by The Quality option
Often the price and quality of a product align, certainly in the mind of the consumer, as the high price is often associated with high quality. But positioning a product based on its high quality or ‘luxury’ is different from positioning based on price. Often these brands do not communicate their price point, but instead high quality or prestige is the focal point of communication, to create a desire so customers want the product regardless of the price.
Note that luxury does not always mean better quality, but customers still believe it is better because of the reputation of the brand due to their long-term brand positioning strategies. For example, a $500,000 Rolls Royce car, the epitome of luxury, is likely to have a lower build quality than a $50,000 Hyundai.
Value option
Creation in marketing means that the company and client are happy with the value created from the product or service purchase. Also, anything that offers benefit is value, and different firms are the sources of different value.
The following is his list of how the marketer creates value:
- The marketer chooses prices that will create value in exchange.
- The marketer chooses the product features and services that will deliver value.
- The marketer chooses channels of distribution that create accessibility and convenience value.
- The marketer chooses messages that describe the value their offerings create.
The Pioneer
Market pioneering and competitive positioning strategy are fundamentally related. Positioning is a crucial strategic decision for pioneers or brands that compete with them because pioneers often dominate competition, sometimes for decades. Successful strategy design requires an understanding of how and why pioneers influence competition so greatly for so long.
A Narrow Product focus
Associating your brand/product with a specific use.
Conventional models of product positioning strategies center on catching the eye of consumers. While there is a wide range of options for brands to consider in product positioning, most can be broken down into one of three categories.
Differentiation: Sometimes, the uniqueness of a product can’t be duplicated, making it ideal for a differentiation strategy. An excellent example of a product easily differentiated is Barilla’s Pronto pasta. While the pasta aisle is competitive, Pronto offers a unique selling point in that it requires no draining. As such, this is the primary focal point that the brand highlights on its packaging to gain consumer attention.
Comparative: Comparative positioning strategies work by placing products right next to other brands to highlight their competitive edge. A typical example of this occurs when stores place a white label value brand next to a more expensive name brand product. Often, the label includes a “compare to X brand” statement to show the consumers that the products are similar, but the value brand offers a better price.
Segmentation: Sometimes, helping a product stand out requires focusing on multiple audiences with different needs, but with the same product. Consider a simple product like Bayer aspirin. The brand offers bottles of its tablets in the pharmacy aisle at the grocery store, but they also provide smaller, on-the-go packs for purchase at the convenience store. Through this, they target consumers buying bottles of medication for their households for use in the future, as well as travelers or individuals dealing with an immediate ache or pain they want to take care of right away.
