Positioning, Branding &
The Ad/Promo Industry Structure
Mkt 440
Prof. Bill White
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Marketing Mix
Step One or Two
The Target Market -- Needs, Wants, Expectations
Step One or Two
The Positioning -- The Story
Brand Image & Competitive Advantage
Step Three
“The 4 P’s”
Product ---- Price ---- Place ---- Promotion
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Positioning

A Product’s Positioning is
 The place your product occupies in consumers’ minds
relative to competing products. Think Brand Image,
Benefit Promise, and Competitive Advantage.

Volvo, Southwest, 7/11, Subway, Atkins, American Express
It’s how you plan to compete in the marketplace. It’s the
reason(s) customers should by your product, and not the
competitors’.
Marketers must:
 Plan positions to give products the greatest advantage.
 Develop marketing mixes (“4 P’s”) to execute planned
positioning.


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The Positioning Statement
 The
positioning statement guides the execution
of the Integrated Marketing Communications
message.
 Advertising
 Public
relations
 Publicity
 Personal Selling
 Sales Promotions
 What
positioning statements led to this
advertising slogans:
http://advertising.utexas.edu/research/slogans/
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Types of Positioning Strategies
 Position

the brand against its major competitor.
“Starbucks doesn’t substitute quality with variety” is a
positioning statement that attacks the Diedrich (a
competitor) position.
 Position
the brand away from the others in the
category.

“Starbucks isn’t just another coffee house” sets it apart
from other coffee houses.
 Position

the brand as the category leader.
“Starbucks is preferred by more coffee drinkers than any
other brand” establishes it as the leader.
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Types of Positioning Strategies(Continued)
 Position

“Starbucks is the business commuter’s favorite” identifies
the consumer.
 Position

the brand to a specific consumer segment.
the brand as unique.”
“No other coffee house has beans, brew, and brewing
machines” identifies Starbucks as one-of-a-kind.
 Position
the brand as having:
A new benefit for the category.
 A better combination of benefits.
 A benefit of increased importance
 Same benefits as competition, but also a unique feature or
attribute.
 Value (price/quality) or lower price (Note: Be careful.)

 Position
the brand against an entire product class.
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Structuring the Positioning Statement


“For (target audience), (brand) is the (superlative:
“only, leading, first, best, etc.”) (product category)
that (the benefit/does what).”
Proof/Support/Evidence supporting the statement.








Features
Demonstrations
Research Results
Seals of Approval
Guarantees/Warranties
Trial Offers and Samples
Reputation
Testimonials/Endorsements
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Positioning and Branding




A brand is a name/mark that differentiates the
product of one seller or group of sellers from
competing products.
A brand name consists of words, letters, and
numbers that can be vocalized.
A brand mark is the part of the brand that appears in
the form of a symbol, design, distinctive color or
lettering.
A trademark is a brand that has been given legal
protection.
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Positioning and
Brand Image/Equity


Brand Image/Equity is the extra value that’s
inherent in the product and/or the company.
A strong Brand Image/Equity provides . . .








Brand awareness/familiarity
Brand differentiation versus competition
Brand esteem
Brand preference
Brand loyalty
Product line extensions
Trademark legal protection
Trademark licensing
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Positioning and
Competitive Advantage
 The
most powerful positioning is one where you
have a “U.S.P.”– a strong Competitive
Advantage:
 U.
Unique = Exclusive to you
 S. Selling = Important to the target
 P. Proposition = Benefit Promise and/or Proof
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The IMC Message Typology
Figure 4-3, p.129
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The IMC Biz
Organization is the Foundation of IMC
 Since
there are so many partners involved in managing
brand relationships, integration is an organizational
challenge.
 IMC often involves organizational restructuring.
 A company cannot build relationships externally until it
builds them internally.
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The Golden Triangle
Figure 3-1, p.83
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The Bigger Picture of the
Marketing Communication Players
Figure 3-2, p.83
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Traditional Corporate Organization
Figure 3-3, p.85
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Organization of A Large Advertiser/ Client
Exhibit 6.5: The communication manager approves or coordinates all communications
programs for the entire organization
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Cross-functional
Planning and Management
A basic principle of IMC: Critical processes that affect
customer relationships involve more than one department.
Thus, Cross-functional planning
Primary purpose:
To improve internal communication.
It involves many departments and functions.
Benefit of the cross-functional IMC team is to:
 Ensure consistency in all brand messages.
 Make sure the big creative idea is integrated in all messages.
 Coordinate the timing and scheduling of the various MC
programs.
 Help employees become less myopic.
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Silos
Figure 3-6, p.90
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The Agency
 Advertising Agency:
an independent business,
composed of creative and business people, who
develop, prepare, and place advertising in
advertising media for clients seeking customers for
their products.
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Client/Account
V.P. Marketing
Ad Director
Brand Manager
Account
President
and CEO
Services
Media
Dept.
The Media
Print
Broadcast
Internet
VP
Creative
Acct.
Svs.
Dept.
Production
Print
Broadcast
Internet
VP
Research
Marketing
Dept.
Research
Surveys
Focus grps
Syndicated
Sales Promo
Dept.
Sales Pro
Sampling
P,O,P
Premiums
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The Full-Service Agency




Acts as Marketing Partner.
Diagnoses the Marketing and Brand Problem
Sets Objectives and Develops Overall Strategic
Plan
Provides All Support Services
 Advertising
 Public relations/publicity
 Sales promotions
 Premiums, contests, sampling, etc.
 Event marketing
 In-store/collateral
 Direct response marketing
 Research
 Internet and new media
 Barter
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Exhibit 5.3: One Problem of any campaign is setting objectives that will
work.
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Exhibit 5.4: Organization of a Typical Full-Service Agency
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Other Types of MC Agencies
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Buying Services
Media buying services specialize in buying time and
space, that is, placing brand messages in the media.
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Public Relation Firms
 Like
advertising, public relation firms may also specialize
in certain industries.
 Main function of public relations firm is to counsel
companies on how to better manage their relationships
with their stakeholders.
 Unlike advertising agencies, most public relation firms do
not have a creative or media department.
 One of the most valuable attributes a public relations firm
can have is a good relationship with the press.
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Direct-Response Agencies
Direct-response agencies are structured like advertising
agencies. They deal with not only the mass media, but
also mail, email and telemarketing services.
Some agencies may also have specialists who analyze and
rent databases.
Support services include:
 Data shops
 List Brokers
 Printers
 Letter shops
 Creative services
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sales Promotion Agencies
Companies that do a lot of promotions, such as premium
offers, sweepstakes, in-store special displays, etc. use
sales promotion agencies.
These agencies are made up of three groups:
 Account service managers
 Creatives
 Production people
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Some Other MC Agencies
Other MC agencies include:
 Corporate identity agencies
 Online Advertising Agencies
 Creative boutiques
 Talent and Production Agencies Creating Creative
 A La Carte Agency
 In-House Agency
 Rolodex Agency
 Event Planners
 In-House Services
 Freelancers
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
How Some Agencies Specialize
Many companies hire MC agencies that specialize in an
industry or product category.
Different types of specialty agencies include:
 Business-to-Business Specialists
 Ethnic Agencies
 High-Tech Agencies
 In-House Agencies
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Forms of Agency Compensation
 Media
Commissions (15%)
 Production Commissions or Markups
(17.65%)
 Fee/Retainer Arrangements
 Performance Fee
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Agency Evaluation
Two basic types of evaluations:
 Quantitative audits
 Qualitative surveys
Evaluations are beneficial for several reasons:
 Company can determine if it is getting its money’s worth
 Agency gets valuable feedback
 Agency and company can determine how to work better
together.
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Agency Client Relationships





Competing Accounts
Agency/Client
Relationship Length
Agency of Record
Agency Multiple Offices
Agency Networks
 Mega-Agency Networks
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The Agency/Client Relationship (Continued)
 The
agency/client relationship is critical to the successful
functional of an IMC program.
 Client trust can significantly affect the quality of its
agency’s work, the smoothness of the working
relationship, and the effectiveness of an IMC program.
 A client’s attitude toward its agency – how it sees its
agency – often determines the level of trust and respect.
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
For Profiles of Marketing/Advertising Jobs
and Salaries
http://marketing.about.com/cs/marketingjobs/
http://www.ad-freaks.com/salaries.htm
http://www.payscale.com/default.asp
Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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