Crafting the Brand Positioning

The Three Major Steps in Target Marketing

Product Position

The place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products.

The complex set of perceptions, impressions, and feelings that consumers have for the product compared with competing products.

E.g. Mercedes and Cadillac on “luxury”; Porsche and BMW on “performance”; Volvo on “safety”; Toyota on “fuel-efficient”.

Positioning Maps

Positioning According to Ries and Trout

Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect, NOT what you do to a product.

Well-known products generally hold a distinctive position.

E.g. Coca-Cola in soft drinks & Porsche in sports cars.

Positioning According to Ries and Trout

Four strategic alternatives Strengthen its own current position in the

consumer’s mind, e.g. Avis & 7-Up. Grab an unoccupied position, e.g. Pink Dolphin. De-position or re-position the competition in the

customer’s mind, e.g. Benz vs. BMW (The ultimate sitting machine verses the ultimate driving machine).

The exclusive-club strategy (product ladders), e.g. Toyota – Honda – Nissan.

Positioning According to Treacy and Wiersema

Value Disciplines Product leader, e.g. Sony. Operationally excellent firm, e.g. McDonald’s. Customer intimate firm, e.g. 3M.

A firm can not normally be best in all three ways, or even in two ways.

Positioning According to Treacy and Wiersema

Four Rules Become best at one of the three value disciplines. Achieve an adequate performance level in the

other two disciplines. Keep improving one’s superior position in the

chosen discipline so as not to lose out to a competitor.

Keep becoming more adequate in the other disciplines, because competitors keep raising customers’ expectation.

Choosing a Positioning Strategy

Identifying possible competitive advantages Choosing the right competitive advantages Selecting an overall position strategy

Differentiation Variables to Gain Competitive Advantage

Product Services Personnel Channel Image

Form Ordering ease

Competence Coverage Symbols

Features Delivery Courtesy Expertise Media

Performance Installation Credibility Performance Atmosphere

Conformance Customer training

Reliability Events

Durability Customer consulting

Responsive-ness

Product Differentiation

Style The product’s look and

feel to the buyer. E.g. Starbucks, Knorr,

and Apple computers.

Product Differentiation

Features E.g. Oral-B’s blue dye,

Sony’s long-lasting battery, Holiday KTV, and Discover 2GO.

Determine the features Feature bundles or

package

Case: 好自在 1980 年代中期推出織優朗表層、蝶翼系列產品 1990 年推出的絲薄系列 其他特色–瞬潔鎖濕中心、特有氣味淨化、柔細綿柔表層、栱型設計。

好自在 蘇菲 靠得住

康乃馨

一般 6.0 元 / 片 3.33 元 /片

2.25 元 /片

3.25 元 / 片

量多 6.6 元 / 片 5.27 元 /片

2.77 元 /片

3.93 元 / 片

夜用 7.7 元 / 片 6.25 元 /片

3.44 元 /片

4.64 元 / 片

Measuring Customer Effectiveness Value

Company Cost Customer Value Customer Value/Customer

Cost

Feature (a) (b) (c=b/a)

Rear-window defrosting

$100 $200 2

Cruise control 600 600 1

Automatic transmission

800 2,400 3

Product Differentiation

Performance quality E.g. Essilor: The Lightness Lenses from the

Toughest Material. There exists a significantly positive correlation

between relative product quality and ROI. Conformance quality

E.g. Honda in Pakistan, Lexus’s secondhand car in Singapore, and McDonald’s.

Essilor Airwear

Case: 舒酸定 2002 年，葛蘭素史克從嬌生買下舒酸定品牌。 主要競爭對手之定位：黑人－亮白；高露潔－防蛀。 舒酸定之定位：抗敏感→專業牙醫師推薦。 不論是電視廣告、平面廣告和公車廣告等，全都離不

開「專業牙醫師推薦」的品牌印象。 獨特的行銷通路：由 5 人組成的業務團隊，默默走遍

台灣的牙醫診，向牙醫解說產品成，提出國外醫師研究舒酸定的文獻報，取得牙醫的認，也會在牙醫診所發放大量的試用，讓患者試，進而透過牙醫的專業權威傳，推薦舒酸定這項產品。

Case: 舒酸定 舒酸定的行銷預算分配，是採媒體和牙醫通路並行。電視

廣告仍是舒酸定最主要的媒體投資。在牙醫診所的通路上，葛蘭素史克也不馬虎，每年花在牙醫診所的陳列物、試用品或是促銷包，也和媒體投資不相上下。

不停研究消費者可能接觸的媒體環境，如歇腳亭、貴族世家。

「抗敏感牙膏」目前在整體牙膏市場，大概是將近 20% 的比例。舒酸定在這一塊坐穩了第一名的寶座，維持著七、八成的市佔率。

整體市佔率：黑人－ 36% ；高露潔－ 33% ；舒酸定－32% 。

Service Differentiation

Ordering ease, e.g. Optic Point, ezTravel, 博客來 , and SKYPE.

Delivery, e.g. pizza, film, and FedEx. Installation, e.g. B&Q, 全國電子.

Maintenance and Repair, e.g. HP e-support, 聯強–「今晚送修，後天取件」 、「三十分鐘維修、兩年保固」（手機） .

Miscellaneous services, e.g. Canon.

Channel Differentiation

Coverage E.g. 7-11.

Expertise E.g. Caterpillar, P&G.

Performance E.g. Dell, and Avon.

People Differentiation

Hiring and training better people than their competitors do

E.g. Disney – friendly and upbeat, Singapore Airlines – graceful flight attendants, IBM – professional, 亞都麗緻 , 玉山銀行 , and SOGO百貨公司電梯小姐 , 大腳桶 .

Better-trained personnel exhibit six characteristics: competence, courtesy, reliability, responsiveness, and communication.

Image Differentiation

Symbols, colors, slogans, special attributes Physical plant, e.g. Coca-Cola’s bottling

plant, Asahi’s picnic grounds with football field dimensions, Suntory’s art museum, and Sapporo’s museum.

Event and Sponsorship, e.g. Toshiba & Samsung.

Using multiple image-building techniques, e.g. Swatch.

Many companies build their brand image Many companies build their brand image through creating or sponsoring various through creating or sponsoring various events. Toshiba and Samsung were major events. Toshiba and Samsung were major sponsors of the 2002 World Cup, while sponsors of the 2002 World Cup, while Visa is an active Olympics sponsor. Can Visa is an active Olympics sponsor. Can you think of other companies you think of other companies which have sponsored major which have sponsored major events like these to build events like these to build their brand image?their brand image?

Image Differentiation – Event and Sponsorship

統一純喫茶 – 海洋街舞季、 3 對 3鬥牛、安麗世界盃撞球、 NBA 每周一球以及世界盃棒球賽等。

捷安特 – 贊助西班牙 Once 車隊、德國 T-Mobile 車隊、澳洲國家代表隊、歐洲登山隊(ATB Team) 、美國越野車隊 (MBX) 、大陸各省市車隊及台灣捷安特 (亞洲 ) 自由車隊，一年投入近億元。

How Many Ideas to Promote?

Unique selling proposition (USP) E.g. Hitachi: quite; Sampo: disinfectant; Colgate:

anticavity protection; Benz: great engineering. Double-benefit positioning

E.g. Volvo: safest and most durable. Triple-benefit positioning

E.g. Aquafresh toothpaste: anticavity protection, better breath, and whiter teeth; Lever 2000: cleansing, deodorizing, and moisturizing.

Four Major Positioning Errors

Underpositioning, e.g. Shiseido. Overpositioning, e.g. Cartier. Confused positioning, e.g. Kmart’s “upscale

discounter” vs. Wal-Mart’s “Always low prices. Always!”.

Doubtful positioning, e.g. 非常可樂 .

Value Proposition