Brand Positioning: Definition & Importance

Definition of Brand Positioning

Brand positioning can be described as the brand's positioning strategy with the intention of creating a distinct image in the minds of consumers and in the marketplace. Brand positioning must be attractive, precise, simple, and distinguishable from the majority of the market's competitors.

Effective brand positioning allows a company's brand to be easily distinguished from rival brands on the market.

Differentiating the brand from other brands can be done by associated brand attributes, customer advantages, and/or market segment focus, among other things. Effective brand positioning stresses dominance along one or more distinguishing dimensions which are valued by consumers.

Importance of Brand Positioning and Strategy:

1) Market Differentiation

Brand positioning that is distinctive and innovative not only removes the clutter from the market but also allows the brand a factor of difference as opposed to its direct and indirect rivals. It distinguishes the brand in the industry as well as in the minds of customers, with the distinctive selling proposition and positive qualities of the brand being entrenched in their minds and acting as a recall factor.

2) Justifies The Pricing Strategy

Another advantage of Brand Positioning is that it assists the company's management in justifying the pricing strategy. If the price of the brand's products is high due to the features of quality and class, and the Brand Positioning is designed in such a manner that the elements of quality and class are shown, the pricing part is immediately justified in the minds of the consumers. The same is true with products that are fair and affordable, and the positioning approach is designed and carried out accordingly.

3) Competitive Advantage

A good Brand Positioning that tactfully and creatively highlights the brand's core values, capabilities, qualities, and exclusive marketing propositions enjoys a competitive edge, which results in achieving the goals of higher sales, greater market share, consumer satisfaction, retaining new buyers, and increased earnings.

4) Makes the Brand More Creative

There are several companies in the industry that sell similar lines of products and services to the same target market and audience, but it is the Brand Positioning that distinguishes one brand from the others. And if the company is able to develop an ambitious and novel positioning approach and implementation, the brand is labeled as a creative brand.

A strong brand positioning allows buyers to connect with the brand's ideals and ideas on a deeper level that goes beyond the buyer-seller partnership.

Types of Brand Positioning Strategies

1)  Value-based Brand Positioning

Value-based positioning has two approaches, both of which are heavily reliant on the product's quality. They employ a psychological strategy that capitalizes on the belief that the more expensive something is, the better it is. This raises the appeal in the customer's eye, and the commodity is positioned as costly, valuable, and nice.

Alternatively, you should place the brand as delivering high-quality, low-cost products or services. It is critical in value positioning that the organization first establishes the consumer prices of the product in order to sell it.

2) Quality Based Brand Positioning

Positioning using a critical parameter such as quality can be a difficult positioning technique. Despite the fact that it can be conveniently paired with other tactics and placed. Nowadays, every company in the industry is attempting to define quality and its contribution to maintaining it.

One interesting way to differentiate your products from the competition is to limit your attention to a specific field of experience and use it as a promotional tool in terms of premium positioning. For example, everyone knows that Bose audio is the best, and they have positioned themselves accordingly. There was a substantial analysis done on just one parameter rather than both parameters.

3) Competitor based positioning

Companies are using this tactic to assert their dominance over all other available rivals in the industry as the rivalry has intensified. From insurance providers to cell phones, each company maintains its dominance by comparing its products or services to those of other firms or direct rivals.

The messages are normally concise and to the point, addressing the competition directly, though some may make an indirect connection to them. For example, in 2017, the iPhone X was released with a notch in the smartphone for the first time in the industry. Samsung ridiculed Apple by making an advertisement in which a person with a notch waits in line to purchase a new Apple iPhone, while a person who recently moved from Apple to Samsung is seen to be happier. This was an oblique reference to Apple and its new handset while still mocking its flaws.

4) Benefit Positioning

Working with the advantages of attributes and communicating those benefits to the consumer is an old practice that many brands still use. The approach emphasizes the advantages of the product or service to consumers and emphasizes that no robot can replicate them so they are exclusive to the individual brand.

Sensodyne is an example of a toothpaste that uses benefit positioning and is now a luxury toothpaste in the oral dentistry and oral hygiene industry. It has positioned itself as a supplier of oral medical solutions that customers can use on a daily basis to solve oral problems.

5) Problem and Solution Positioning

Many brands present themselves as problem-solvers for their clients. The idea behind such positioning is to show that this specific brand can help you solve your issues quickly and efficiently. Banks, insurance companies, and loan companies have all begun to establish themselves as solution providers.

6) Price Positioning

As critical as quality is in product success, price is an equally important element that decides the magnitude of success of a particular brand. Why are there exclusive brands that place themselves as exclusive and niche, appealing to a very small group of consumers who can afford to buy them?

There are also a significant number of consumers who are unable to buy such nice products or services in bulk.

Often brands market their products in order to cater to these consumers. Air Asia, a South Asian airline service headquartered in Malaysia, is one example of price positioning.

The airline has effectively established itself as an economical service aimed at the middle and lower-middle classes, allowing them to travel abroad.

7) Celebrity-driven Positioning:

Using celebrities as spokespersons to promote a certain type of product or service has long been a common method.

The aim of celebrity-driven positioning is to capture people's interest and raise brand exposure and popularity by associating a product or brand with the glamorous personality of a particular celebrity. This is frequently an expensive affair for the firms, but they prefer this way of splurging deliberately because of the celebrity's familiarity and success.

This connection of celebrity with the brand encourages many shoppers who imitate the celebrity to purchase the same brand, making them feel psychologically connected to the celebrity.

8) Leader-based positioning

Few businesses have taken this path because declaring a market leader requires the brand to be the best and most exclusive in the market. Many businesses begin with this plan, but as rivalry grows, they fall out, and the approach must be revised.

Facebook has the finest examples of long-term leadership-based positioning. In the social media category, Facebook is exceptional in terms of the content it offers and has the most people connected with it.

Examples of Brand Positioning strategy

If the Brand Positioning is established, the tagline or brand slogan, along with the brand logo, is attached to express the attributes and specific selling proposition in an innovative and strategic manner.

Here are several brands that are excellent examples of market positioning because they have the highest TOMA (Top of mind awareness) in their business.

Consumer electronics

• LG
• Samsung
• Sony
• Panasonic

The demand for consumer electronics is competitive. However, these four firms have the best market positioning in the eyes of their customers.

FMCG

• HUL
• P&G

Stalwarts and big-time players in the FMCG market, such as HUL and P&G, have a higher standing than any other. However, in many cases, the buyer may be familiar with the brands of these businesses rather than the parent firm.

Conclusion

Brand Position is an important component of overall brand architecture and strategy because it conveys the principles, culture, vision, and fundamentals of the brand and the overall business.

HBF Direct can make curated content strategies for your brand and suggest marketing activities and plans to develop a unique brand image in the mind of your customers. Contact us and we will get back to you with our team. Please fill the contact form by clicking here.