Ibahrine 4 Positioning

4 The Fundamental Marcom Decisions: Positioning

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Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine

AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY in IFRANE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES PROGRAM

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Objectives 1. Introduce the concepts and practice of brand positioning 2. Explain that positioning involves the creation of meaning and that meaning is constructive process involving the use of signs and symbols 3. Give details about how brand marketers position their brands by drawing meaning from the culturally constitutive world 11/10/09

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Objectives 4. Describe how brands are positioned in terms of various types of benefits and attributes 5. Explicate how perspectives that characterize how consumers process information and describe the relevance of each perspective for brand positioning

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • A brand's positioning represents the key feature, benefit, or image that it stands for in the target audience's collective mind

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Brand communicators and the marketing team in general must identify

• Positioning Statement 11/10/09

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Po sit io

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nin g

St

at em

en t 6

Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Positioning statement is the central idea that encapsulates a brand's meaning and distinctiveness vis-à-vis competitive brands

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • It should be obvious that positioning and targeting go hand in hand: • Positioning decisions are made with respect to intended targets • And targeting decisions are based on a clear idea of how brands are to be positioned and distinguished from competitive offerings 11/10/09

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Market Segmentation

Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Fundamental to the concept and practice of positioning is the idea of

meaning 11/10/09

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning

• What is meaning?

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Definition of meaning

meaning can be thought of as the perceptions (thoughts) and affective reactions (feelings) that are evoked within a person when presented with a sign in a particular context 11/10/09

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Semiotics, broadly speaking, is the study of signs

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning

• The important point of emphasis is that the semiotics perspective sees meaning as a constructive process

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Meaning is not thrust upon consumers rather, consumers are actively involved in constructing meaning from marcom messages

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • The fundamental concept in semiotics is the sign, the noun counterpart to the verb signify • Marketing communications in all its various forms uses signs in the creation of messages

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • Formally, a sign is something physical and perceivable that signifies something (the referent) to somebody (the interpreter) in some context

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($) 11/10/09

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Positioning Theories A Matter of Creative Meaning • The dollar sign is understood by many people throughout the world as signifying the currency of the United States

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The Meaning of Meaning 1/1 • Signs are simply stimuli that are used to evoke an intended meaning in another person • Words and nonverbal signs do not have meanings per se; instead, people have meanings for signs

• Many times people have different meanings for the same words or gestures 11/10/09

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The Meaning of Meaning 1/2 • It follows from these points that meanings are not contained in a marcom message per se but rather are perceived by the message receiver • Thus, the challenge when positioning a brand is to make sure that the signs used by the marketing communicator are interpreted as intended by consumers 11/10/09

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The Meaning of Meaning 1/3 • It should be clear at this point that meaning is internal, rather than external, to an individual • Meaning, in other words, is subjective and highly context dependent

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Meaning Transfer From Culture to object to Consumer • The culture and social systems in which marketing communications take place are loaded with meaning • Through socialization, people learn cultural values; beliefs, and become familiar with the physical manifestations, or artifacts, of these values and beliefs

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Meaning Transfer From Culture to object to Consumer • Marketing communicators, when in the process of positioning their brands, draw meaning from the culturally constituted world • Advertising is especially an important instrument of meaning transfer and positioning

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Meaning Transfer From Culture to object to Consumer • When exposed to an advertising, the consumer is not merely drawing information from the ad but is actively involved in assigning meaning to the advertised brand • The consumer approaches advertisements as texts to be interpreted

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Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • Brand positioning is an essential and fundamental decision to developing a successful marcom program • By having a clear positioning statement, the brand management team is committed to conveying a clear and consistent message in all forms of marcom messages • Positioning is both a useful conceptual notion and an invaluable strategic tool 11/10/09

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Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • First, the marketing communicator wishes to create a specific meaning for the brand and have that meaning clearly lodged in the consumer's memory (think of this as "positioned in" the consumer’s mind) 11/10/09

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Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • Second, the brand‘s meaning in consumers'-memories stands in comparison to what they know and think about competitive brands in the product or service category (think of this as "positioned against" the competition) 11/10/09

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Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • This statement tells how your brand differs from and is superior to competitive brands • It gives a reason why consumers should buy your brand rather than a competitor's and promises a solution to the customer's needs or wants 11/10/09

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Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • A brand's positioning statement represents how customers think and feel about the brand

we want

• A good positioning statement should satisfy two requirements:  (1) it should reflect a brand's competitive advantage (vis-à-vis competitive offerings in the same product category)  (2) it should motivate consumers to action

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Benefit Positioning Appealing to Consumer Needs

Functional Needs

Symbolic Needs

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Experiential Needs

Benefit Positioning 1/1 • Brand benefits consist of ways by which a brand satisfies customers' needs and wants • It can be classified as  Functional  Symbolic  Experiential

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Benefit Positioning 1/2 • Positioning with respect to brand benefits can be accomplished by appealing to any of three categories of basic consumer needs: Functional Symbolic Experiential

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Categories of Consumer Needs Functional Needs

Positioning communicates that the brand’s benefits are capable of solving consumers’ consumption-related problems

Symbolic Needs

Positioning attempts to associate brand ownership with a desired group, role, or self-image

Experiential Needs

Positioning promotes brand’s extraordinary sensory value or rich potential for cognitive stimulation

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Positioning Based on Functional Needs

• A brand positioned in terms of functional needs attempts to provide solutions to consumers' current consumption related problems or potential problems by communicating that the brand possesses specific benefits capable of solving those problems

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Positioning Based on Functional Needs

• Consumer goods marketers also regularly appeal to consumers' needs for convenience, safety, good health, cleanliness, and so on • All of which are functional needs that can be satisfied by brand benefits • In general, appeals to functional needs are the most prevalent form of brand benefit positioning 11/10/09

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Positioning Based on Symbolic Needs 1/1

• Other brands are positioned in terms of their ability to satisfy non-functional, or Symbolic, needs • Positioning in terms of symbolic needs attempts to associate brand ownership with a desired group, role, or self-image

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Positioning Based on Symbolic Needs 1/2

• Appeals to symbolic needs include those directed at consumers‘ desire for Self-enhancement Group membership Affiliation Other abstract need states that involve aspects of consumption not solved by practical product benefits 11/10/09

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Positioning Based on Experiential Needs.

• Consumers' Experiential Needs represent their desires for products that provide sensory pleasure, variety, and, in a few product circumstances, cognitive stimulation • Brands positioned toward experiential needs are promoted as being out of the ordinary and high in sensory value (looking elegant, feeling wonderful, tasting or smelling great, sounding divine, and so on) 11/10/09

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Croc Advertisement Illustrating Appeal to Functional Needs

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Dove Advertisement Illustrating Appeal to Experiential Needs

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A Mixture or a Single Type 1/1 • It is important to recognize that brands often offer a mixture of functional, symbolic, and experiential benefits • It has been argued that successful positioning requires a communication strategy that entices a single type of consumer need (functional, symbolic or experiential) rather-than attempting to be something for everyone 11/10/09

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A Mixture or a Single Type 1/2 • The only viable conclusion is that whether a single or multi-type positioning is more effective depends on the competitive circumstances and consumer dynamics that are involved in a particular situation • What works best for a brand in one product category does not necessarily work as well for another brand in a different category

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Product Positioning Strategies •

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Professor Ernest Martin at Virginia Commonwealth University proposes seven distinct approaches to developing a positioning strategy:

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Product Positioning Strategies •

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Effective positioning can be achieved in seven different ways: 1) Attributes 2) Competitors 3) Use or application 4) Price-quality relationship 5) Product user 6) Product Class 7) Cultural Symbols

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Attribute

Cultural Symbol

Competitors

POSITIONING Product Class

Application Use

Product User

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Price-Quality Relationship

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Product Positioning Strategies

1) Attributes: Setting the brand apart by stressing a particular product feature important to consumers

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Product Positioning Strategies 2). Competitors: positioning aganist competitors (e.g. AVIS/HERTZ), using the strenth of the competitiors position to help define the subject brand 11/10/09

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Product Positioning Strategies 3.) Use or application: positioning on the basis of how a product is used

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Product Positioning Strategies • 4.) Price-quality relationship: positioning on the basis of price or quality

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Product Positioning Strategies 5.) Product user: positioing aganist the particular group who uses the product

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Product Positioning Strategies 6.) Product Class: positioing the brand aganist other products that, while not the same, offer the same class of benefits

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Product Positioning Strategies 7.) Cultural Symbols: positioning apart from competitors through the creation or use of some recognized symbol or icon

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Repositioning a Brand 1/1 • As competitive and customer dynamics change, managers must evaluate whether their brands remain appropriately positioned • Revising a brand's positioning is termed repositioning

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Repositioning a Brand Increase competitiveness

Extend product life cycle

Why Reposition a Brand?

Refresh brand image

Enter new market segments

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Three Possible Positioning Mistakes

Under-positioning - fail to make a clear differentiation with competitors

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Three Possible Positioning Mistakes

Over-positioning - extreme positioning on one benefit will reduce the number of interested consumer

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Three Possible Positioning Mistakes

Confusing positioning inconsistent communications or choice of distribution channels would give a confused image

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Implementing Positioning: Know Thy Consumer • The discussion is based on different perspectives about how consumers process marcom information and ultimately use this information to choose from among the alternatives available in the marketplace

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Implementing Positioning: Know Thy Consumer • Consumer Processing Model (CPM) – Information and choice are a rational, cognitive, systematic and reasoned process

• Hedonic, Experiential Model (HEM) – Consumers’ processing of marcom messages and behavior are driven by emotions in pursuit of fun, fantasies, and feeling 5–60

Comparison of the CPM and HEM Models

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Implementing Positioning: Know Thy Consumer • We will label these  The consumer processing model (CPM)

 The hedonic, experiential model (HEM).

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 The consumer processing model (CPM)

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Implementing Positioning: Know Thy Consumer • 1. The consumer processing model (CPM) From a consumer-processing perspective (CPM), information processing and choice are seen as rational, cognitive, systematic, and reasoned

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 The hedonic, experiential model (HEM).

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Implementing Positioning: Know Thy Consumer • 2. The hedonic, experiential model (HEM). The hedonic, experiential perspective, on the other hand, views consumer processing of marcom messages and behavior as driven by emotions in pursuit of fun, fantasies, and feelings

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Corporate Name

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Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine

American University of Sharjah College of Arts and Sciences Department of Mass Communication

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OVERT NAMES

• Reveal what the company

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does

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IMPLIED NAMES • Contain recognizable words or word parts that imply what the company is about

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C

ONCEPTUAL NAMES

• Try to capture the essence of the idea behind the brand

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ICONOCLASTIC NAMES

Does not reflect the company’s goods and services, but instead something that is unique different and memorable

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OVERT

CONCEPTUAL

CORPORATE NAMES

ICONOCLASTIC

IMPLIED

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