Positioning

Positioning is defined as the act of designing the companys offering and image to
occupy distinctive place in the target markets mind. A simple example of positioning
would be If I say An expensive TV, what comes first to your mind probably will be A
Sony or A Samsung TV whereas if i say a cheaper or VFM TV (value for money TV)
you might think of an Onida or a Videocon. Thats positioning. Why is it that you
have called out these respective names only? That is because how the brands are
positioned in your mind in terms of awareness.
The main points that you should remember are:
Positioning is the final part of the SEGMENT TARGET POSTION or STP process
Positioning is undoubtedly one of the simplest and most useful tools to marketers.
Positioning is all about perception. As perception differs from person to person, so
do the results of the positioning map e.g. what one perceives as quality, value for
money in terms of worth, etc, will be different to any other persons perception.
However, there will be similarities in certain cases.
After segmenting a market and then targeting a consumer, next step will be to
position a product within that market. It refers to a place that the product offering
occupies in consumers minds on important attributes, relative to competing
offerings. How new and current items in the product mix are perceived, in the minds
of the consumer, therefore re-emphasizing the importance of perception!! New
Product-need to communicate benefits.
The most attractive positioning that can be targeted in general is:
(a) Prospectively profitable: the segments characteristics (e.g. price levels,
growth rate) and competitive environment (e.g. number of competitors, basis of
competition) are conducive to a growing pool of profits.
(b) Homogeneous within the segment, i.e. members are relatively similar with
respect to attitudes, buying criteria, media habits, etc.
(c) Heterogeneous across segments, i.e. members in different segments have
fundamental differences and act accordingly.
(d) Accessible: members can be reached effectively with communications, and shop
in outlets through which products can be efficiently distributed.
(e) Winnable: the companys distinctive strengths match the segments
requirements and provide an advantage versus competition, so the company can
reasonably expect an acceptable share of the industry profits.



Market Segmentation
Market segmentation is the identification of the portions of the market that are
different from one another. Market Segmentation allows the firm to better satisfy the
needs of its potential customers.
Let us take a simple day to day life example and clearly understand what
segmentation means. Each parent would like the teachers to give personal attention
to their wards. This is practically not possible if all the children are asked to sit in the
same class with various subjects. Thus to facilitate this the class is further segmented
according to subjects. On the same philosophy, as the business or the organization
cannot meet the needs of each and every individual in the market the market is
segmented in to meaningful, relatively similar and identifiable groups, the purpose of
which is to enable the marketer to tailor marketing mixes to meet the needs of one or
more specific groups. These groups are known as segments and this process is known
as market segmentation.
The total market for a good or service consists of all the people and/or organizations
that desire it, have resources to make purchases, and are willing and able to buy.
Firms often use market segmentation dividing the market into subsets of
customers that behave similarly. The development of a market segmentation strategy
consists of three general phases: analyzing consumer demand, targeting the market,
and developing the marketing strategy.
1. The firm determines demand patterns, establishes bases of segmentation, and
identifies potential market segments.
2. The firm targets the market through undifferentiated marketing (mass
marketing), concentrated marketing, or differentiated marketing (multiple
segmentation).
3. The firm then positions its offering relative to competitors and outlines the
appropriate marketing mix. Meaningful product differentiation is essential.








Target marketing explained
Target marketing, also sometimes known as niche marketing is the art of marketing
only to a desired target market. Thus target marketing mainly involves two steps
such as
1) Deciding your market segment as well as deciding on who your target customer is
going to be.
2) Designing your marketing mix with the proper product, price, promotions and
place such that your target market adopts it quickly.
Deciding your target segment A major step of target marketing is to first
decide who is going to be your target market. As mentioned in segmentation,
targeting and positioning, the first step in targeting is to carry out segmentation of a
population. Only through segmentation we would come to know which segment
would be most profitable for us. The segmentation can be done on three basis
Geographic segmentation
Behavioral segmentation
Psycho graphic segmentation
Demographic segmentation
A firm can target one type or a mix of the above segments. Thus a segment can be
both geographic as behaviorally defined. Once you know which kind of a segment you
are targeting, your marketing mix can be decided accordingly for target marketing.
Marketing mix for target marketing Once the target segment is decided, the
marketing mix strategy automatically follows. If your product is independent, but
you have adopted geographic segments, then your pricing, promotions and
placement depends on the purchasing power and other characteristics of that
geographic segment.
Similarly, if you have decided to target the higher income group segment, you need to
have a product which appeals to the high income group, it has a premium pricing as
high income groups are not interested in products which everyone can buy, it needs
to have a good product placement such that it is in the reach of high income group
segment, and finally the promotions needs to compliment this target marketing
strategy.
Target Market selection In target marketing, the target market selection is
done on the basis of five factors
1. Single segment concentration Concentrating on one single segment such as
concentration of several FMCG products only on low income group segment
2. Selective specialization As said above, concentrating on a segment which is
hybrid. Such as middle class segment in A grade cities only.
3. Product specialization Launching products which appeal to a specific target
group. Such as Volvo which targets only safety conscious people.
4. Market specialization Targeting to one single market. Such as Mahindra and
Mahindra which targets mainly the government sector.
5. Full market coverage Automobiles such as Honda or Maruti which targets the
complete market with various offerings.
Target marketing also involces positioning as a critical factor. Once the target market
has been defined, it is followed by the marketing mix decisions. However, in this
itself the factor of positioning is involved. The 4 Ps of the marketing mix should be
such that they position the product in the right way in the consumers mind.
Target marketing is on the rise as even mass marketing companies have realised that
they should have different strategies for different target customers. This is where
customer life cycle targeting and family life cycle targeting comes in the picture. The
complete process of target marketing is mentioned below with proper examples.
Case study of Target marketing Titan watches
Titan watches are the best example of target marketing. Here are some pointers as to
why this excellent brand is known for its target marketing skills
1. Segment selection Titan mainly targets multiple segments based on their
income, social standing as well as behavioral attributes. Thus it targets customers
who have low incomes along with customers with high income.
2. Marketing mix Titan does not offer the same product to different customers.
In fact it has a new product for each segment thereby micro managing its target
marketing efforts. Thus a Sonata will be offered to the low income group whereas
a Tommy hilfiger will be offered to the high purchasing power individual
3. Positioning Each product of Titan is positioned separately. Furthermore
when you walk into the retail store of Titan (World of titan) you will find that
there are separate sections for each class of customers depending on their income
groups.
4. Customer life cycle marketing Another example of target marketing
is having every product in the kitty for each level of a customers life cycle. Thus by
having brands like Fast track, raga and others, Titan ensures that it has a product
whether its customer is a college going individual, a working women or a high
income professional.
Thus with the above four strategies, Titan ensures that its target marketing is spot
on.