Literature review about positioning on the basis of existing scientific articles in the ProQuest database.
Positioning is one of the basic concepts in the world of marketing. It was first introduced in late ‘60s. by Jack Trout ( "Industrial Marketing" Magazine- June/1969) and then popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their book "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind." (McGraw-Hill 1981).
Positioning is one of the basic concepts in the world of marketing. It was first introduced in late ‘60s. by Jack Trout ( "Industrial Marketing" Magazine- June/1969) and then popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their book "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind." (McGraw-Hill 1981).
Positioning means putting a product or service in the consumer’s mind. Applying the concept to brand level, positioning can be defined as creating the perception of a brand in the customer's mind and of achieving differentiation that stands apart from competitors' brands and their offerings and that it meets the consumer's needs and expectations. Because a brand position is part of the brand identity and value proposition that demonstrates and advantage over competing brands, it needs to be actively communicated to the target audience.
Positioning, being a crucial element of a brand’s marketing strategy, should be part of every marketing plan. Because it’s equally important as product, price, place and promotion it can be considered the 5th marketing “P”.
Along with positioning, the concepts of re-positioning and de-positioning are also present. While re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market, de-positioning also involves attempting to change the identity but of competing products, and relative to the identity of your own product.
Positioning consists of three components that characterizes it, that is to say: attributes, benefits, and claims (often abbreviated to ABC). Identifying a product or service's intrinsic attributes should always be the first step in approaching a positioning or repositioning problem or opportunity. These attributes define products’ or services’ very essence as they are inherent in them. In case of a product, intrinsic attributes are the ingredients as they define all of the characteristics and features derived from a product's formulation, packaging, name, pricing, and distribution. Similarly, for a service, attributes are the specific service acts. More broadly, they include all of the characteristics and features that surround the process itself, including the entire "service delivery system." The number of product/service attributes that can be identified is typically very large. Because of this, with market research paradigms such as those found in market segmentation studies, respondents frequently spend hours trying to describe the many ways a product or service in the category can be dimensionalized. These attributes may reflect small nuances that will occasionally elude some respondents. However, as a group, they serve to identify the many consumer-oriented ways of characterizing a class of products or services. An attribute or service act can serve as the basis for a position, but it becomes meaningful to a consumer only when perceived as providing a positive benefit or removing a problem. It means that although attributes and service acts may have intrinsic value to the consumer, they would not be recognized as such without a perceived associated benefit.
Benefits derive directly from attributes and can take three main forms: functional, physical, or psychological. Benefits address consumer wants and needs and might serve as the basis of a successful positioning. It may also happen that one benefit will be an intermediate phase leading to some end-benefit and recognizing that cases is useful in identifying alternative positioning possibilities. Moreover, an end-benefit of can lead to a final payoff that could lead to additional pay-offs. Also, one person's final payoff often serves as an intermediate link in someone else's "benefit chain." The relationships between benefits and payoffs can be better conceptualized when combined with Maslow's Theory of Human Motivation. Following Maslow’s approach, at their highest levels, consumer payoffs will reflect a fundamental actualizing need, such as being acceptable for example. At their lowest levels, these payoffs will reflect a desire for meeting the very basic needs, such as satisfying one's thirst or hunger. As an aid for benefit identification, Maslow theory can be adapted into a hierarchical benefit-based approach for categorizing the different ascending levels as inherent product attributes, functional end-benefits, physical end-benefits, psychological end-benefits, and final payoffs.
Communicating company’s offerings’ attributes and benefits is accomplished through specific claims. From a product or service performance perspective, claims may be better characterized as "promises," as that term recognizes the commitment to performance against which the customer will evaluate the product or service being presented. Promises and claims are fundamental for creating the advertising copy strategy. They can serve as the reason for purchase, focus of sale, strategy statement, core idea, or unique selling proposition, along with all of the support points necessary for creating a position.
Most frequently, claims in advertising copy are stated explicitly as this approach puts the least burden on the consumer and may help to avoid potential problems that derive from having overestimated a consumer's ability or desire to draw inferences and implications. However, promises and claims are often implicit and communicated nonverbally or by implication. Body language, facial expressions, and situational visuals are among the many nonverbal techniques that are frequently used by advertisers. Implications, mainly in the communication of implied superiority, are also common.
Promises and claims are often characterized as being cognitive or affective appeals, that is to say, as aiming for the consumer's head (through rational arguments) or stomach (through emotional claims). usually, assumptions about the consumer decision-making process and category or brand strategy indicate which of these alternative paths should be chosen.
The concept of product differentiation is as closely related to positioning as to market segmentation. It can be defined as distinguishing a product or offering from others on a relevant or irrelevant attribute to make it more attractive to a particular target market. In other world, differentiation is what makes a product or service stand out and is a powerful mean of obtaining competitive advantage.
There are various possible differentiation leverages. In case of products the most common basis are:
-capacity (what it does for the buyer)
-quality (how well it does its specified functions)
-price (the amount paid by the buyer)
-effort (the time and energy expended by the buyer)
Services can be differentiated through:
- space (location, situation, interior and exterior design and architecture, sound atmosphere, lighting, colors, etc.)
- the information given to customers, sign-posting, etc.
- style of welcome and human relations.
- time management (queues, presentation time, etc.).
So how to position brand’s offering? Again, like in case of segmentation, it is not an easy task. Positioning as a strategy refers to the choice of target market segment which describes the customers a business will seek to serve and the choice of differential advantage which defines how it will compete with rivals in the segment. Therefore, it only applies at the level of a particular product and/or service operating within a particular market, and it should not be confused with the broader concept of "corporate" strategy, or with the more specific concepts of strategy as it relates to each individual element of the marketing mix, such as a "promotional" or "pricing" strategy.
A positioning strategy can be broken down into three interrelated subcomponents: customer targets, competitor targets and competitive advantage. This process of positioning strategy formulation demands the ability of building-up a picture of the marketplace and thinking creatively about the interrelationships between these three sub-components. The idea is to choose a segment of the market where, by virtue of the its distinctive strengths, a company/brand is able to satisfy customer needs better than (or at least as well as) its competitors. This demands a thorough understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats profile (SWOTS) facing the firm--something which can only be achieved by a thorough internal (company), competitor, and customer/market analysis.
In most cases, positioning strategy formulation is an extremely time consuming and difficult task. Firstly, because it demands a great deal of marketing research and analysis to understand the marketplace fully, and secondly, because there are no rules; on how to interpret it. However, a few commonsense principles to bear in mind do exist and can be summarized in the form of a six-point checklist:
- Is the positioning based on a comprehensive situation analysis of yourselves, your competitors and your market?
-Is it, as far as possible, built around your company's particular strengths?
- Does it accurately define your customer targets with a thorough understanding of their needs and requirements?
- Does it accurately define your competitor targets, reflecting a coherent competitive strategy?
- Does it accurately define a sustainable competitive advantage?
- Is it actionable, that is to say, does it translate into a distinctive marketing mix?
One final point. As we have seen, formulating a marketing positioning strategy demands a lot from the strategist, such as analytical ability, patience, creativity, imagination and sheer instinct--but above all it demands wisdom.
An effective position is one that enables a brand or product or service to occupy a preferred and unique niche in a customer's mind, a niche that is also consistent with the overall marketing strategy.
Once the positioning has been determined, the rest of the marketing plan can be better developed. The product or service, its price, distribution and promotion will all work together to put that product or service where it should be in the minds of the consumers.
To sum up, positioning is a crucial element of the marketing plan. To be successful over the long term, a firm's offering must be well positioned in the market place. A differentiated position is the one that generates high return on profits. Considering that communication overload is common in society, and especially in advertising, positioning shouldn’t be about getting new information to the consumer, but about reconnecting what is already there in the way a company/brand wants consumers to perceive its offerings. Positioning can require the most creativity of a company’s marketing plan. It deserves the most effort, but it can also be the most rewarding. If the act of designing the image of the firm’s offering has been done correctly, the target customers will understand and appreciate what the product stands for in relation to its competitors.
Differentiation:
The high number of Polish publishers and high number of books they release every year combined with easy access to foreign publication make a good differentiation a necessity. In the segment of scholar books differentiation is mostly based on price and the time that takes to release a new position after a change in the curriculum. In case of the sector of fiction writing important is availability of many titles both in paperback and hardcover forms. This way readers who care only about book content can have them for less money and those who seek cheaper but more representatively looking books to collect in series and display on bookshelves can satisfy their needs as well. In the segment of books for youth and children publishers differenciate mostly by price and the quality of colour pictures, while in the segment of professional and technical books differentiation is based mostly on the quality, accuracy and latestness of information they contain.
WSiP is the leading publisher in the segment of scholar publications, offering both printed books and e-books. Nowa Era also operates in the same segment. WoltersKluwer is a leader of the sector of books dedicated to business and law and PWN of the sector of encyclopaedias and publications about science. Reader's Digest and Świat Książki are present in all sort of segments, from fiction, through science to cooking, travel, etc. Grupa Edukacyjna is yet another publisher from the segment of scholar books while Pearson Central Europe is dedicated to dictionaries and books for learning foreign languages. Wiedza i Praktyka operates in the segment of academic publications focusing mostly on business and management. Znak is present in many different sectors such as scholar publications, books for youth and children, business, science, nonfiction, but the sector of belles lettres is the one in which it has the most market share.
