Three Questions you need to ask about your BRAND.

By Kevin Lane Keller, Brian Sternthal, and Alice Tybout.

What comes to your mind when you see these brands?

Superior Handling!

Innovation.

Natural hair smoothening

A non-cosmetic, skin friendly cream

Observe, that one major aspect is the points of differentiation . They are, in many cases, what consumers remember about a brand.

Aspects of Brand Positioning :

HOWEVER, Managers have to pay attention to two more important aspects :

Understanding the frame of reference within which their brands work

Addressing features that brands have in common with competitors. ( points of parity)

Consider SUBWAY..

It differentiated itself from other fast-food restaurants by focusing on “Healthfulness” offered by the Sub sandwich.

The management feared that a strong health-centered campaign would jeopardize the perception of subway as a fast-food establishment where good taste instead of health is often an important factor !

Brand positioning focusing only on a point of difference leaves out important issues.

Identification of an appropriate frame of reference and associated points of parity are important.

THINK. AGAIN.

SO we ask ourselves ….

Have We Established a Frame?

A frame of reference

Signals to consumers the goal they can expect to achieve by using a brand !

Dictates the types of associations that will function as the points of parity and difference.

It can be Brands in the same category.

Can also be the brands in quite disparate categories.

The influence of Product’s stage in the life cycle

Competitors as the frame of reference.

Consider FedEx :

Started off with a clear point of

difference from traditional mail delivery via Postal service as “Overnight Delivery”.

However, Many new competitors became providers of the same service and now,

they served as the frame of reference .

How? By specifying attributes like “Speed” and “Dependability”.

In such a frame, in order to stand out FedEx Positioned itself as superior to them.

Sometimes, The frame of reference changes. Even the established brands need to pay close attention.

Due to the advent of other forms of document transmission like Fax, email , the “speedy delivery” point of difference is rendered meaningless.

The frame of reference is expanded to include fax and email here.

After we have set the frame of reference, we find out…

Whether or not are we leveraging our Points of Parity?

It is especially important to identify points of parity when we introduce a new brand.

Consumers must perceive your product as a legitimate and credible player within that frame.

The more innovative the product, the greater the difficulty of fitting it into an established frame and meeting the frame’s minimum requirements.

The life and death of Motorola Envoy (1994-96)

The Biggest Faux Pas was …

1. Wow. Is it a pager?

1. nah. It’s too Large to be one and quite expensive.

2.Oh. Okay. Is it a like a laptop computer?

2.Yeah it can send emails and fax. But NO. Less storage and no keyboard.

3. Noow I get it. Is it an Organizer/calendar?

3. It can store contact info and calendar. But very cumbersome entry system.

Hmm. I am not sure why I should even spend $1500 and purchase this product.

Without a clear frame of reference and lack of points of parity, The envoy was impossible to be a member of any category!

Then came The Palm Pilot 1000, a device with only a fraction of the capabilities of Envoy , was launched.

The key factor in the product's success was its point of parity with electronic organizers; it was able to claim this category as a frame of reference.

The more the extension differs from a base brand, the greater the importance of focusing on the frame of reference.

Brand Extensions.

Dove moved into the dishwashing liquid business with a product that claimed to “soften your hands as you do the dishes” !

Sales were disappointing. It was obvious that consumers were looking for a dishwashing liquid that cleaned the dishes properly rather than soft hands.

Dove needed to establish its points of Parity with competitors

before stressing its differences.

Established brands.

Managers of established brands also need to reassess points of parity from time to time because attributes that were once differentiators can become minimum requirements.

Dealing with competitors – Savvy Marketing.

Marketers can hold off a competitor’s point of difference by creating competitive points of parity.

Example : Gillette is no longer the only company selling triple-blade razors…

A brand can “break even” in an area where competitors are trying to break away and then achieve a point of difference in some other area.

By attacking a competitor’s point of difference and recasting it as a point of parity, a company hopes to draw attention to its own point of difference.

DESI EXAMPLE :

Another example :

The third most important question we ask ourselves is :

Are The Points of Difference Compelling? (Would the consumers put a straw in them ? )

Assuming a frame of reference is identified correctly, even seemingly contradictory points of difference can be powerful.

To target your message better, consider these kinds of differences

Brand performance associations

Brand imagery associations

Consumer insight associations

1. Brand Performance associations

They relate to the ways in which a product or service attempts to meet customers functional needs.

Five broad categories , which come into play when brands are assessed on characteristics a buyer can investigate are :

Brand’s performance on benefits that prompt consumption

The Brand’s reliability, durability, and serviceability

Service effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy

Style and design

Associations to value and price might help differentiate a brand from its competitors

2. Brand Imagery AssociationsWhen making choices based on experience-such as where to get a haircut or eat dinner – consumers use brand imagery associations.

Brand imagery is typically established by depicting who uses the brand and under what circumstances.

I’m going to use your brand from now on, because it makes me feel good. :P

3.Consumer Insight associations.

They are generally used when a brand’s performance and imagery don’t differ much from those of the competition.

If all other measures are equal, a brand that can show consumers it has insight into their problems or goals can then make the case that it is the solution.

For example Lee jeans show women’s

tribulations in the search for

jeans that fir well as the basis for positioning Lee

as the brand that offers superior

fit.

However, use of consumer insight as a point of difference is generally a less attractive basis for positioning than focusing on a brand benefit or imagery association because insights into consumers goals are readily emulated.

The insight that young men desired to be hip and admired by their peers has become a point of parity rather than a point of difference for automobile companies- the same insight underlines ads from Volkswagen, Toyota, and Subaru

Desirability.To qualify as desirable, a point of difference must be perceived by the brand’s audience as both relevant and believable.

Example : Flaked crystals have been used in successfully promoting Folgers coffee, even though flaking’s contribution to product performance is unclear.

The simplest approach to believability is to point to a unique, provable attribute of the product.

A High caffeine soft drinkHigher caffeine concentration for more energy

Palm-pilot 1000 organizer

One-button PC synchronization

Subway sandwiches Fewer grams of fat

Deliverability. A product’s point of difference needs to meet three deliverability criteria. First, creating the point of difference must be feasible !

Airlines have been wise enough to abandon efforts to claim superior on-time performance as their point of difference because there are too many uncontrollable factors.

Secondly, positioning on a particular benefit must be profitable, defensible, difficult to attack.

For example, Outpost.com offered free delivery of customer purchases but canceled the service after one year when it became apparent the benefit could not be sustained profitably

Market Leaders typically market their products on the basis of the category’s points of parity.

Follower brands must not neglect points of parity as a means of announcing their frame of reference, but they compete on points of difference

Like McDonalds is great taste; Subway has good enough taste but competes on healthfulness.

Pantene offers healthier hair ; Suave gives you healthy hair at a lower price.

Putting It All Together.

Points of Parity

Frame of Reference

Points of Difference.

Developing an effective position requires these elements to be internally consistent at any point of time.

Ensuring that attributes don’t contradict one another is particularly important.

Inexpensive“of highest quality”

Nutritious Good tasting

Powerful safe

ubiquitous exclusive

From a consumer’s perspective, the fact that a brands possess a given benefit can imply that it will not possess the other. It is difficult to position brands as mentioned above!

But. It’s sometimes possible to make the case that contradictions are, in fact, Complements !

When apple launched Macintosh, its key point of difference was “ user friendly”

But customers assumed that easy to use PC could not be very powerful

But. Look at Apple’s genius reaction to that.

It started an Ad Campaign that stated “ The most powerful computers are ones that people actually USE “

Making it Last.

As the brand ages, the challenge is to make sure it stays up to date and in touch with consumers shifting needs.

Presenting the same points of difference over time does not sustain a brand’s performance. It may be necessary to deepen the meanings associated with this brand.

The brand is then positioned in such a way that its point of difference becomes its essence and implies goal attainment. This is called Laddering up.

An example : The focus of initial advertising spot of a cellular company in the first generation was on unique product features that made the phone service reliable

In the second generation, the ads examined the implication of reliable service which is that customers would be less concerned about being tied to the office to await important calls.

The next generation of advertising might focus on a more general implication : consumers greater freedom of movement.

Identify what is your “BIG IDEA”.

Present the customers , over time, with a variety of attributes that imply the BIG Benefit. It builds a Stronger brand image.

A DESI EXAMPLE : Which ever advertisement of Nirma you see, Notice that the names of the characters and their job remain the same .i.e. getting their clothes murky! Hema, Rekha, Jaya Aur Sushma.

The people readily associate the ad with the brand name. They understand the Big idea of the Ladies mentioned above. And hence the Brand image is built.

Avoid these Pitfalls of brand Positioning.

Trying to build brand awareness before establishing a clear brand position.

Promoting attributes that consumers don’t care about!

Investing in points of differences that can be copied easily

Becoming so intent on responding to competition that they walk away from their established positions.

Repositioning a brand without proper thought. It is always difficult and sometimes impossible.

Frames of reference, points of parity and differences are moving targets!

Don’t be stupid enough to think they will ever be Static. Foresight is always a great strength.

Recap of the three golden questions of Branding!

Are The Points of Difference Compelling? (Would the consumers put a straw in them ? )

Have We Established a Frame?

Whether or not are we leveraging our Points of Parity?

Asking yourself these questions will help ensure right brand positioning.

The Savviest Brand Positioners are also the most vigilant!

A presentation by Aishwarya Kandukuri,IIITDMK,Guided by Prof. Sameer Mathur, An internship in Marketing Management,IIM Lucknow.

www.iiminternship.com

Thank you !