Positioning
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning:
The fixing your sports
or entertainment
entity in the minds of
consumers in the
target market
 Fixing company products
in the Minds of Consumers
 All about “perception”
 Relative to competitor
products
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning is About Perception
In an effort to position its product as
beverage that is as effective as traditional
sports drinks in replenishing fluids after a
workout, Vita Coco Coconut Water signed
Major League Baseball star Josh Hamilton to
endorse its brand in 2012 along with an
announcement on the eve of the kick-off of
the 2012-13 NFL season that they signed
four NFL players ( Vernon Davis, Larry
Fitzgerald, Eric Decker, and Devin Hester) as
ambassadors for the brand
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning also refers to the place
the product occupies in
consumers’ minds relative to
competing products
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning is important to all sports and
entertainment products
Sports leagues (NFL vs.
Arena Football League)
Sports teams (The Los Angeles Lakers in
the 1980’s as “Showtime”)
Sporting goods (Under Armour as
comfortable performance apparel)
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning is important to all sports and
entertainment products
Sports drinks (Gatorade as a
performance beverage)
Movie studios (Pixar as a leader in
animated films)
Entertainers (Sylvester Stallone,
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce
Willis and as iconic action film stars)
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
Positioning is important to all sports and
entertainment products
Entertainment products
(DVD vs. Blu-Ray)
Facilities and venues
(Premium seating vs.
general seating)
Marketing Applications
4.5
High (variable one)
Product B
Product A
High (variable two)
Low (variable two)
Product D
Product C
Low (variable one)
Positioning Map:
Products or services are
grouped together on a
positioning map
Products or services are
compared and contrasted
in relation to one another
Marketers must determine a
position that distinguishes their
own products and services from
competitor products and
services
http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_positioning.htm
Marketing Applications
4.5
Ticket Sales
Positioning
Map
High Price
Luxury suite
at an NFL
game
Lower level seats
for Disney on Ice
Client Entertaining
Family Fun
Club seats at
an NBA game
“Cheap Seats” at a minor
league baseball game
Night at the
movies
Low Price
Marketing Applications
4.5
High Price
Courtside
Seats
Lower Level
End Zones
Lower Level Seats
Upper Level Seats
Mid/Upper Level
Sidelines
Top Row Corners
Low Price
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning Strategy
Identify all possible competitive advantages
Could include:
Products, services, channels, people or image
can be sources of differentiation
Organizations often position their products
relative to competitor Weaknesses
(5-hour energy)
Marketing Applications
LESSON 4.5
Positioning Strategy
Choose the right competitive advantage
1) How many differences to promote?
2) Unique selling proposition
(5-hour energy)
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
5-hour Energy Drink focuses on
its small packaging size and
claims to provide a long lasting
energy boost without the “usual
jitters associated with energy
drinks.” These purported features
are intended to provide the
competitive advantage necessary
for distinguishing this energy
drink from the many competitors
on the market.
Click here to view the latest endorsement from legendary pro athlete, Bo Jackson
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning Strategy
Positioning errors to avoid
1) Which differences to promote?
2) Are the differences legitimate?
Marketing Applications
4.5
Positioning
In 2012, Skechers paid $40 million
in deceptive advertising charges to
settle a claim made by the Federal
Trade Commission that the
footwear company’s assertion that
its Shape-ups shoes would help
people lose weight and strengthen
muscles was unfounded
Marketing Applications
4.5
Product Differentiation
Kentwool (a 168-yearold company known for
selling upscale niche
clothing) recently
introduced a $25 pair of
golf socks to the
marketplace, positioning
the product as
“performance” apparel
for the golf aficionado
Product
Differentiation:
Refers to a positioning
strategy that some
firms use to
distinguish their
products from those
of competitors
Marketing Applications
4.5
In an interview with CNBC’s Darren Rovell, Kentwool
CEO Mark Kent explains: "Ninety-five percent of all
socks are fashion based. Five percent are
performance based. We basically set out to put
ourselves in the top one percentile of that five
percent to make the highest performing sock in any
market segment. So to differentiate yourself you
have to become in layman's terms
the Ferrari of the market, you have
to be the fastest car on the street
or the best performing sock in the
marketplace."
Marketing Applications
4.5
Re-Positioning
A private golf course
may be suffering
slumping membership
sales.
Management may
choose to open up the
course to the public,
which will ultimately
require a well planned
re-positioning strategy
Re-Positioning:
A marketer’s plan for
changing consumers’
perceptions of a
brand in comparison
to competing brands
Marketing Applications
4.5
Re-Positioning
 Re-positioning involves identifying who the new
target market is and a strategy for creating awareness
and demand within that market
 Part of the re-positioning effort in this case would
require sending a message to the target market that
the club is affordable by public standards
Marketing Applications
4.5
Re-Positioning
Slogan might be “Enjoy the benefits of a
private club at public course rates!”
Marketing Applications
4.5
Re-Positioning
Chocolate Milk has adopted a re-positioning strategy
in its efforts to communicate the product’s benefits
as a post-workout recovery drink to fitness-minded
consumers via its 2012 “My After ” campaign