BRAND POSITIONING – PART 4

DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY

Every brand seeks to differentiate!

Strategic differentiation is the key.

The struggle for differentiation may take many forms.

FIVE DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES :

Services Differentiation

Image Differentiation

Channel Differentiation

Employee Differentiation

EMPLOYEE DIFFERENTIATION

An employee at Starbucks providing superior customer service.

CHANNEL DIFFERENTIATION

Ford managed to be a brand that was most talked about both online and offline. Ford’s online success could be due in part to its Fiesta campaign in 2010, when the company recruited influential bloggers to test drive its cars. Ford’s offline success could be motivated by the fact that when consumers discuss what cars to purchase, they turn to their network of peers on a one-off basis offline to solicit input.

IMAGE DIFFERENTIATION

Ready made apparel and accessory brands work hard to develop and maintain distinctive images for their brands.

A picture of Allen Solly’s Apparel is shown

SERVICES DIFFERENTIATION

Dominoes is known for its quick delivery and customization of pizzas.

Emotional Branding

CREATING AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION IS KEY

If customers are engaged with and emotionally connected to a brand, they will:

• Seek it out

• Interact with it

• Stay with it over time

Regardless of whether the product is tangible or intangible.

EMOTIONAL BRANDING - PepsiCo

Emotional branding is about – Mystery, Sensuality, Intimacy

SUMMARY

The key to competitive advantage is relevant brand differentiation.

Consumers must find something unique and meaningful about a market offering.

Emotional branding is becoming an important way to connect with customers and create differentiation from competitors.

Created by Vaishnavi Ketharnathan, SVCE Chennai, during an internship by Prof.

Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.

www.IIMInternship.com