Market positioning in services

Market Positioning in Services

Deepika Sonawane (68)Ketakee Pawar (51)Ameya Walanj (74)Prashant Panchal ()

Positioning

The place a product occupies

in consumers’ minds relative to

competing products.

Positioning Example

• eBay’s positioning: No matter what “it” is, you can find “it” on eBay!

Types of Positioning

• Positioning by Specific Product Attribute and Benefits.

Here the marketer associates a product with an attribute, a product feature or a consumer feature. A common approach is setting the brand apart from competitors on the basis of the specific characteristics or benefits offered.

Eg. Ariel – Cleans even the dirtiest- Micro Cleaning system in the product.

• POSITIONING BY PRICE/ QUALITY

The positioning is done based on price and quality of the product. Premium products are positioned like this.

Eg. Rolex (high price) Nirma washing powder (low price)

• POSITIONING BY USE OR APPLICATION specific image or position for a brand is to associate it with a specific use or application. Eg. Surf Excel hai na!

• POSITIONING BY PRODUCT CLASS Often the competition for a particular product comes from outside the product class.

Eg. For CD Players- Cassette Players, MP3 players, even radio are all are possible competitions.

• POSITIONING BY PRODUCT USER Here the persona of the product is associated with the User.

Eg. Idea – Abhishek Bachan

• POSITIONING BY COMPETITOR This is similar to positioning by product class, although in this case the competition is within the same product category.

Eg. Onida TV – “Neighbour’s Envy, Owners Pride” .

• POSITIONING BY CULTURAL SYMBOLS the cultural symbols are used to differentiate the brands. Examples would be Humara Bajaj, MDH-Degi Mirch, Air India

Of Positioning Strategy

• Must establish position for firm or product in minds of target customers

• Position should provide one simple, consistent message

• Position must set firm/product apart from competitors

• A company cannot be all things to all people - must focus its efforts

Effective Positioning Strategy

• What customers do we serve now, and which ones would we like to target in future?

• What does our firm currently stand for in the minds of current and potential customers?

• What is value proposition for each of our current service products, and what market segments is each one targeted at?

• How well do customers in chosen target segments perceive our service products as meeting their needs relative to competitors?

• What changes must we make to our offerings to strengthen our competitive position?

Developing an Effective Positioning Strategy

• Positioning links market analysis and competitive analysis to internal corporate analysis

• Market Analysis

– Focus on overall level and trend of demand and geographic locations of demand

– Look into size and potential of different market segments

– Understand customer needs and preferences and how they perceive the competition

• Internal Corporate Analysis

– Identify organization’s resources, limitations, goals, and values

– Select limited number of target segments to serve

• Competitor Analysis

– Understand competitors’ strengths and weaknesses

– Anticipate responses to potential positioning strategies

Using Positioning Maps to Analyze Competitive Strategy

• Great tool to visualize competitive positioning and map developments of time

• Useful way to represent consumer perceptions of alternative products graphically

• Also known as perceptual maps (built on preference maps)

• Information about a product can be obtained from market data, derived from ratings by representative consumers or both

Positioning Map of Chocolates

Positioning Maps Help Managers to Visualize Strategy

• Positioning maps display relative performance of competing firms on key attributes

• Research provides inputs to development of positioning maps - challenge is to ensure that

– Attributes employed in maps are important to target segments

– Performance of individual firms on each attribute accurately reflects perceptions of customers in target segments

• Predictions can be made of how positions may change in light of future developments

• Simple graphic representations are often easier for managers to grasp than tables of data or paragraphs of prose

• Charts and maps can facilitate “visual awakening” to threats and opportunities, suggest alternative strategic directions

Elements of Positioning

• The Product:This is where the consumer decides how important the product is and what meaning it has and how he relates it with his need.

• The CompanyEvery product comes from a company and every company has its own Image.

Better Company profile, Better the perceived value of the product.In some cases the brand name overshadows the name of the company. Eg. Amul – GCMMF (Gujrat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation)

• The CompetitionProduct Positioning is done in relation to various competitive offerings.

Most of the cases a products are compared with the dominant brand in the same category.

Selecting a slot distinctly different from the competitors can avoid direct confrontation with them.

• The ConsumerTo re-enforce, Positioning is essentially based on consumer perceptions rather than factual evaluations.

It becomes very important, to examine, what is the perceived value of the product for the consumer.

To Analyze this, we should be through with Consumer Behaviour.

Positioning Methods

Positioning Methods for a product depends upon the nature of the product.One Cannot position all the product in a same way.

Impulse Goods

• Products like Chocolates, Soft drinks are generally purchased without a lot of deliberation. Here, Availability, Brand Awareness and Positioning Plays a key role. Simple slogans like “ Thanda Matlab Coca Cola”, “Kuch Meetha Ho jaye”, Utterly Butterly delicious” Works good and gives a strong brand recall during the purchase.

Daily Use Items

• Daily use products like Soaps, Toothpaste, Shampoos, command a brand loyalty and are purchased as a habit on a regular basis.

• Here the positioning effort are aimed at promoting habitual buying of the same brand.

• The Basic aim becomes to influence the habit of the consumer.

Specialty Items

• Specialty Products like shoes, garments this segment of products involve deliberation as the consumers look for different combinations of Styles, Features and Price.

• The Marketer tries to highlight the products features. Tries to build emotional appeal.

Consumer Durables

• Products like Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Television sets are the products which are not purchased frequently. The consumer gathers fair information about the product before making the purchase decision.

• Marketer tries to win the consumer by positioning the brand’s superiority over others. Mainly Known as USP.

Industrial Products• Now a days, Industrial product manufacturers

have also begun to position its products. • Classification of Industrial Product: categories

of goods and services bought by organizations for use in production or in the operation of their business; classes include installation, accessories, raw materials, component parts, supplies, and services.

• Marketers mainly stresses on The quality, Features, Ingredients, productivity, Ease of Storage, handling, Technology etc to Position Industrial Products.

Changing Competitive Positioning

• Positions evolve in response to changing market structures, technology, competitive activity, and the nature of firm itself

• Firm may have to make significant change in existing position– Revising service characteristics; redefining target

market segments; abandoning certain products; withdrawing from certain market segments