Determine the Competitors'Positions One way of defining competitors is to look at

Determine the Competitors'Positions One way of defining competitors is to look at

It is an odd feature of many of the techniques consumers' consideration set. For consumer

used in positioning research that the competitors' non­durables, customers are asked what other

positions appear before understanding how cus­ brands they considered in their buying process.

tomers differentiate between them. For example, This could show the present tendency for cus­

in similarities­based multidimensional scaling, tomers to buy soda water and tonic water ­ tra­

respondents sort a stack of cards that contain ditionally mixers ­ as an alternative to mineral

pairs of competing products: for instance, card water or other soft drinks A more exhaustive way

one could read 'Pepsi Max and Coca­Cola'; card of mapping product markets uses a series of inter­

two, Terrier and 7­Up'; card three, 'Pepsi Max views. {1} Start by asking respondents the use

and Dr Pepper', and so on. Then ask the respon­ context of a product ­ say, a low­alcohol lager. (2)

dents to rank the pairs according to their simi­ For each use context identified ­ such as the

larity, the pair most alike on the top and the pair lunch­time snack or at a bar ­ respondents iden­

most unalike on the bottom. Since this can be a tify all alternative drinks. (3) For each drink

rather cumbersome process, it is best first to ask identified, the respondent has to identify an

respondents to stack the cards into three piles appropriate use context. The process continues

representing those pairs that arc very similar, until there is a full list of contexts and drinks. (4)

those pairs that are very unalike and a middling

A second group of respondents then judges how group, The respondents then rank the pairs appropriate each drink would be for each usage

within each group.

situation. If both low­alcohol lager and coke were The objective is to develop a plot of the stim­ appropriate for a company lunch­time snack, but

uli (drinks) that shows those that people saw as inappropriate for an evening meal, they are direct

similar close together and those that respondents competitors.

said were dissimilar far apart. Although this is a difficult task to conduct manually, computers are

The Competitive Dimensions adept at finding solutions and there are many Kelly grids are a popular market research tech­

computer packages that can be used, KYST pro­ nique that identifies the dimensions underlying a

duces perceptual maps from the similarities market. (1) Give respondents three stimuli (say.

matrix provided and many sorts of data. Figure 1 Pepsi Max, Schweppes Soda Water and Perrier)

shows Pepsi Max and Coca­Cola positioned well

Perecprual Mapping • 451

away from the economic drink, tap water. Again. PREFMAP can locate these segments on Noticeably. Perrier has also distanced itself from

the product map.

tap water, hence its premium price. Alternative Ways of Mapping Adding Competitive Dimensions and

In developing positioning maps, researchers are Customers

spoilt for choice by the number of approaches To find out how the dimensions fit the perceptual

available. PREFMAP can combine the identifi­ map, respondents rate each drink on the basis of

cation of the perceptual map of product positions the attributes identified. The result is another

and underlying dimensions. This program would series of matrices that are difficult to analyze

require respondents to rate drinks along each of manually, and again, computers must come to

the dimensions, such as 'exciting' or 'natural', and our aid: in this case, a package called PREFMAP

would then involve aggregating the results to takes the perceptual map of product positions

arrive directly at a map. Correspondence analy­ and fits the dimensions as they best describe the

sis is another method that is now widely respondents' perceptions. A two­stage process

acclaimed by practitioners. It is popular because adds customer positions to the drinks map. First,

it makes maps using cross­tabulated data that respondents rate the drinks on their preference.

often already exist.

Cluster analysis then segments those respon­ dents with similar preferences (see Marketing Highlight 9.4 to find out about this), which indi­ cates the presence of three main clusters. Analysis of their demographic characteristics shows these clusters to be: young professionals, who found Perricr and Schweppes most attract­ ive; family buyers, who preferred own brands; and teenagers, attracted by Pepsi Max and Coke.

452 • Chapter 10 Positioning

Xylitol Jenkki Xylifresh, probably 'the world's most researched chewing gum', has been used as a reference standard by medical schools measuring dental hygiene. T.EAF's other functional gums include BenBits ExtraFresh and Fresh 4 Ever breath fresheners, and vitamin­enriched E.Z.C­ Its sugar­bused confectionery includes vitamin­enriched +Energi and Liikerol throat soother.

Usage occasions position many products. Mentadcnt Night Action tooth­ paste, for instance, is for evening use. Tn the summer, Gatorade is positioned as a drink for replacing athletes' body fluids; in the winter, it can be positioned as the drink to use when the doctor recommends plency of liquids. KitKat and After Eight mints sell alongside Snickers and Ferrero Rocher, but the positioning is on usage

occasion. Internationally, KitKat means 'Have a break', while After Eight is an

after­dinner mint to share.

Red Bull, a soft drink made by a small Austrian company, is a huge success in Germany and is rolling out across Europe. According to its sales director; 'We don't want to be compared with the soft drink market. Of course, Red Bull has quite a key position in the market, hut it is mainly a sports drink.' Red Bull's origin is in die huge Japanese market for energy drinks. Each can has 80 milligrams of caffeine, a third more than the equivalent amount of Coca­Cola. This has made the drink popular with teetotaller young ravers who can consume several cans a night. 15

L'ser.s help position products. Johnson & Johnson improved the market share for its baby shampoo from 3 per cent to 14 per cent by repositioning the product towards a new user category of adults who wash their hair frequently and need a gentle shampoo. Often products are positioned by associating them with their user class. Nescafe Gold Blend increased sales dramatically after showing a series of ads romancing thirty somethings, as did Tango soft drinks as a result of the youthful 'You've been Tangoed' campaign. Woolworth's gives its products credi­ bility among teenagers by using and promoting successful young people as models ­

Sega champion Karl Roberts; rapper and dance champion Jermaine Emmanuel; mountain bike champion Zoe Read.

Activities are often used to sell expensive products. The Geneva­based SMH group positions its watches using sports. Thus Rado has come to specialize in tennis, Omega in sailing and aerospace, 'the first and only watch on the moon',

and Longines in skiing and aviation. 16 This positioning activity goes beyond advertising and promotions. Rolex positions its watches using adventurers and back this with its Sfr450,000 Awards for Enterprise. Over 30 people are Rolex Laureate for their original and creative schemes. 17

Personalities often help positioning. Prestigious brands are often positioned using successful personalities who can add to a product's character. American Express runs ads showing caricatures of famous businesspeople who are also users; Jameson Irish Whiskey uses sportsmen in its positioning; and Hugo Boss identifies successful people as models in its 'Men at Work' campaign. 18

Nike started 1900 as the third­place sports shoe after Reebok and Adidas but grew to no. 1 with 32 per cent market share by associating its

products with the basketball star Miehael Jordan, Tiger Woods and other famous sports personalities. After losing market leadership to Nike,

Reebok aped Nike's position by spending $400 million on sports sponsorship against Nike's $1 billion. It failed. With a market share down to IS per cent in 1998, Reebok backed off sports sponsorship. 'We don't Reebok aped Nike's position by spending $400 million on sports sponsorship against Nike's $1 billion. It failed. With a market share down to IS per cent in 1998, Reebok backed off sports sponsorship. 'We don't

Audi ad positions the produce explaining their car's performance and it being of German origin.

want to compete head­on with Nike anymore. They'll do their thing and we'll do ours,' said Reebok's Paul Fireman. 'Getting stars to endorse

products has been a priority for the past three years, and hasn't given us much of a payback.' Reebok will concentrate on older consumers, who are less susceptible to fashion and star endorsements. It will back away from Nike's dominant position in basketball and cross training shoes to focus on its traditional strengths in running and walking. 'We're the

tortoise, not the hare/ explained Fireman, 1 "

Origin positions product by association with its place of manufacture. Much of Pcrrier's success depended on the sophistication its French origin gave to it. Similarly, Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik' positioned its cars as German. Drinks are often positioned using origin. Foster's and Gastlemaine XXXX lagers' pos­ itioning uses their Australian heritage, plus masculine humour to reinforce their character. The strategy also works at a local level. Bocldingtons was a local Manchester beer that was not in the United Kingdom's top ten sellers. Then, in 1992 it was relaunched with a campaign using Manchester people and a setting that played upon the creamy froth on the product. Plays on ice cream, face eream, smooth, rich cream helped to make the product the top take­home beer.

Other brandy can help position products. Glinique's advertising for its 'skin supplies for men' prominently features a Rolex watch. Where firms have tra­ ditioiifilly crafted products, such as Wilkinson's Sword or Holland & Holland shot­

guns, these lend glamour to more recent products ­ in these instances, shaving products and men's clothing respectively. After Volkswagen bought the Czech Skoda company, it used the Volkswagen name to transfer some of its strong repu­ tation to Skoda. 'Volkswagen were so impressed, they bought the company' ran one press ad. The responsible ad agency, (U.IK, explains: The Volkswagen connec­

tion hit the spot. People immediately latched on to it. It allowed susceptible people [who might be persuaded to buy a Skoda j a route into the brand.' Dealers

reported 50 per cent sales increases. 2 "

454 * Chapter 10 Positioning

The Ruhr's advertising positions it against the competition at [he heart of Europe.

Competitors provide two positioning alternatives. A product can be posi­ tioned directly against a competitor. For example, in ads for their personal computers, Compaq and Tandy have directly compared their products with IBM personal computers. The direct­sell ing computer company dan compares its performance with all other suppliers: '1st in repurchase intention, 1st in repair satisfaction', and so on. In its famous 'We're number two, so we try harder 1 campaign, Avis successfully positioned itself against the larger Hertz. A product may also be positioned away from competitors ­ 7­Up became the no. 3 soft drink when it was positioned as the 'Uncola', the fresh and thirst­quenching alter­ native to Coke and Pepsi. River Island Expeditions positions its holidays, its adventures for travellers, away from package holidays and the tourists who go on them. It says: 'The traveller is active; he goes strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes " sight ­seeing'" (Daniel J. Boorstin, 1962).

Product class membership is die final means of positioning. For example, Van Den Bergh's I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is clearly positioned against butter, while other yellow fats are promoted as cooking oils. Camay hand soap is pos­ itioned with bath oils rather than with soap. Marketers often use a combination of these positioning strategies. Johnson & Johnson's Affinity shampoo is positioned as a hair conditioner for women over 40 (product class and user). And in its Christmas campaigns, Martell cognac and Glenlivet malt whisky both neglect the lucrative 18­ to 35­year olds to concentrate on the over­35s (usage situation and

user).

Choosing and Implementing a Positioning Strategy 455

Guinness' stark advertising emphasises )'c,s unique position in [he marketplace.

© Guinness Ltd. All rights reserved

Choosing and Implementing

a Positioning Strategy

Some firms find it easy to choose their positioning strategy. For example, a firm well known for quality in certain segments will go for this position in a new segment if there are enough buyers seeking quality. In many cases, two or more firms will go after the same position: for instance, Rritish Airways and Lufthansa in the European business market. Then, each will have to find other ways to set

itself apart, such as Lufthansa's promise of reliability and wider scats, and BA's spacious cabins and executive lounges. Each firm must differentiate its offer by building a unique bundle of competitive advantages that appeal to a substantial

group within the segment. Having identified a set of possible competitive advantages upon which to build a position, the next stages are to select the right competitive advantages and effectively communicate the chosen position to the market (see Marketing Highlight 10.3).