124 Reading: The Positioning Process
Getting to the Right Position
Arriving at the best positioning and differentiation strategy involves a process. The goal of the process is to design an identity that both confirms the value of the product, service, or brand in the customer’s mind and explains why and how the offering is better than the competition. To reach that goal, marketers typically follow a positioning process comprised of the following five steps:
The Five Steps of the Positioning Process
- Confirm your understanding of market dynamics
- Identify your competitive advantages
- Choose competitive advantages that define your market “niche”
- Define your positioning strategy
- Communicate and deliver on the positioning strategy
Step 1: Confirm Your Understanding of Market Dynamics
At the start of the positioning process, you need a firm understanding of your target market and answers to the following questions:
- In which product, service, or market category (also called the “frame of reference”) do you plan to use this positioning?
- Which target segment is your focus for the positioning you are developing?
- What factors do these buyers evaluate when they make a purchasing decision?
- How do these buyers view your competitors in the category?
If you don’t have answers to these questions, you should consider conducting formal or informal marketing research to reach a better understanding of your target market and the market dynamics around it. Some marketers may have the time and resources to conduct extensive research, while others may need to rely on their own experience and anecdotal conversations with target customers. Either way, you’ll remember that the customer is at the centre of the marketing mix, so knowing whom you’re targeting is the only place to start.
Step 2: Identify Your Competitive Advantages
A competitive advantage is some trait, quality, or capability that allows you to outperform the competition. It gives your product, service, or brand an advantage over others in purchasing decisions. Competitive advantage may come from any or all of the following:
- Price: Something in your production process or supply chain may make it possible for you to provide comparable value at a lower cost than competitors.
- Features: You may provide tangible or intangible features that your competitors do not: for example, more colours, better taste, a more elegant design, quicker delivery, personalized service, etc.
- Benefits: You may provide unique benefits to customers that your competitors cannot match. Benefits are intangible strengths or outcomes your customer gets when they use your offering. For example, time savings, convenience, increased control, enjoyment, relaxation, more choices, feeling better about oneself, being more attractive, etc.
Create a list of the things that make you different from competitors in positive ways. Then identify which of these factors are also competitive advantages: the influential factors that help yo