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MODULE IV Brand positioning 1. To Make Entire Organisation Market-

oriented:
Concept, advantages, process. Brand Equity-
Meaning& Definition, advantages, factors Brand positioning is a part of the broader
contributing to brand equity, measurement of brand marketing philosophy. It concerns with identifying
equity. superior aspects of Brand and matching them with
consumers more effectively than competitions.
This philosophy makes the entire organisation
Brand positioning market oriented.

A company discovers different needs of

consumers, manufacture products which can satisfy 2. To Cope with Market Changes:
consumer needs and then positions its offerings so
Once the Brand is positioned successfully,
the target market recognizes its distinctive
the marketing manager has to constantly watch the
offerings. Brand positioning is the art of creating a market. When new developments in the market
distinct image in the minds and hearts of take place, new competitive advantages should be
customers. For example, whenever somebody identified, discovered or developed to suit the
thinks of antiseptic liquid, the first thing that comes changing expectations of the consumers.
to his/her mind is Dettol. The goal of brand
positioning is to locate the brand in the minds of 3. To Meet Expectation of Buyers:
consumers so that the potential benefits to the firm
are maximized. Generally, the advantages to be
communicated are decided on the basis of
Brand positioning has been defined by Philip expectations of the target buyers. So, Brand
Kotler as “the act of designing the company’s positioning can help realize consumers’
offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in expectations.
the mind of the target market”.
4. To Promote Consumer Goodwill and Loyalty:
Bovee et al. define positioning as “the process of
prompting buyers to form a particular mental Systematic Brand positioning reinforces
impression of our product relative to our the company’s name, its product and brand. It
competitors.” popularizes the brand. The company can create
goodwill and can win customer loyalty.
Brand positioning describes how a brand is
different from its competitors and where, or how, it 5. To Design Promotional Strategy:
sits in customers’ minds. i.e. ensuring customers With the help of brand promotion
instantly associate a brand with a particular strategies, more meaningful promotional
functional benefit. For example, BMW as programme can be designed. Based on what
performance and Volvo as safety. advantages are to be communicated, appropriate
Positioning is therefore the process of designing an methods and techniques are selected to promote
image and value so that consumers understand the product.
what the brand stands for inrelation to its 6. To Win Attention and Interest of Consumers:
competitors.
Brand positioning signifies those
Benefits of Brand Positioning advantages that are significant to consumers. When
Following benefits of Brand positioning imply its such benefits are promoted through suitable means
importance or utility in marketing: of advertising, it definitely catches the interest and
attention of consumers.
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7. To Attract Different Types of Consumers: 1. Identify the Target customers –

Customer analysis. The first step in brand
Consumers differ in terms of their
positioning is to identify the target market or
expectations from the product. Some want unique market segment. Target market is the group of
features; some want low price; and so on. A consumers at which a product or service is aimed.
company, by promoting different types of Each market segment have different set of
competitive advantages of its Brand, can attract preferences for the same types of products. Once a
different types of buyers.
target group of consumers are selected, they should
8. To Face Competition: be studied closely to find out their attitude,
motivation and behaviours, which force them to
This is the fundamental use of Brand buy a product.
positioning. With the help of brand positioning, a
company can respond strongly to the competitors. Great brands are built on insights about a target
If a company can establish its products as uniquely audience that are gained after a deep and close
valuable, competitors will find it difficult to offer study. There are various approaches to
a similar product. It can improve its competitive segmentation but out of all benefit segmentation is
strength. relevant here, which focuses upon the benefits or
attributes that a segment believes to be important.
9. To Introduce New Product Successfully: For example Nirma washing powder address a
group of target consumers who want a low priced
Brand positioning can assist a company in
detergent powder.
introducing a new product in the market. It can
position new and superior advantages of the 2, Identification of key benefits / Competitive
product and can penetrate the market easily. Advantage. A key benefit or competitive
advantage is some trait, quality, or capability that
10. To Communicate New and Varied Feature
allows a brand to outperform the competition.
Added Later on:
Actually these are influential factors which help a
When a company changes qualities and/or brand perform better in the marketplace and cause
features of the existing Brands, such improvements customers to choose your brand over other options.
can be positioned against products offered by the It gives your brand an advantage over others in
competitors. Brand positioning improves purchasing decisions. This may include Price,
competitive strength of a company. Normally, Benefits, Features etc.
consumers consider product advantages before they
buy it. So, Brand positioning proves superiority of
company’s offers over competitors. It may also 3. Identifying the Competitors – Next step is to
help consumers in choosing the right product. identify the competitors. Basically every brand
faces two types of competitors. They are - -
Primary competitors i.e., competitors belonging to
Brand Positioning Process the same product class and Secondary competitors,
those belonging to other product category. For
Brand positioning is the process of setting the example, ‘Pepsi ‘ might define its competitors as
brand apart from competitors in a way that builds follows:
preference among the target consumers. To reach
that goal, marketers typically follow a positioning (1) Other cola drinks, (2) Non-diet soft drinks,
process comprised of the following steps. (3)All soft drinks, (4) All beverages except water.
In the above example other cola drinks are primary
competitors and all other drinks and beverages are
secondary competitors.
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4. Determine how the Competitors brands are services, separation from competitors and the value
Perceived and Evaluated – This basically covers you provide. Strong positioning focuses on a
an understanding of two things. What are the single or few features that is important to the
features of the competitors products and Which customer. For example brands like Patanjali or
attributes or features are actually important to a Himalaya position their products as an Ayurvedic
customer. For example major attributes of a Maruti product.
car are low price, good mileage, low maintenance
cost, high resale value and wide service network. 7. Monitoring the position
But out of these low price and good mileage can A product positioning strategy is never-ending. It is
the two most important attraction for an Indian necessary to monitor the position overtime, for that
customer. you have variety of techniques that can be
In order to wisely position a brand, an appropriate employed it can be on the basis of some test and
set of product attributes should be selected for the interviews which will help to monitor any kind of
change in the image.
product. This can be identified with the help of
marketing research.

5. Determining the competitor’s positions. Thus, the first five steps in the positioning process
Our next focus should be to determine how provides a useful background. The sixth one only
different brands are positioned with respect to the is taken to make the position decision. The final
step is to evaluate and measure and follow up.
relevant attributes selected under the previous step.
This shows the image that the customer has about
the various product brands. In addition it also
shows which competitors are perceived as similar Brand Equity
and which as different. For example positioning
Brand equity represents ‘the total accumulated
map of few cars shown below shows important
value or worth of a brand’. It is the sum total of all
attributes and similar brands offering same
the different values people attach to the brand. A
features.
high equity brand has high value in the
marketplace. That value is determined by
consumer perception of and experiences with the
brand. Customer based brand equity can be
positive or negative. If people think highly of a
brand, it has positive brand equity. When a brand
consistently under-delivers and disappoints to the
point where people recommend that others avoid it,
it has negative brand equity.

Konapp considers brand equity as “totality of

brand’s perception. He includes the feelings of
6. Select the position / Making the positioning consumers, employees and all stakeholders while
Decision measuring the brand equity”.
After identifying the competitive advantages of the David Aaker defined brand equity as “a set of
brand and collecting information about how key assets associated with a brand, and which add to
competitors are positioned, a brand can select its the value provided by the product/service to its
position. Once effective brand positioning strategy customers”.
is developed, customers can easily identify features
of your product, direction for future products or
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Strong brand equity simply means more business, brand equity of antiseptic brand Dettol. Dettol soap
more value and longevity. Here are some of the is a very strong player in a highly competitive
advantages of having strong brand equity. bathing soap market.
5. Easy Distribution. Brand equity is a good
source of achieving good distribution network. It
Advantages to Marketers ( Company) is easier to get access in the distribution chain
when the brand has equity. The dealer’s exhibit
1. Increased effectiveness and efficiency of disbelief in dealing with a brand without equity
marketing programmes - The brand equity because of the uncertainties it brings along with it.
increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Therefore, channels welcome brands with equity
marketing programmes. The expenditure for a and give access to point of purchase displays, shelf
reputed brand to achieve a goal is less than an space, etc.
unbranded product aiming to achieve the same 6. Competitive Advantage . Finally, brand
goal. For instance, retaining a customer is much equity is a provider of competitive advantage. It
costlier for an unbranded product. This may imposes barriers on the entry of competitors. It can
partially happen due to lack of brand loyalty and provide strong competitive advantages in product
preference. Similarly, launching of a new product categories where most alternatives provide the
with extensions may be much simpler, easy and same benefits.. For instance Johnson & Johnson’s
less costly. ‘Savlon’ is hardly able to compete in the market
2. Customer loyalty. The brand equity allow with ‘Dettol’ due to its strong brand equity.
a firm to have greater customer loyalty. Customer
loyalty is an integral part of the brand equity. If Advantages to Customers
you have a strong and trusted brand, you will A brand’s equity is valuable to customers because:
always have a loyal customer base buying your
products. The customers can exhibit preference and 1. Helps customers in information
commitment to a brand only. A greater number of processing. A brand is useful in aiding customers
loyal customers automatically reduce the in interpreting, processing, and storing information
expenditures that need to be incurred in about the products and the brands. Brands are taken
maintaining a customer base. by customers as a bundle of information which are
3. Premium Pricing. Brand equity allows a easily decoded (drawn meaning thereof) and stored
firm to change premium. Positive brand equity in a proper order (classification). Brands allow
allows you to charge more for your product or customers to store great quantities of information
service, because people will be willing to pay a about brands without getting confused.
premium for the reputed brand name. For 2. Customer confidence. A Brand’s positive
example Some of the world’s leading luxury watch equity enhance customer confidence in the
brands such as Rolex or Cartier always charges a purchase decision. One feels more confident in
high price because of their brand equity. In fact, purchasing a reputed brand (imagine buying an
brands, which enjoy strong equity in the market, unbranded product e.g., like tooth paste). It
command a premium price. happens because of familiarity with a brand.
4. Opportunity for growth. Brand equity Familiarity creates confidence.
provides great opportunities for growth. A positive 3. Customer satisfaction. Another area of
brand equity allows a business to add more importance of positive brand equity is high degree
products without incurring significant promotional of usage satisfaction. Brand equity also help
expenditure, trying to get your brand recognized. consumers to express their psychological needs
Brand equity makes growth easier for the firms. like personality, social status, aspiration, etc. For
For instance, manufacturer of Dettol antiseptic example, owners of ‘an IBM-Thinkpad’ express
lotion introduces Dettol soap by relying on the pride in owning a technically advanced laptop.
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Factors Determining the Brand Equity superiority of a product relative to other brands.
Perceived quality is, first, a perception by
In his Brand Equity model, David A. Aaker customers. Quality is one of the main reasons for
identifies five brand equity components: (1) brand consumer preference for a brand in any product
loyalty, (2) brand awareness, (3) perceived quality, category. Thus, superior perceived quality can also
(4) brand associations and (5) other proprietary influence brand equity. For example in Indian
assets. detergent market Surf enjoys high brand equity
even though the product is much costlier than other
detergent powders.
4. Brand Association. Anything that is
connected to the customer’s memory about the
brand is an association. Brand Associations are not
benefits, but are images and symbols associated
with a brand or a brand benefit. They are the
attributes of brand which come into consumers
mind when the brand is talked about. Customers
form associations on the basis of quality,
advertisements of the brand, price, product displays
1. Brand Awareness. Awareness of the brand in retail stores, publicity in various media,
name among target customers is the first step in the celebrity associations etc. For example- The Nike
equity building process. People will often buy a Swoosh, Sachin Tendulkar as with “MRF” aare
familiar brand because they are comfortable with association. Associations contribute to brand
the brand. Or there may be an assumption that a equity, as strong, positive associations leads to
brand that is familiar is probably reliable, and of brand purchases and also blocks the entry for new
reasonable quality. Awareness essentially means competitors.
that customers know about the existence of the 5. Other proprietary brand assets. These
brand and can also recall what category the brand assets can take several forms like patents,
is in. A recognized brand will thus often be trademarks and channel relationships. For example,
selected over an unknown brand. Building brand a trademark will protect brand equity from
awareness can help marketers to increase brand competitors who might want to confuse customers
equity to the target audience through different by using a similar name, symbol, or package.
brand promotion methods.
2. Brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is the
tendency of consumers to continuously purchase
one brand's products over another competing
brand's. It shows how likely a customer will switch
to another brand, especially when that brand makes
a change, either in price or in product features.
Brand loyalty is usually rated as the most important
indicator of brand equity because loyalty develops
repeated purchases over a long period of time. If a
company has a higher brand loyalty, it can help to
reduce marketing cost. The company can also
introduce new products targeting the same
customer base.
3. Perceived Quality. Perceived quality is the
customer's understanding of the overall quality or
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