P OSITIONING & D IFFERENTIATING T HE M ARKET O FFERING T HROUGH THE P RODUCT L IFE C YCLE Lecture 9

L EARNING O BJECTIVES How can a firm choose and communicate an effective positioning in the market? What are the major differentiating attributes available to the firms? What marketing strategies are appropriate at each stage of the Product Life Cycle? What marketing strategies are appropriate at each stage of the market’s evolution?

P OINT ? NO company can win if its products and offerings resemble every other product and offering! Today, most company's are guilty of strategy convergence – namely, undifferentiated strategies! Companies must pursue meaningful and relevant positioning & differentiation

D EVELOPING & C OMMUNICATING A P OSITIONING S TRATEGY Marketing strategies are built on: Segmentation Targeting Positioning A company identifies the different needs and groups in a market place, targets those needs and groups that it can satisfy in a superior way, and then positions its offerings so that the target market recognizes the company’s distinctive offering and image

P OSITIONING It is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market Value proposition is the end result of positioning; a reason as to why the target market should buy the product Company & Product Target Customers BenefitsPriceValue Proposition Nandos – Chicken Quality conscious consumers of chicken Healthy15% premiumHealthy, tender chicken at a moderate premium price Domino’s - Pizza Convenience minded pizza lovers Delivery speed and good quality 12% premiumHot, tasty pizza delivered to your door at a moderate price

P OSITIONING – H OW MANY IDEAS TO PROMOTE How many ideas (benefits / features) to convey in its positioning to its target customers. Most marketers advocate promoting only one. USP Better communication, organizational aligning becomes easier

P OSITIONING – H OW MANY IDEAS TO PROMOTE Not everyone agrees that single benefit positioning is always the best. Multiple benefit positioning may become more attractive The challenge is to convince the customer that all the benefits are being delivered!

P OSITIONING E RRORS Under positioning Over positioning Confused positioning Doubtful positioning

T YPES OF P OSITIONING Attribute positioning Benefit positioning Use or application positioning User positioning Competitor positioning Product category positioning Quality or price positioning

H OW TO CHOOSE WHICH POSITIONING TO PROMOTE ? Customer Competition

C OMMUNICATING THE POSITIONING STRATEGY To communicate a company or brand positioning, a marketing plan should include a positioning statement This statement should be as follows: To (target group and need) our (brand) is (concept) that (point of difference) E.g. ‘To busy professionals who need to stay organized, Palm Pilot is an electronic organizer that allows you to back up files on your PC more easily and reliably than competitors products’

C OMMUNICATING THE POSITIONING STRATEGY Next, the company should communicate that positioning effectively through all the elements of the marketing mix

F URTHER DIFFERENTIATION Differentiation is the process of adding a set of meaningful and valued differences to distinguish the company’s offering from competitor’s offering E.g. IKEA

D IFFERENTIATION VARIABLES ProductServicesPersonnelChannelImage FormOrdering Ease CompetenceCoverageSymbols FeaturesDeliveryCourtesyExpertiseMedia PerformanceInstallationCredibilityPerformanceAtmosphere ConformanceCustomer Training ReliabilityEvents DurabilityCustomer Consulting Responsiveness ReliabilityMaintenance & Repair Communication Repairability Style Design

P RODUCT L IFE C YCLE M ARKETING S TRATEGIES