4. Brand positioning 5. Brand equity 6. Lectures

Question 1

What is positioning?

Answer 1

Positioning is the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. The goal is to locate the brand in the minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. A good brand positioning helps guide marketing strategy by clarifying the brand’s essence, identifying the goals it helps the consumer achieve, and showing how it does so in a unique way. Everyone in the organization should understand the brand positioning and use it as context for making decisions.

The result of positioning is the successful creation of a customer-focused value proposition, a cogent reason why the target market should buy the product

Question 2

What is a Competitive frame of reference?

Answer 2

The competitive frame of reference defines which other brands a brand competes with and therefore
which brands should be the focus of competitive analysis.

IDENTIFYING COMPETITORS
determine category membership—the products or sets of products with which a brand competes and which function as close substitutes.

An industry is a group of firms offering a product or class of products that are close substitutes for one another. Marketers classify industries according to number of sellers; degree of product differentiation;
presence or absence of entry, mobility, and exit barriers; cost structure; degree of vertical integration;
and degree of globalization.

market approach, we define competitors as companies that satisfy the same
customer need. For example, a customer who buys a word-processing package really wants
“writing ability”—a need that can also be satisfied by pencils, pens, or, in the past, typewriters.

Question 3

Which questions are key to create value through innovation?

Answer 3

1. Which of the factors that our industry takes for granted should we eliminate?
2. Which factors should we reduce well below the industry’s standard?
3. Which factors should we raise well above the industry’s standard?
4. Which factors should we create that the industry has never offered?

Question 4

What is a point of difference?

Answer 4

POINTS-OF-DIFFERENCE Points-of-difference (PODs) are attributes or benefits that
consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe they could not find to
the same extent with a competitive brand.

Question 5

Which e criteria determine if an association can function as a point of difference?

Answer 5

1. Desirable to consumer.
2. Deliverable by the company
3. Differentiating from competitors.

Question 6

What are points of parity?

Answer 6

POINTS-OF-PARITY Points-of-parity (POPs), on the other hand, are attribute or benefit associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands

Question 7

In which forms do points of parity come?

Answer 7

1) Category points-of-parity are attributes or benefits that consumers view as essential to a legitimate and credible offering within a certain product or service category

2) Competitive points-of-parity are associations designed to overcome perceived weaknesses of the
brand. A competitive point-of-parity may be required to either

(1) negate competitors’ perceived
points-of-difference or
(2) negate a perceived vulnerability of the brand as a result of its own points-of-difference.

Question 8

What is straddle positioning?

Answer 8

STRADDLE POSITIONING Occasionally, a company will be able to straddle two frames of reference with one set of points-of-difference and points-of-parity. In these cases, the pointsof-difference for one category become points-of-parity for the other and vice versa. Subway restaurants are positioned as offering healthy, good-tasting sandwiches. This positioning allows
the brand to create a POP on taste and a POD on health with respect to quick-serve restaurants
such as McDonald’s and Burger King and, at the same time, a POP on health and a POD on taste with respect to health food restaurants and cafés.

Question 9

What are Perceptual maps?

Answer 9

For choosing specific benefits as POPs and PODs to position a brand, perceptual maps may be useful. Perceptual maps are visual representations of consumer perceptions and preferences. They provide quantitative portrayals of market situations and the way consumers view different products, services, and brands along various dimensions. By overlaying consumer preferences with brand perceptions, marketers can reveal “holes” or “openings” that suggest unmet consumer needs and marketing opportunities

Question 10

What is a brand mantra?

Answer 10

To further focus the intent of the brand positioning and the way firms would like consumers to think about the brand, it is often useful to define a brand mantra. A brand mantra is an articulation of the heart and soul of the brand and is closely related to other branding concepts like “brand essence” and “core brand promise.” Brand mantras are short, three- to five-word
phrases that capture the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand positioning. Their purpose is to ensure that all employees within the organization and all external marketing partners understand what the brand is most fundamentally to represent with consumers so they can adjust their actions accordingly.

Question 11

How to design a brand mantra?

Answer 11

• Communicate. A good brand mantra should define the category (or categories) of business for the brand and set the brand boundaries. It should also clarify what is unique about the brand.
• Simplify. An effective brand mantra should be memorable. For that, it should be short, crisp,
and vivid in meaning.
• Inspire. Ideally, the brand mantra should also stake out ground that is personally meaningful and relevant to as many employees as possible.

Question 12

How to communicate category membership?

Answer 12

1. Announcing category benefits.
2. Comparing to exemplars
3. Relying on the product descriptor.

Question 13

What is a competitive advantage?

Answer 13

Competitive advantage is a company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match. Michael Porter urged companies to build a sustainable competitive advantage. But few competitive advantages are sustainable. At best, they
may be leverageable. A leverageable advantage is one that a company can use as a springboard to new advantages,much as Microsoft has leveraged its operating system to Microsoft Office and then to networking applications. In general, a company that hopes to endure must be in the business of continuously inventing new advantages

Question 14

What are the means of differentiation?

Answer 14

• Employee differentiation
• Channel differentiation
• Image differentiation
• Services differentiation.

Question 15

What are the traits of emotional brands?

Answer 15

(1) strong people-focused corporate culture, (2) a distinctive communication style and philosophy,
and (3) a compelling emotional hook

Question 16

How are brands that are lovemarks?

Answer 16

Brands that are lovemarks, according to Roberts, command both respect and love and result from a brand’s ability to achieve mystery, sensuality,
and intimacy:

1. Mystery draws together stories, metaphors, dreams, and symbols. Mystery adds to the complexity
   of relationships and experiences because people are naturally drawn to what they don’t
   know.
2. Sensuality keeps the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste on constant alert for
   new textures, intriguing scents and tastes, wonderful music, and other sensory stimuli.
3. Intimacy means empathy, commitment, and passion. The close connections that win intense
   loyalty as well as the small perfect gesture.

Question 17

Which 3 variables should be reviewed when analyzing threats by competitors?

Answer 17

1. Share of market—The competitor’s share of the target market.
2. Share of mind—The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the
   statement,“Name the first company that comes to mind in this industry.”
3. Share of heart—The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the
   statement,“Name the company from which you would prefer to buy the product.”

Question 18

How is brand narrative and storytelling?

Answer 18

They identify five elements of narrative
branding: (1) the brand story in terms of words and metaphors, (2) the consumer journey in terms
of how consumers engage with the brand over time and touch points where they come into contact
with it, (3) the visual language or expression for the brand, (4) the manner in which the narrative is
expressed experientially in terms of how the brand engages the senses, and (5) the role/relationship
the brand plays in the lives of consumers.

• Setting. The time, place, and context
• Cast. The brand as a character, including its role in the life of the audience, its relationships
and responsibilities, and its history or creation myth
• Narrative arc. The way the narrative logic unfolds over time, including actions, desired experiences,
defining events, and the moment of epiphany
• Language. The authenticating voice, metaphors, symbols, themes, and leitmotifs

Question 19

Alternative branding models

Answer 19

• Brand Journalism
• CULTURAL BRANDING
  for companies to build
  iconic, leadership brands, they must assemble cultural knowledge, strategize according to
  cultural branding principles, and hire and train cultural experts.

Question 20

What are specific guidelines for small businesses?

Answer 20

• Creatively conduct low-cost marketing research.
• Focus on building one or two strong brands based on one or two key associations.
• Employ a well-integrated set of brand elements.
• Create buzz and a loyal brand community.
• Leverage as many secondary associations as possible.