How would you determine Positioning Strategy?

HOW WOULD YOU DETERMINE POSITIONING STRATEGY

Research  to  develop  a  suitable  positioning  for  a  brand  should  try  to  get information on the following:

Who are the competitors?

Pepsi for example, might define its competitors as follows: Other cola drinks

Non diet soft drinks

All soft drinks

Nonalcoholic beverages All beverages except water

In  most  cases, there will be a  primary group of competitors,  and  one or more secondly competitors. In this case, other cola drinks could be considered primary competitors, and secondary competitors.

How are their brands perceived  and evaluated?

To  determine  how  competitor   brands   are  perceived,  an   appropriate  set  of product attributes  should first be chosen  for the comparison. Attributes  include not   only   product   characteristics   and   customer   benefits,   but   also   product association   such  as  product  uses  or  product  users.  Foe  example,  a  relevant attribute for beer  could be the association of a brand with outdoor picnics, apart from taste, strength, and so on.

Once a relevant set of attributes has been chosen, the next step is to do a survey in   which   prospects   are  asked   to   rate  competing   brands  on   each   of  these attributes. This  is usually done through  rating scale questions, as  mentioned in an earlier section on how to measure consumer perceptions.

How are their brands positioned?

The next step is to determine how competitors are positioned with respect to the relevant  attributes.  What  is  the  customer’s  image  of  the  various  competitors? Which competitors are perceived as similar and which ones as different?

Who are the customers for our brand?

Analyzing  the  customers  for  our  brand  is  the  last  step  before  a  positioning decision  is  taken.  One-way  of  doing  this  is  to  identify  which  attributes  or customer benefits are most important and then identify groups of customers who value similar benefits.

Conducting  the above  four  steps  provides  answers  that  will  help  make  actual positioning decision. Even if research is not feasible or justifiable, the information should be obtained through secondary sources.

While making the positioning decision, certain guidelines should be followed:

An  economic  analysis  should  guide  the  decision.  For  example,  if  the positioning strategy id to be based on a new product attribute, a sizeable segment should be interested in the new attribute.

If an existing positioning is working, then a repositioning strategy should not be consider.

A positioning strategy that exploits the market opportunity should not be chosen   if   it   promises   something                             that   the   product    cannot    deliver. Therefore, prior to positioning, it is important to conduct  blind taste-test, in-home or in-office  use  tests, to  make sure that  the  product can deliver what it promises.

While  selecting  a  positioning  strategy,  the  use  of  any  existing  symbols should  be  considered.  Symbols  can  have  strong  associations  and  can strengthen the positioning of a brand.

A positioning strategy, like an advertising objective, should be measurable.  It should be monitored over time to see if any changes are needed.

A positioning strategy, to be effective, should go beyond product attributes and be  based  on  a  richer  knowledge  of  the  consumer.  In  other  words,  positioning should  also try to associate the product with people’s lifestyle, and even feeling related to the product.