Marketing Strategy Of Brand Positioning

Catherine, W., Tat Pui, L. and Henrik, U. (2011) The Roles of Branding for a Brand Entering

Due to the globalization of the economy, there has been great competition in the business sector. The basic human desire to challenge new limits and capture as much market as it is possible has given a new dimension to the concept of marketing - brand positioning. To position a brand requires making choices; whereas having a position means people will prefer a brand over another. A brand can be positioned in several ways: offering a specific benefit, targeting a specific segment, price or distribution. Despite the fact that positioning is considered by both academics and practitioners to be one of the key elements of modern marketing management, it is surprising to uncover general paucity of consumers/customers derived studies regarding

According to Keller(1993) the effective brand positioning gives a brand a competitive advantage or “unique selling proposition” that determines a reason why consumers are buying this product or service (Keller, 1993). Similarly, Kay (2004) argues that brand’s strength depends

A brand is an organisation, product or service which has created an emotional connection with their consumers in order for them to favour their brand over their competitors. It is incredibly important for brands to keep up their image and one little thing could change the global perception of a business. It takes a lot to maintain a brand image that has been built up over a long period of time and even more to regain it if that reputation is lost. Brands are created through various different aspects such as their visuals, tone of voice, advertising, actions and reputation. The combination of these will leave their consumers with long lasting emotions and perceptions of a particular brand and will effect whether they support a business or not and whether they would favour or avoid it. When a brand looses their image it can cost a lot of money and time to rebrand to prevent complete failure of the product or service.

Brand strategy is of upmost importance when it comes to customer visualizing a company. Branding is critical to the company as well as the product. The company brand embodies what the company is about,including the product (Hatline, M.D. & Ferrel, O.C., 2014). Branding provides the company with leverage when it tries to enter new markets Whether that be new locations or new product offerings (Douglas, S. P., Craig, C. S., & Nijssen, E. J., 2001).

What position does branding hold in the minds of the customers compared with competition? Branding is a strategy used by marketers to differentiate products and companies in order to build economic value particularly for the consumer and the brand owner. A strong brand in most cases inspires customer loyalty that leads to high sales of products. Given that, Microsoft that represents a series of owns Xbox One video games has introduced the strategy of branding in order to remain viable in the market.

Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.

What a strange word, “positioning.” Its origins are shrouded in the fog of history. The popular marketing writers, Jack Trout and Al Ries, started talking about position or positioning in 1972 or thereabouts, and took credit later for having invented positioning. However, I believe that positioning was an emerging concept and a term, in at least limited use, within the marketing and advertising community at the time that Trout and Ries first wrote about it. Certainly, the basic concepts of positioning were not new in 1972. The term “positioning” was described by Trout and Ries as the basic position in the consumer’s mind occupied by a brand. They saw positioning as an antidote to the “over-communicated” society, in which consumers were

The company will conduct marketing strategies that aim at creating an image for the brand in the minds of the consumers and reminding them customers about their products consistently.

Branding has become the key concept of marketing strategies. Brand is the name of firm, products, services, and above all, it is coherent with the firm’s image from

Having a good brand is not a guarantee that it will always survive for a lifetime. Brands die if they are not managed properly. For having a good brand management strategy requires a lot of planning. But to start with, the “Vision and Mission” of the brand makes all the difference. If the positioning strategy is not aligned with the vision and mission of the brand then successive strategies might have a negative effect on the brand.

Being established in the year 1877 as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal, Quaker Oats Company has dominated the Oat meal market for over 1 century. Quaker believes that they are “Committed to uncover the power of the oat to provide families with the healthy fuel they want to help them do more of what matters.” One of the most key concepts in a successful marketing is to market positioning. In market positioning, it is ideal to be the first in a market. Studies has proven that the easiest way to get into a person’s mind is to be first. Quaker meal has mastered the concept of product positioning. They have proven first in many categories in the Oatmeal category. In 1877 Quaker registered as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal.

Deciding on positioning requires determining a frame of reference by identifying the target market and the nature of the competition and the ideal points-of-parity, and points-of-difference brand associations. Determining the proper competitive frame of reference depends on understanding consumer behavior and the considerations consumers use

In the book, Positioning: The Battle for your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout teach businesses how to use positioning as a communication tool to reach target customers in an overcrowded marketplace. For many years, many people focus marketing based on the four pieces, which are product, price, promotion, and distribution. However, Ries and Trout emphasize the position as the fifth piece of the marketing plan, also the most influential piece of the marketing plan. There are some key points that Ries and Trout mentions in the positioning book “information overload, how to getting into the mind of the consumers, positioning as a leader, how to reposition in the competitive market, and lastly, the power of a name. These are the main topics that the authors discuss throughout the book. Overall, Al Ries ad Jack Trout emphasize that positioning is an essential part of the marketing piece, where it aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to competing brands in the mind of the customers.

In recent times, branding has played a pivotal role in some brands’ success. This has been made possible through the ability of some marketers to capture the essence and minds of people (consumers), and put the trends and characteristics into the personality of a brand. Customers have always found ways to identify themselves with certain products, and on several occasions, branding campaigns