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T5: Part 3 - Market Positioning
T5: Part 3 - Market Positioning
Competitive frame of reference p.319
By industry
e.g. MF other freight and logistics companies
Most obvious competitors - those with similar offerings that are close substitutes
By market
Marketing myopia theory
What does the customer actually need?
Map buyers steps in obtaining and using the product to highlight threats and opportunities
Includes indirect competitors
e.g. MF is also competing again Tech companies who could offer IT solutions for supply-chain management
POP/POD
Points-of-parity p.321
Common associations among brands
Basic forms
Category
Can change over time due to tech, legal, or consumer trends
The things that ALL competitors must have to be considered legitimate players
Competitive
Associations designed to overcome perceived weaknesses
To negate a competitors perceived PODS
To negate issues with its own PODs, I,e, if easy to use, not going to be high on features
Points-of-difference p.320
associations which clearly set a brand apart
MUST be deliverable, desirable and differentiable
Need to be things that are important to consumers
AUTHENTICITY
: A brands desirability is based on 'relevance', 'distinctiveness' and 'believability' - if so, this has potential to create a long-lasting competitive advantage.
Eg. MFs unapologetic capitalist agenda is completely open and genuine and attracts customers which are happy with this agenda and want to share in it and benefit from it
Eg. CGC suffers from an outdated POD, where once they strove to be considered elite, now they are simply considered elitist, they either have to embrace and use this or address and overcome it
POD's stagnate overtime so companies must evolve and continually develop new PODs
Perceptual maps, p.324, can help to identify overlaps with competitors and segments, and see available openings.
Emotional POPs and PODs are important too, especially trust and authenticity.
Multiple frames of reference
Potentially there a multiple frames of reference a company can define and address with specific POPs and PODs
Important NOT to try and be all things to all people though, this leads to 'lowest common denominator' which is seldom effective
Straddle positioning - when the PODs / POPs for one set of competitors, reverse and become the POPs / PODs for another set of competitors, e.g. BMW/Subway
Stages of full process
Segmentation
Needs-based segmentation
Segment identificiation
Market targeting
Segment attractiveness
Segment profibility
Positioning
5. Segment positioning
6. Segment 'acid test'
7. Marketing-mix strategy
Three step process:
determine the ideal points-of-parity (POP) and points-of-difference (POD) brand associations
communicate brand essence and overall positioning to the selected target market(s)
identify the frame of reference in the target market (competitors)
Glossary
Brand
- combination of name/sign/logo/etc, the clearly identifies one company from its competitors
Brand associations
- all brand-related thoughts/feelings/perceptions/images/etc that become linked to the brand
Value propositions
- the whole cluster of benefits the company promises to deliver to the customer
Brand
Brand mantra - an internal short slogan that helps guide all marketing decisions to ensure consistency of the brand, e.g. MFs might be 'getting your blue blood', which relates to the external slogan of 'Special People, Special Company'
Brand positioning bull's-eye example on p.329
Category membership - this is like the example of buying a phone from a computer company, Apple has established category membership of the Phone company, but Dell for example has not.
Assessing potential threats from competitors
Share of mind - 'name someone in this industry'
3.Share of heart - 'name who you would want to buy from'
Share of market
Primal branding - developed by Patrick Hanlon p.332
Company's have a primal code or DNA which generates passion
Mainfreight!?! - certainly from an internal perspective, not sure about external customers
Seven assets of primal code
rituals
sacred words
icon
a way of dealing with non-believers
a good leader
creed
a creation story
Good positioning
Brand substitution test - would a marketing technique work just as well for a competitor? If yes, the positioning is not defined well enough
Foot in the present AND a foot in the future
DEFINE: 'The act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market' (Kotler, p.318)