Understanding Positioning & Repositioning In Marketing.
Do you ever wonder how you can make a name for yourself in an over-saturated industry with other talented and high-quality businesses? – Positioning & Repositioning In Marketing
That’s where your positioning in marketing comes to play.
What is Market Positioning?
Market positioning refers to the process of establishing the image or identity of a brand so that customers perceive it that way.
This can be created through the use of the 4 Ps: promotion, price, place and product.
The best way to do this is through a positioning strategy.
The more detailed your strategies is at defining these 4 Ps, the more effective the marketing strategy will be.
For example:
Mercedes Benz positioned themselves as a symbol for luxury and durability.
McDonald’s positions itself as a place to get cheap and quick meals.
Microsoft positions themselves as a tech company that offers innovative and user-friendly products.
Apple position itself as the most ideal product for smart and creative thinkers
Positioning of a brand or product is a strategic process that involves marketing the brand or product in a certain way to create and establish an image or identity within the mind of the consumer.
Market positioning of a brand or product must be maintained over the life of the brand or product.
Rolex for many years has been the top luxury watch provider in the market.
Just like Rolex, you also need to create an ongoing marketing initiative intended to reinforce the target market’s perception of your product or brand.
So, how do you do that?
You would need to create a strong marketing positioning strategy.
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What is a Market Positioning Strategy?
Like discussed above, a good positioning strategy elevates your marketing efforts and helps a buyer move from knowledge of a product or service to purchase.
A solid market strategy is crucial to the successful longevity of a business. The sooner you create, the better for your business.
Actively positioning a brand means the brand must truly position themselves with the right values, messaging and experience.
However, that is easier said than done because there are a lot of elements that go into positioning in marketing.
But let’s take a look at some of the things you should include in your strategy to clearly define your brand.
To get you started, create a positioning statement
A positioning statement is the identity your business is striving for.
The positioning statement, like a mission statement, becomes the basis for your business identity.
It helps identify who you are and what you stand for.
For example, MTN Nigeria position itself for “wider coverage”
There are a few things that go into creating an effective positioning statement, these include:
Defining your Target Audience: Those are people who need your product most.
Defining your Target Market: That’s where your target audience duels, where you can easily find them.
Creating a Value Proposition Statement: What your product represent.
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Just like Amazon
For internet users who want things fast and easy, Amazon.com is a retail database that provides instant access to millions of items.
Unlike traditional retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, and comprehensive selection.
Once you have a strong brand positioning statement you can then create a tagline, or better known as a slogan, to use externally for potential customer’s messaging.
This is a shorter version of what you want your customers to know.
For example, here are some business taglines:
Nike: “Just do it.”
MTN Nigeria: “everywhere you go”
Walmart: “Always low prices. Always.”
By simplifying your positioning statement, you can easily use these in other marketing efforts to get your business point across a lot easier than a longer positioning statement.
Repositioning
What is Market Repositioning?
Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully crafted your marketing positioning, people will have their own ideas of what your business is.
Positioning is the result of your customer’s perception of what you do.
So, like any marketing effort, you should be prepared to adapt and change your market position as needed.
By examining the essence of who you are and comparing it with what your customers want, things might need to change.
Market repositioning is when a company changes its existing brand or product status in the marketplace.
Repositioning is usually done due to declining performance or major shifts in the market.
It is best to see what worked and what did not work in your previous marketing efforts to best reposition yourself in the market.
Many companies, instead of repositioning, choose to launch a new product or brand because of the high cost and effort required to successfully reposition a brand or product.
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Exercise
Create a positioning statement for your business.
Create a tagline for your business.
