Positioning - 4 P's of Marketing

1. Name - Pratik Gandhi
Positioning through various Parameters
Positioning:
“The expectation of the unique value that customers in a market segment would
receive from a vendor that is relative to, and unique from, competitors is called as
Positioning.”
A company must provide a specific vision, as well as evidence of its own ability to lead
the market toward the vision.
Product positioning involves tailoring an entire marketing program—including product
attributes, image, and price, as well as packaging, distribution, and service—to best meet
the needs of consumers within a particular market segment.
The key to product positioning understands the dimensions consumers use to evaluate
competing marketing programs and make purchase decisions. It may be helpful for small
business managers to create a graph in order to map consumer perceptions along several
different dimensions.
•It includes the process of creating an image in the mind of a customer
•The activity directed towards creating and maintaining an intended product concept and
image in the minds of Targeted customers
•Arranging for a brand or a product to occupy a clear and distinctive place in the minds
of target customers relative to competing products and brands.
The important parameters used for positioning the products are,
Product,
Price,
Place,
Promotion/Image:
In broader terms it can be also implied towards Marketing Mix. However, the
application of Positioning through these points will be discussed below:
Product:
This refers to how you want your customers to perceive your product within the context
of the overall market, their other product options and themselves. Your ultimate goal is to
identify positions in the market that represent unmet need. If your product fills those
needs better than any other product, you will be naturally differentiated from the
competition.
The example of which will be:
1. KitKat: It is positioned to link in with tea or coffee breaks- “Have a Break, Have a
KitKat”
2. HP
3. Johnson and Johnson Baby Soap

2. Price:
Market demands and factors of supply and demand have got a real pressure on price.
However, there are brands, trade marks and product quality and integrity which has some
connotation to social position, e.g. clothes worn by celebrity is well sort after at higher
price.
As for a small business, it has to do with the bottom line - profit margin, competitions
and market value of the product. The price structure has got very much to do with the
stage of development of the business, but as businesses grow, like any other corporation,
the cost increases along with the number of staffs, the salary increase, and increasing
redundancy. That is the life-cycle of business, which has very much to do with the life-
cycle of the product.
The example of which will be:
1. Big Bazaar: It positions itself as a Brand which in terms of price as “Sabse Sasta Din”
The direct image of any customer falls on the price of the product which is positioned.
2. Low Frills Airlines as Air Deccan (now Kingfisher Red), EasyJet, JetBlue
3. Budget Rent-a-Car
Place:
Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as
the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the
Internet. The distribution system performs transactional, logistical and facilitating
functions. In Positioning, Place is taken in terms of convenience for the customers for
whom the products are to be distributed.
The example of which will be:
1. Maruti Service Centre: It’s placed in a way that people are assured that there is always
a Service Centre for them, on their desired place.
2. SBI Bank ATM
3. Pizza Hut
Promotion/ Image:
Image Positioning is an often overlooked, but effective strategy. Placing a brand in a
channel that is not used by competitors can effectively differentiate it and establish a
unique identity. Being the first product of its kind sold in a channel of distribution can
cause people to perceive it differently. The importance of a strong brand position is not to
be underestimated. It can last for years, even, as in the case of Ivory, for over a century.
The example of which will be:
1. Honda: “We make it simple” campaign that helped position Honda, says that
positioning occurs when a “truth in the product” is connected to a “need of the consumer”
by compelling communications. Every product has certain “truths” about it. Not every
product has unique truths or truths that are very different from competition.
2. Phillips
3. Mercedes Benz