WEEK 3 - Chapter 7 CRAFTING AND BRANDING POSITIONING AND COMPETING EFFECTIVELY

Deciding on a positioning requires

(1) choosing a frame of reference by identifying the target market and relevant competition (2) identifying the optimal points-of-parity and points-of-difference brand associations given that frame of reference, including emotional branding (3) creating a brand mantra summarizing the brand's positioning and essence.

In general, increasing frequency of consumption requires either

(1) identifying additional opportunities to use the brand in the same basic way OR (2) identifying completely new and different ways to use the brand.

They identify five elements of narrative branding:

(1) the brand story in terms of words and metaphors (2) the consumer journey or the way consumers engage with the brand over time and touchpoints where they come into contact with it (3) the visual language or expression of the brand (4) the manner in which the narrative is expressed experientially or the brand engages the senses and (5) the role the brand plays in the lives of consumers.

Perceptual maps

- are visual representations of consumer perceptions and preferences. - They provide quantitative pictures of market situations and the way consumers view different products, services, and brands along various dimensions.

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.

Brand Mantra

- is the articulation of the brand's heart and soul, closely related to other branding concepts like "brand essence" and "core brand promise." - it must economically communicate what the brand is and what it is not.

Brand Positioning

- should have both rational and emotional components. - it should contain points-of-difference and points-of-parity that appeal to both the head and the heart. - must be authentic and genuine so that it can evoke trust, affection, and strong loyalty.

These types of associations come in three basic forms:

1) Category 2) Correlational 3) Competitive

A good brand positioning helps guide marketing strategy by:

1) Clarifying the brand's essence 2) Identifying the goals it helps consumers achieve 3) Showing how it does so in a unique way

Three criteria determine whether a brand association can truly function as a point-of-difference:

1) Desirability (desirable to consumer) - the brand association must be relevant to the consumer 2) Deliverability (Deliverable by the company) - The company must have the resources and commitment to feasibly and profitably create and maintain the brand association in the minds of consumers. The ideal brand association is preemptive, defensible, and difficult to attack 3) Differentiability (Differentiating from competitors) -Consumers must see the brand association as distinctive and superior to relevant competitors.

Positioning and Branding guidelines for small businesses

1) Find a compelling performance advantage 2) Focus on building one or two strong brands based on one or two key associations 3) Encourage trial in any way possible 4) Develop a digital strategy to make the brand "bigger and better" 5) Create buzz and a loyal brand community 6) Employ a well-integrated set of brand element 7) Leverage secondary associations 8) Creatively conduct marketing research

Five attack strategies for challengers who have clear opponents and objectives:

1) Frontal attack 2) Flank attack 3) Encirclement attack 4) Bypass attack 5) Guerrilla attack

All marketing strategy is built on

1) Segmentation - discovers different needs and groups of consumers in the marketplace 2) Targeting - targets those it can satisfy in a superior way 3) Positioning - positions its offerings so the target market recognizes its distinctive offerings.

Four factors to consider before increasing market share

1) The possibility of provoking antitrust action 2) Economic cost 3) Pursuing the wrong marketing activities 4) The effect of increased market share on actual and perceived quality.

According to Partrick Hanlon, primal branding is a complex belief systems. The 7 assets that make up this complex belief systems:

1) a creation story 2) creed 3) icon 4) rituals 5) sacred words 6) a way of dealing with nonbelievers 7) a good leader

A company can search for new users among three groups:

1) those who might use it but do not (market-penetration strategy) 2) those who have never used it (new-market segment strategy) 3) those who live elsewhere (geographical-expansion strategy)

Marketers should monitor these three variables when analyzing competitors:

1. Share of the 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 the statement "Name the company from which you would prefer to buy the product."

Market Followers

A competitor that chooses to not "rock the boat"

Runner up or trailing firms

Firms that are not industry leaders

Market Challengers

These firms can either attack the leader and other competitors in an aggressive bid for further market share

Points-of-parity (POPs)

are attribute or benefit associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands.

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

Brand Wikification

are experts who see consumers actively cocreating brand meaning and positioning

Narrative branding

as based on deep metaphors that connect to people's memories, associations, and stories

Competitors

as companies that satisfy the same customer need

Imitators

copying a few things from the leader but differentiating themselves on packaging, advertising, pricing, or location

Competitive Frame of Reference

defines which other brands a brand competes with and which should thus be the focus of competitive analysis. To enter new markets, a brand with growth intentions may need a broader or more inspirational competitive frame.

Creative Marketer

discovers solutions customers did not ask for but to which they enthusiastically respond

Counterfeiters

duplicate the leader's product and packages and sell them on the black market or through disreputable dealers

Cloners

emulating the leader's products, name, and packaging with slight variations

Competitive advantage

is a company's ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match

Industry

is a group of firms offering a product or class of products that are close substitutes for one another.

Anticipative Marketer

looks ahead to needs customers may have in the near future.

Technological Leapfrogging

mean that the challenger patiently researches and develops the next technology, shifting the battleground to its own territory where it has an advantage.

Category Membership

means that the products or sets of products with which a brand competes and that function as close substitutes

Market broadening

shifts the company's focus from the current product to the underlying generic need

Market diversification

shifts the company's focus into unrelated industries

Adapters

taking the leader's products and adapting or improving them, perhaps selling them to different markets

Planned contraction (also called strategic withdrawal)

they give up weaker markets and reassign resources to stronger ones.