From: New Products Management by C. Merle Crawford.
(A) Position to an Attribute (The most popular positioning devices)
- Feature: Toothpaste “with fluoride”.
- Function: Shampoo which “coats your hair with a thin layer of protein”.
- Benefit: i) Direct: Room Cooler which “saves your money”. ii) Follow on: Toothpaste which “improves your social life.”
- Triad of all 3
Nivea Visage skin moisturizer: “New technology liposomes (feature) penetrate under the skin to deliver moisture where it is needed most (function), to make you beautiful (benefit)”.
New DRANO Product: “Thicker (feature), Stronger (function), Faster (benefit)”.
Trying to use all 3 can be confusing. The marketer has to be careful.
B) Position to a Surrogate (Substitute) (1/3 of all positionings)
Specific reasons why the product is better are not given; the listener or viewer has to provide those. If the surrogate is good, the listener will bring favorable attributes to the product. A one-sentence statement of surrogate positioning lets a listener bring perhaps four or five attributes to the product. Positioning surrogates act much as a metaphor does. About a third of all positionings today are surrogate.
1. Nonpareil: Because the product has no equal, it is the best (the Jaguar car and Nissan‘s 300ZX, the “convertible of convertibles”).
2. Parentage: Because of where it comes from, who makes it, who sells it, who performs it, and so on.
- Brand (Le Temps Chanel timepieces)
- Company (“Everything we know about peanut butter is now available in jars” for Reese‘s peanut butter
- Person (Polo by Ralph Lauren)
3. Manufacture: Because of how the product was made.
- Process (Hunt‘s tomatoes are left longer on the vine)
- Ingredients (Fruit of the Loom panties of pure cotton)
- Design (Audi‘s engineering).
4. Target: Because the product was made especially for people or firms like you.
- End Use (Vector tire designed especially for use on the wet roads)
- Demographic (several airlines have service specially designed for the business traveler)
- Psychographic (Sprite)
- Behavioral (Hagar‘s Gallery line for men who work out a lot, “fit for the fit”).
5. Rank: Because it is the best-selling product (Best Foods Mayonnaise: The world’s best selling mayonnaise); not very useful on a new item unless also positioned under parent brand.
6. Endorsement: Because people you respect say it is good.
- Expert (Roger Federer endorsing Wilson Pro Staff)
- Emulated (Omega watches designed for James Bond 007)
7. Experience: Because it’s long and frequent use attests to its desirable attributes.
- Other Market (Nuprin‘s extensive use in the prescription market)
- Bandwagon
- Time
8. Competitor: Because it is just (or almost) like another product that you know and like.
9. Predecessor: Because it is comparable (in some way) to an earlier product you liked (Hershey’s new Solitaires addition to the Golden Line).
Caution
- Positioning drives the entire program — everything. Don’t let dissonance exist between the cues given to the user.
- Every positioning, even an obvious one, should be pretested with the intended user.
- Contingency positionings should be in place in case the one used flops. The departments involved in implementing the contingency positionings should be informed of the possible change.
Positioning Statement
- It should be brief, simple and focused.
- Sacrifice — Brand cannot be all things to all people.
- Differentiate.
Format
To (Target Consumer), Brand X is the (Frame of reference), that (Point of Difference).
Target Market = Best Potential users/purchasers.
Frame of reference = Product Category.
Point of Difference = Differentiating Attribute.