Importance of product positioning

There are a variety of definitions of product positioning, possibly the most common is: identifying and attempting to occupy a market niche for a brand, product or service utilizing accurate marketing mix strategy i.e. product, price, promotion and place (distribution).

 Positioning is an essential part of launching a product in the market. Positioning simply revolves around image of the product and its company. It creates a position for self in the minds of the customers and hence the term “positioning” is used. The fashion in which a product portrays its utility and its benefits in the minds of customers makes a difference in its standing in the market. Positioning strategy can change the perception of the product. A product stands out amongst an array of products on a shelf.

 Horlicks: it’s one of the leading malted milk drinks. Do you know that Horlicks came to India with British Army during end of World War-I; Indian soldiers of British Indian Army brought it back with them while returning home. It was given to the soldiers as a diet supplement. Punjab, Bengal and Madras Presidencies became early adopters of Horlicks and lot of well-to-do Indians adopted it as a family drink from early 1930s to 1950s. It was invented in 1873 by James Horlicks, the brand has been available in India for almost above 85 years.

 Glaxo Smithkline (GSK) has changed the positioning strategy of Horlicks as per the changing times. From being a drink taken only during convalescence the brand has repositioned itself since the seventies as a ‘great family nourished’ drink. It became a sort of status symbol in upper middle class and rich Indian families.  India, even today is by and far, the biggest market for Horlicks, here it has traditionally been marketed as ‘The Great Family Nourisher’.

The Indian formulation for Horlicks is slightly different than in most other countries; in India it is manufactured from cow milk whereas in other countries it is manufactured from buffalo milk.   Horlicks has added many new flavors in India such as vanilla, toffee, chocolate, honey, and elaichi. The current line-up of flavors includes original (malt), chocolate and elaichi and the latest offering is Kesar Badaam.

 According to an Economic Times Survey of 2004 Horlicks is the leading health food drink in India and as the “Most Trusted Drink Brands.” It enjoys more than half of the health food drink market. GSK has used brand rejuvenation after regular intervals by giving it a different packaging, product alteration in terms of flavors, new advertising tactics, a sturdy distribution and comparable pricing. Horlicks is going strong in India in spite of tough competition from Boost, Complan, Bournvita, Viva and Maltova.

 Horlicks jars occupy a visible position in many Indian and Bangadeshi households. The former sturdy glass jars are used to stalk grains, massalas, and sugar even today. They are so strong that they have lasted for over 2-3 decades in some households. Isn’t this one of the strengths of brand positioning? I recall this in my childhood women would buy Horlicks every month for two reasons one for nourishing their children and two for decoratively storing their shelves.    Successful segmenting, a focus on the target markets, innovating the product regularly as per changing taste of consumers, tinkering the product packaging design and shape has helped Horlicks’s positioning in the market for over eight decades. Most notably, its consistency in maintaining product quality and strengthening of essential nutrients has won over the trust of generations of mothers. The brand gives guarantee of nutrition and growth that all mothers seek in for the kids. With its superior taste and constancy in quality it has become the adorable brand among kids and mothers.

Positioning matters in how a product is defined by the marketer, what it does – its benefits, what it means and its effects in short, it must inspire the consumers. For a good positioning inventive and stimulating marketing communication is a must. Of course, the positioning involves product packaging and design aesthetics, pricing, performance, references and the media vehicles used for its promotion. Positioning therefore exists in the customer’s minds. People do not like to change a product if it matches their taste and comforts therefore, positioning must exhibit product’s relevance in terms of its usage, benefit and its credibility.

Ray Ban sunglasses have been reining the market for ages. Ray Ban had created its trade mark convincingly; its craft, its usage, its design and the price – it’s positioning is based on quality consistency and craftsmanship. It was the first brand of goggles which introduced the U.V and the post-red secure glasses in all the designs and gold plated frame in aviation segment. This added to its firm positioning. Post World War I the aviation sector saw a boom. The 1920s was a decade of remarkable advances. As a result of which air traffic grew tremendously. With the development of new airplanes that could fly higher and higher came altitude-related problems. Pilots were suffering from headaches and nausea because of glare and the great distances that they had to navigate. In 1929, General MacCready asked Ray-Ban for a new type of air force eyewear that would protect pilots from glare at high altitudes while at the same time ensuring a clear field of vision. The company took up the challenge and succeeded in developing a new pair of glasses with lenses that could block out a high proportion of visible light. This marked the birth of Ray-Ban’s first, green-lens ANTI GLARE eyewear. In 1936 the first model went on for sale to general public. They were featured in a plastic frame with the classic Aviator shape.

 The Ray Ban glasses come in various shapes and sizes; perhaps that’s why you see them protecting most eyes in the world. The product offers good quality, warranty and after sales service and hence people trust its credibility. You will see hoards of people using them while rock climbing, on beaches, while jogging or walking. Wearing Ray Ban glasses has become fashion trend. The elegant yet conventional glasses are sold all over the world. Its whole body styling defines the design and style contention into a conventional manner. Ray Ban sale comprehends the luxury and royalty; it adds to the dignity of the user. It comes in five variants of color shades. It offers feminine and elegant glasses for women. Its classic appeal with delicate frames, great colours and profiles are awesome. They are so elegant, that females can simply flaunt them. Ray Ban stands tall while giving tough fight to Maui Jim, Versace, Oakley, Persol, Tom Ford, Burberry, Prada, Revo and many more brands.

Product quality is the major aspect in positioning of a product. It consists of intensity and consistency of the quality, how it is perceived by the customers and the appeal. The features both physical and intrinsic characteristics contribute to its benefits. The design of the product adds to its appeal.

The brand name, logo, needs serious thinking by the marketer. The brand name contributes to positioning exercise. The power of the brand name cannot be underestimated.

Packaging helps handling of the product. For example in the example of Horlicks; its glass jar helped the positioning of it. People got so used to using the jar for storing household items that women would insist on buying Horlicks for collecting the jars.

Labeling incorporates the written information about the product and usually is printed on an adhesive sticker. Label is an identity of a product. It helps business promote their product and catch people’s attention. It is beneficial to consumers as it gives information about ingredients, price, manufacturing date, which help customers distinguish goods from one another.

The elements listed above add to the competitive advantages of the product; good and consistent quality, features, design, packaging, labeling and after sales service help in strategic positioning of a product. The positioning needs to be done by placing it within an obtainable category.

Before I finish, positioning idea must be clear in terms of both target market and degree of difference in advantages suitable to different segments. The target market should be clearly demarcated and identifiable in terms of demographic or geographic parameters, or a combination of both. When marketers cannot resist offering the product besides targeted market, the clarity of the communication becomes blurred; the value proposition of the products narrows down. This situation can create threat to the product’s existence in a market. Clearness, Constancy, Credibility, and Competitiveness – all 4 Cs are the inputs to successful positioning.

Why do consumers ignore marketing messages? They are too tired of advertisements day in and out moreover everywhere they go. Because of this boredom they don’t know the brand and what the offering is, they don’t understand how the product or service works, they don’t understand the benefits of the brands, they find the advertised messages ambiguous, they feel the ads are not directed at them, the messages are dull and tiresome, while commercials are aired consumers are busy doing something else, they’re at work, they are not in a mood to hear the ads, in short the customers are tired of hearing from the brands and fundamentally to the company’s value  offering. The moral of this narrative is the good brands don’t need to be advertised too often and good brands sustain on their core values.

It is a fact that brands like Apple, Nike, McDonald or Google achieved their iconic statuses because of an unattainable magical formula, or we can say that they are lucky to have the brilliance of a single visionary leader. However, these companies have adopted specific approaches and principles that transformed their ordinary brands into iconic brands.  

Great brands don’t waste too much time and money on image building; Instead great brands focus on culture, core operations, and customer experience. They reach out to their customers when it is required. Intelligent marketers concentrate on internal marketing communication than external marketing communication. They turn to advertising, promotions, and public relations only after all other elements of the brand have been developed and aligned. These companies believe that actions (customer’s experience) speak louder than words. When organizations cultivate stronger corporate culture, have healthy relations with their stakeholders, believe in corporate governance their brands fuel faster growth.

There’s a lot in name for brands

In my opinion the brand name matters in its success and its life cycle.  Where did the name Apple Computer come from? Steve Jobs & Wozniak wanted their startup to be ahead of Atari Computers in the phone book. They wanted to stay away from the unfriendly, larger than life, complex images created by other computer companies such as IBM, Digital Equipments, Cincom etc. Jobs and Wozniak wanted to pay a tribute to Apple Records, the music label of the Beatles. There’s another tale to it that Jobs in his early life had worked in a farm at California picking and growing apples. The name just clicked and rest is history.

Good brands don’t become complacent

One of the fundamental principles of a brand’s success is its ability to do two challenging things at the same time – maintain consistency in the core of the brand such as quality, features, and price points along with this constantly change in order to stay in tune with the changing times. Doing these two things simultaneously is a big challenge for any brand.  Sony – one of the most distinguished global consumer electronics brand which has enjoyed unparallel brand equity and loyalty is surprisingly losing out its position. Its rivals Samsung and LG are giving it a tough time. Over the last couple of years, Sony has been gradually but surely slipping from its ivory tower.

There are few reasons for Sony’s fall from the top. This is because of its excessive and unrelated diversifications; to name a few – consumer electronics, music label, online music store, semiconductors, a motion picture company and financial units. These diversifications suck its energy and added to heaped costs of unrelated operations.  The diversification’s have not only drained the brand’s resources to a great extent but also abstracted the brand focus from the core of the brand. In addition, brand Sony has become complacent; it has many loopholes left open in its operations making it vulnerable to attacks from rivals. The followers (holding follower position) in the market who are agile, more energized attacked on the loose ends on multiple fronts. Samsung, LG, Apple, Nokia and others have grabbed Sony’s market share in consumer electronics segment.

Good brands don’t chase customers

Regularity and reliability cannot be compromised in the brand building game. The philosophy adopted by Ray Kroc – the founder of McDonald’s is that they can’t be successful unless their operators (franchisees) are successful. The logic is so profound. Approximately 85% of McDonald’s restaurants are owned and operated by independent business men and women. The idea of McDonald’s has always been of wanting to build a restaurant system that would be known for food of consistently high quality and uniform methods of preparations. Their aim, of course, was to assure repeat business based on the system’s reputation rather than on the quality of a single store or operator. This required a continuing program of educating and assisting operators and a constant review of their performance. The key to uniformity is their ability to provide techniques of preparation that operators have to follow. The success also comes because of its management listening so carefully to its operator’s problems, thoughts, ideas and solutions. The success of this partnership between the company and its operators is that the operators devote full time and best efforts to their restaurant business. Their focus and passion is what makes McDonald’s the number one food service organization in the world.

Great brands when commit stay committed

Another iconic brand Nivea body cream has been around for many years. Nivea is used in a household for generations together making it a habit. You will see Nivea on the dressing shelf constantly in many households; this is because it is super hydrating and makes the skin supple. This body cream product has maintained its fragrance, feel, thickness, packaging design same for years. When you buy the bright blue round tub/tin you know what you’re getting. It is one of those creams that have not changed, thus enjoying a large amount brand loyalty.

The best brands are good inside

Fortune Magazine and the Great Place to Work Institute named Google the 2014’s “Best Company Work For.” It’s the fifth time Google has enjoyed this position. This company has always believed in bringing diverse in demographics, smart, talented young people together. They believe in providing a very conducive atmosphere to people while allowing them to innovate, good benefits and perks, safety to women employees. Well, the company has a systematic hiring policy. Nepotism is completely avoided.  It is one of the employee friendly organizations. When the work atmosphere is great, obviously the employees give their best. 

Good brands stretch out

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is leveraging on Horlicks’s brand equity to get into new categories. Horlicks is an old player in the market. Horlicks came to India with The British Army; the end of World War 1 saw Indian soldiers of British Indian Army bringing it back with them as a dietary supplement. It has been around for decades. But there are no evident signs of its ageing. Horlicks’ market share is above 50 per cent as per AC Nielsen market survey.  It would be foolish for GlaxoSmithKline not to leverage the equity of such a brand. Thus, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare decided to use the brand’s equity to get into new categories. It has launched biscuits for children, a nutrition drink for women, an energy bar and chilled milk. Thus good brands stretch out.

Pay attention on how you make a relevant brand!