ex. Singha beer
• Go on the offensive (aggressive)
ex. Chang beer
Exercise
• Pick 2 big brands in the same category
• Evaluate the positioning of each brand.
• Who are the target markets?
• Who and how?
• What are their main points of parity and points of
difference?
• Both performance and imagery
• What is their brand position?
Defining and Establishing
Brand Mantras
Core Brand Associations
Core Brand Associations: are those abstract
associations that characterize the 5 to 10 most
important aspects or dimensions of a brand.
They can serve as the basis of brand positioning in
terms of how they create points of parity and points
of difference.
How do we know core brand
associations?
• Create mental map: all salient brand associations and
responses for a particular target market.
• Group brand associations into related categories with
descriptive labels
Ex. MTV mental map
trendsetter
popular
changing
mainstream
trusting
original
Real and genuine
leader
MTV
informative
For me
Fun and entertaining
music
lifestyle
young
Live and immediate
Hip and cool
Irreverent and rebellious
interactive
connected
Ex. MTV core brand associations
• Music
• What’s hot and what’s new
• Credibility
• Expert, trusting, reality
• Personality
• Irrelevant, hip, cool
• Accessibility
• Relevant, for everyone
• Interactivity
– Connected and participatory
• Community
– Share experience
• Spontaneity
– Up to the minute, immediate
• Originality
– Genuine, creative
• Fluidity
– Always changing and evolving
Brand Mantras
Heart & Soul
Core brand promise
Similar to brand essence
3 – 5 words that captures spirit of the brand
Ex: McDonald’s brand philosophy:
“Food, Folks and Fun”
Designing Brand Mantra
• What the brand is and what is not!!!
• Brand function: nature of product, benefits the brand
provides
ex: Nike – performance
ex: Disney -- entertainment
• Descriptive modifier: further clarifies its nature
ex: Nike – athletic (not just typical performance)
ex: Disney -- family
• Emotional modifier: provide another qualifier, how exactly
does the brand provide benefits and in what ways?
ex: Nike – Authentic
ex: Disney -- fun
Implementing Brand Mantra
• Communicate: a good brand mantra should both
define the category of business to set the brand
boundaries and clarify what is unique about the
brand
• Simplify: an effective bran mantra should be
memorable, short, vivid
• Inspire: the brand mantra should also stake out
ground that is personally meaningful and relevant to
as many employees and possible