Want to learn more about brand positioning and what it means for your business? You’ve arrived at the correct location. 😎
What is the Goal of Brand Positioning in Marketing?
In a nutshell, marketing positioning is a fantastic brand strategy – it’s the image you’ve chosen to portray to consumers when they hear about your brand or items.
- It is described as your company’s market position in regard to the competitors and in the eyes of your clients.
As a result, it sets the tone for your entire marketing plan, which must be consistent with this positioning. I’ll give you an example to assist you grasp this phrase better.
Example of Marketing Brand Positioning: Lindt
Lindt has a premium quality marketing positioning. Lindt’s product positioning is based on inventive and intricate recipes, emphasizing the greediness of its original creations. The brand even introduces the “Lindt’s workshop” series, which has new creative creations from pastry experts.
In the opinion of buyers, the product is costly but worthwhile because the quality is no longer in doubt.
Lindt’s whole marketing strategy focuses around this perception and value proposition.
An Overview of Brand Positioning Strategy
I’ll now explain how to obtain such marketing precision and why it’s so critical. Then I’ll show you how to perform a “positioning mapping” against the competition and provide two additional examples to help you truly understand how positioning works.
The Importance of Marketing in Brand Positioning
Positioning serves a variety of commercial reasons and can be an important driver of your digital marketing strategy and brand identification.
The advantages of a well-defined marketing positioning are as follows:
1️⃣ Establish your market position and select the target client most likely to convert.
2️⃣ Maintain a consistent marketing approach by adhering to a defined editorial line.
3️⃣ Explain your product pricing based on your target audience and brand image in the marketplace. (Example: Lindt) 4️⃣ Foster empathy with current and potential customers, boosting the likelihood of customer loyalty: your brand is recognized and valued for its worth.
5️⃣ Concentrate your marketing efforts on a single target audience and combine the most effective marketing methods. 6️⃣ Improve the environment for assessing and repurposing the success of efforts.
The Impact of Brand Positioning on Your Prospects and Customers
Consumers today are interested about what is behind the things they purchase; the image that the brand conveys to them is becoming increasingly crucial for new generations of buyers.
Nonetheless, they seek greater and greater quickness in receiving items and, as a result, in making purchasing judgments. They make quick judgments based on the business strategy and market positioning of the company.
💡 For example, in the case of Lindt, if customers want to buy premium chocolate, they will go to Lindt, even if they are unaware of the manufacturing methods, simply because they believe the image that the brand conveys!
Effective positioning is so critical from the customer’s standpoint for a variety of reasons.
- The customer adjusts his budget based on the brands: he knows where to get pricey and high-quality products, he knows where to discover bargain brands, and he understands pricing…
- He will also be able to make broader consumption decisions and know which supermarkets will have the correct products for his needs.
- He will be able to choose brands based on the values they advocate: environment, animal welfare, and flavors…
- His consumption decisions will be assessed on a worldwide scale.
A comprehensive understanding of your brand’s strategic posture saves time and allows you to make more informed decisions.
The Brand Positioning Golden Triangle
To better grasp the stakes of brand positioning, you must first understand that it is formed of three players, which we term the “golden triangle of positioning.” These are the three aspects that must be taken into account while developing the strategy.
1. The Offer
What are you planning to sell? What are the benefits and drawbacks of the product/service?
2. The Target
Who are you planning on selling it to? Have you completed your target and segmentation? What do your potential customers look like, and what do they consume?
3. The Competition
Have you conducted a market research? Who else is in your market, and what are their offerings? What distinguishes their offers from yours?
How to Define Brand Positioning in Four Steps?
Now that you understand all of the challenges surrounding a solid marketing positioning, we can get to the meat of the issue: how to build your positioning and maintain this line of action in a comprehensive marketing strategy. 😍
1) Research Your Market
The first step is to understand the target market and how it operates on a global scale.
What kind of market do you operate in?
Consumer Goods Market
Clothing, personal care goods, household products, furniture, household technology, food, toys, and most everyday objects are all available in the consumer products sector.
It is the largest of all markets and is very competitive in general.
💡 If you sell a popular Asian delicacy in Japan, you are both:
Investment Products or Financial Markets
Financial markets are physical or virtual locations where market players gather to trade financial products:
- Capital securities
- Investment shares
- Debt securities
💡 If you are an online bank operating in Asia, you are both:
– In the Asian market,
– On the financial market,
– On the banking market, and more specifically, the market for interest rates.
Each market has its own set of regulations that must be known and understood. Depending on its purpose, customer, and offer, a bank’s positioning can be centered on “security,” “ease,” or “price competitiveness.” This is why it is critical to define its positioning.
Industrial Products Market
The industrial market is enormous. It is made up of numerous tools or machines, and each organization can market its offering differently. Its unique selling point is that it only serves industrial consumers and thus businesses. Individuals will not be targeted by market participants.
Here are some products sold in the industrial sector: Air compression machinery, industrial vehicle parts, underwater torpedoes, and machine maintenance goods.
💡 If you are a global company manufacturing components for boat engines in Asia:
– You are present in the Asian, American, and Australian markets, and each of these markets has its own unique characteristics that you need to be familiar with.
– You operate in the industrial products market,
– You are part of the marine market, specifically specializing in boat engine parts.
Services Market
The goal of the service markets is to provide services. Their purpose is to provide a service rather than a product. It is possible to sell services to a business or a family:
- Customers can purchase services from a beauty salon.
- A recruitment firm promotes its services to corporations.
💡 If you are a company providing event services for businesses in Tokyo:
– You are operating in the Tokyo market,
– You are in the B2B (business to business) market,
– You are part of the services market,
– You are focused on the event industry.
Understanding the Market from Every Angle
I hope this helps you better comprehend the market. You can utilize the PESTEL study to learn even more about the market issues in the country where you live.
It looks like this, and it offers you a greater knowledge of the market’s constraints and risks, as well as its advantages. 👇
2) Understand Your Target
Target segments are required in all good positioning techniques. Once you’ve determined the market you’re in, you need to dig deeper into the consumers in that market. That is the “target” of your advertising.
There are three types of targets in marketing: The primary target, the core target, and the secondary or relay target.
Defining the Primary Target
In the broadest sense, your primary target is your buyer persona.
The primary target is all of the clients to whom the brand or corporation wishes to offer its product or service.
Let’s look at some actual instances to have a better idea of who you’re going to target.
Example 1:
🤓 You own a female-only hair business in Tokyo.
🎯 Your primary target will be “Tokyo women aged 18 to 65.”
Example 2:
🤓 You market customer relationship management software to digital businesses.
🎯 Digital companies based in Tokyo” will be your primary target.
Defining the Core Target
The core target is the one who is most likely to purchase your product. That is, a finer and more precise component than your main target.
It is critical to establish your brand’s or product’s key target because you will base all of your marketing efforts on it. These are the people you’ll be speaking with first.
Consider creating a “marketing persona” file to establish the greatest potential core target.
That is, set a maximum number of factors that will assist you in determining who your primary target is and how to communicate with them. Among these requirements are:
❓What is its age?
❓What is his current professional situation?
❓What is his mode of communication?
❓Which generation does she belong to?
Once you’ve put all of your requirements on a persona sheet, you’ll be able to go on with your offer, better understanding, defining, and communicating it.
Define the Relay Targets
The relay target is the final sort of target to be identified. They are not directly interested in your offer, but they can be excellent communication tools: influencers, journalists, and more and more influencers.
Influencers and brand influencers are increasingly being employed to reach your target audience. You might immediately start thinking about who could tell your target audience about your products.
💡 To proceed to the next phase, you do not need to have discovered and contacted relay targets.
After you’ve launched your communication strategy, you may begin contacting relay targets as part of your marketing evolutions. However, it is always useful to have recognized them in order to have a complete picture of your objectives and what they can deliver to you in the market.
The question is, which influencers in this market are likely to talk about my product to my target audience?
Understanding your targets will assist you in determining the type of positioning you should use. However, determining the target requires knowing everything about the offer.
3) Understand Your Offer
Understanding your offer also entails understanding your products and where they fit in the market of goods and services you are targeting.
You should ensure that you understand your product and its competitive advantages.
- What features/options are there?
- How can my product/service be distinguished and unique?
There are numerous sorts of “marketing positioning” to differentiate your product in the market; if you haven’t already considered this information, I’ll give you some ideas to better understand where you might position yourself.
1. Positioning on Benefits
In the early stages of your positioning marketing tactics, the brand focuses on the characteristics of the product or service. In other words, you provide something that your competitors do not.
Do your product’s characteristics make a difference? Here are a couple such examples:
Example 1:
🚀 You provide B2B prospecting software: what sets your software apart from the competition is that you provide custom services to adapt the tool to each client. This means that you position yourself on your advantages in order to distinguish yourself from the competitors.
Example 2:
✈️ You are a vacation agency that sells all-inclusive packages and has a 24-hour support service. As a result, you concentrate on the offers and their benefits rather than the pricing.
💡 Your competitive edge will enable you to highlight the value of your product in the sales pitch.
2. Positioning on Quality
The brand emphasizes its style and luxury here. In this second marketing positioning method, buyers pay a greater price for product quality or brand image.
Example 1:
👕 Abercombie charges a higher price for its items, but the brand has a great value proposition: Lacoste’s “luxury” branding allows it to charge a premium price for its products.
Example 2:
🫖 You want to create a tea business with 100% organic and local items. So you’re going to stake your marketing campaign on the quality of the items to differentiate your salon from the competition. You will propose detailed recipes and bet on user experience, the items will be good and fresh, and the high costs will be justified.
💡 When you focus on quality, finding your target core becomes much easier. You should consider this when developing your persona.
3. Price Positioning
In this positioning example, the brand asserts itself by providing a product that provides the same benefits as its competitors but at a lower price. Price positioning always implies that the price is lower than the competitors. There are various “low-cost” brands whose primary market is middle-class or working-class homes. The idea is to sell high-quality goods at reasonable prices.
Examples:
🏪 Big box stores, such as ALDI or LIDL, sell a wide variety of low-cost items.
💻 Some e-commerce companies, such as AliExpress, concentrate in inexpensive prices.
💡 Targets interested in competitive pricing are frequently motivated by the need to save money. They will be less concerned with the quality or provenance of the things they sell.
4. Positioning on Options
The fourth and last example of brand positioning is through option distinction. The goal here is to sell a specific feature or application of the product. Can be utilized in particular circumstances. This differs slightly from benefit positioning. We’re discussing a product with extra possibilities here.
Example:
👓 You sell glasses, and each customer who walks into your store has a variety of frames, styles, colors, and prices to choose from. As a result, your store’s communication will center on the idea that “everyone can find their pair of glasses” because you have so many possibilities.
4) Positioning Map
Competitive positioning mapping is a marketing method that has been utilized in business schools for many years.
It is used to compare a product or brand to its competitors in the same industry in order to determine the brand’s value proposition and how to make it stand out in the market.
Although it is now marketed as an academic tool, it is still commonly used in marketing organizations to build marketing strategies.
When you decide to map, the first things you should accomplish are:
✅ Identify two significant brand attributes that you wish to stress in your marketing approach. ✅ Choose a few competitors who are diverse (it is hard to score the complete competition list).
Then I’ll show you exactly what it looks like. 👇
Examples of Brand Positioning
Abercombie & Fitch’s : Brand Positioning
👕 Abercombie & Fitch opted to portray themselves as a “quality” brand, with higher prices and superior products.
The two areas in which the brand wishes to be involved are:
- Client experience: The client is at the heart of the company, and the goal is for them to feel privileged and accompanied during the purchasing process.
- The brand’s strong identity / its American identity: Abercombie’s ambition is to be regarded as a prominent American brand synonymous with beauty and prosperity.
Evian : Brand Positioning
💧 The Evian brand emphasizes well-being and nature. Prices are higher than those of competitors such as Cristaline and Contrex, but Evian distinguishes itself by its value proposition: premium water that keeps you young and healthy.
Conclusion
Finally, you must identify three critical criteria in order to determine your brand positioning: your offer, your target, and your competition.
Follow the steps in this article to determine all of the criteria for positioning your firm or your items step by step.
Now that you understand everything there is to know about brand positioning, you can begin answering the following questions to develop your own without making mistakes:
- Who is my target audience?
- What are the specifics of my product, where am I in the market?
- Who are my competitors?