positioning in marketing

TRINITY INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Sector – 9, Dwarka Institutional Area, New Delhi-75Affiliated Institution of G.G.S.IP.U, Delhi

Positioning in Marketing

Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Associate Professor

TRINITY INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIESSector – 9, Dwarka Institutional Area, New Delhi-75

Definition of Positioning?

Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to make a distinctive place in the mind of the target

market or consumer.

Process of Positioning of a Product

1. Analyze the consumers’ perceptions in relation to competitors’.

2. Identify competitors’ positions.

3. Find out the consumer preferences.

4. Select the position for the product.

5. Monitor the positioning strategy.


Types of Positioning• Attributes based positioning: This type of positioning is

seen with technical products. E.g. The Ericsons EH237 mobile phone is its Low weight and has a number of features

a. Physical characteristics:• These can be measured in physical scale like the

temperature, color intensity, distance, strength of fragrance etc.

b. Pseudo-physical characteristics:• These show the physical properties which are not easily

measured. The examples are type of fragrance, creaminess etc.


Types of Positioning

• Benefits Based positing: This is based on the needs fulfilled by the products e.g. Crest toothpaste reduces cavities.

• Usage occasions based positioning: The same can be seen in products like Mentadent Night Action toothpaste positioned for evening use. Another example is Itch Guard skin ointment which has been positioned as an Over. The Counter (OTC) medicine.


• Competitors‘ based Positioning: Here a product is directly positioned against a competitor. E.g Compaq has been directly compared to the competitor products like IBM personal computers.

• Product Class: E.g. of this positioning is Van Den Bergh's “I Can't Believe It's Not Butter” which is positioning the product against butter. Another example is Nescafe Bru positioned itself as instant coffee



• Quality Positioning: Here the product is positioned on the basis of quality e.g.Sony

• Price Positioning: Positioning could also be done on the basis of price of the product e.g. Akai and Tata products are always cheapest in their segment.




• The cultural symbol approach:Some companies use strong cultural symbols to differentiate their brands .For example the Brand name Gattu by Asian Paints helps them to position itself as a brand that is always ready to help, quick in decision-making and very much young and contemporary.


Types of Positioning Errors

• Under Positioning – This refers to the state where consumers are unable to look at the advantage, and feel the USP of the product e.g.Vanilla Coke

• Over Positioning – This could be giving the buyers too narrow a picture of the company. For e.g. if the consumers assumes that Steuben glass company makes only fine art glass costing Rs.1,000 whereas it could also make a glass Rs.50.


Types of Positioning Errors

• Confused Positioning: Here the buyers have a confused image of the company. E.g.Next computers

• Doubtful Positioning: Buyers find hard to believe the brand claims e.g. Fair and Handsome cream

Thank You

positioning in marketing

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