Positioning is the basis of
marketing
and one of the most important strategies.
This time, we will introduce the definition of positioning and its examples.
What is positioning?
Positioning
, in a general sense, means “determining one’s position.”
In the world of marketing, it is defined as “defining one’s position in relation to the whole and in relation to other companies.
It is about differentiating your product from competing products and positioning your product in front of your customers.
Positioning means clarifying the difference between your product and other companies’ products and making customers think, “I want to buy this product because it’s XX” or “This service doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
By carefully positioning,
– Difficult to compete on price with rivals
・Marketing efficiency is high because the target is clear
・Create an image as a specialist
There are many benefits such as.
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Positioning is the final step in STP analysis
Positioning is a basic framework for marketing strategy proposed by American management scholar Philip Kotler.
It is the framework by which companies decide on the content, price, and targets of new products.
S: Segmentation (market segmentation/classification of the entire market into customer groups with common needs based on certain indicators)
T: Targeting (determining the target market)
P: Positioning (determining your company’s position within the segment)
Segmentation involves understanding the needs of various customers and classifying them into groups, while targeting determines which needs to target.
In the final step of
STP analysis
, positioning, it is important to firmly determine your company’s position in order to effectively advance your marketing strategy.
What are the six criteria for positioning?
Kotler teaches that the following six criteria are key to good positioning.
You can select and decide on the method suitable for your product from the following, but there may be one or more methods.
1) Positioning based on specific product attributes
“What are the characteristics of our products?” “What are the competitive advantages?”
For example, do you compete on “low prices” or do you sell on “quality and luxury”?
2) Positioning based on the benefits provided by the product
“What expectations do customers have of the product?”
“Can we meet the needs of our customers?”
Benefits are “benefits” or “benefits” that have a positive effect on customers.
For example, a PC that can be freely customized by the company’s IT department.
Rather than the product itself, it can be said to be something that can provide benefits to customers by having the product.
3) Positioning based on the occasion where the product is used
“When and in what situations are our products used?”
“What is needed to realize the expected usage scenarios?”
We observe which scenes and situations in daily life and which people use the product and utilize this information for positioning.
Examples include daytime or nighttime, outside or inside the office, large or small crowd, men and women, adults and children, etc.
For example, “PCs that are easy to carry during business trips” and “candy for the office break room” have clear opportunities to be used.
4) Positioning using relationships with competing products
We will show you what we can do by comparing our products with those of other companies based on the relationship between our products and competing products.
For example, we clarify the conflict between our products and competing products, and carry out promotions such as advertisements that say, “We can do this.”
5) Positioning at a distance from competing products
This is a way to make customers aware of the difference by highlighting the characteristics of your product that are not found in competing products.
Oracle, a leading ERP company, has quickly introduced a new cloud service, ERP, based on its cloud service, Oracle Cloud, which is different from its competitor SAP.
6) Positioning by product type
Even for the same product, it can be effective to position it according to its intended use.
A famous example is a company that positioned baking soda, which was used in cooking, as a deodorizer for trash cans and refrigerators.
Baking soda is now well established as a cleaning product.
By reconsidering the types of your products, you may be able to classify them into different types and position them.
Introducing positioning examples!
1. TOTO Hydrotect
TOTO is a major manufacturer of sanitary ware and housing equipment.
TOTO “Hydrotect” is a technology brand that has added “super hydrophilic” technology that does not repel water at all, and “photocatalyst” technology that prevents stains and odors from sticking.
By displaying the “HYDROTECT” logo on its products, TOTO emphasizes that “dirt is easy to remove and does not attract water droplets,” and TOTO continues to secure its position in the market with this new technology.
2. Gapan
The blue and silver packaging can be seen on the tables of many restaurants, but the pepper “GABAN” is now common in ordinary households.
The founder decided to focus on the restaurant industry because other companies’ spices were already popular for household use.
Most of the peppers at that time contained ingredients such as flour, and with an emphasis on quality, they started selling “real pepper without any additives” for commercial use.
First, the founder went door to door in Sapporo Ramen Alley and sold one can at a time.
In order to explain the difference in taste from our competitors, we visited restaurant chefs in person, asked them to open cans and taste the aroma, and made simple dishes to help them understand our quality.
Thanks to the founder’s steady efforts and the boom in Sapporo ramen, which pairs best with black pepper, GABAN has become widely recognized.
In addition to the positioning of “pepper quality,” which had not been emphasized in the past, additional values such as steady sales activities, product proposals, and product support have become major factors in why GABAN is synonymous with commercial pepper.
summary
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Positioning is the process of differentiating a company from other companies and clarifying its position in order to make customers aware of its products.
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Positioning is the final step in STP analysis. Therefore, it is important for effective marketing strategy.
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Based on the six criteria for positioning, create a positioning that is suitable for your company by referring to the success stories of other companies.