Principles of Marketing| Richa Saxena

SESSION 13
POSITIONING
Applied Marketing 13.1 HD Paints

Picture 13. 1 From Standard Definition to High Definition

Kansai Nerolac Paints, one of India’s leading of interior emulsions now offers a sharper look
paint companies, has redefined the Indian and superior finish. This technology makes the
interior paint segment with the introduction of colour of your walls look far brighter, richer and
a first-of-its-kind high definition (HD) paint cleaner than any other standard emulsion.
technology. Nerolac Impressions is the first Nerolac reinforces the concept of HD coalescing
range of premium interior emulsions in India it with Paints which makes colours come alive
that comes with a ‘high definition’ colour on your wall.
technology.
High Definition has become synonymous with
To showcase the new product and its value our lifestyle today. Based on this insight,
proposition, Kansai Nerolac has unveiled a Nerolac aims to extend this technology to
campaign comprising a breakthrough TVC and homes as well through HD Paints. Having
digital campaign, conceptualised by Publicis launched several innovative products under the
India. Nerolac reinvents its positioning through Impressions brand in the past the company
a new creative punchline: “Jab Nerolac hopes to provide customers with a larger than
Impressions ka HD Paint lagega, toh ghar ke life experience and take our offerings to the
saath aapka bhi Impression badhega!” next level.

Enhanced with micro-embedded brightness The company wanted to change the

boosters (MEBB's), Nerolac Impressions’ range conversation that the category leader was
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having, and they had a product that could do Nerolac Impressions HD Paint and standard
that. So for Nerolac Impressions HD paint they definition paint. It uses the humour element to
shifted the conversation from emotions and the subtly showcase how individuals living in HD
effect of the colour on relationships to the homes vis-a-vis standard definition homes are
impact a great paint can have on the perceived perceived. These HD paints replicate the colour
value of your home and you. A great way to do quality difference one would observe between a
it was a side-by-side perception demo. standard definition TV and a high definition
TV.
The entire campaign is based on the insight of
‘how one's home is an extension of one's lifestyle The film is also dubbed in Hindi and other
and personality’. To reinforce this message, the regional languages and is currently being aired
TVC features brand ambassador Shah Rukh across all national channels
Khan, highlighting the difference between (Bereau@Bestmediainfo, 2014).

Q13.1: Explain VDP for Nerolac HD paints.

What is Positioning?
As defined by Philip Kotler, Positioning is the act of designing a company's offering and image to occupy
a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. A good positioning not just give the company that
competitive advantage but also help company in realizing the customer focused value proposition.
These are the target market customer attributes carefully studied and incorporated in the company’s
marketing efforts.

A useful measure of effectiveness of organization’s positioning is Brand substitution test. If a brand

were replaced by a competitive brand, the marketing activity should not work as well in the
marketplace. For example, Pepsi India has always associated itself with sports and youth and hence
Pepsi’s campaign cannot be shown as Coke’s. A good positioning should be forward-looking but
obtainable in the current scenario. A value proposition is a reason why the target market should buy
a product or service. Positioning requires that marketers define and communicate similarities and
differences between their brand and its competitors

Positioning Strategies are an outcome of decisions regarding positioning takes the careful investigation
and analysis of the following:

1. Determining competitive frame of reference

2. Identifying potential POP and POD
3. Choosing specific POP and POD
4. Brand Mantras

Step I - Determining Competitive Frame of Reference

Competitive Frame of Reference defines which other brands competes with which should be thus focus
of their analysis. It is the setting around the product. It defines the competitors and target consumers.
Usually, the strategy aims at identifying one or two competitors and presents their position better than
them. For example, Tide always positioned with Rin, Ariel with Surf. It also decides on targeting a
certain type of consumer in the identified market segment.

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Applied Marketing 13.2 Rin Vs Tide

Competition is core to any business. We have However, their campaigns have been tongue-in-
the rivalry between Marico and Dabur and cheek, effective campaigns, without directly
between Pepsodent and Colgate in previous hitting the competitor. For example, when Jet
sessions. In 2010, in the first move of its kind Airways had a billboard saying ‘We’ve changed’,
by HUL, homecare brand Rin had openly taken Kingfisher took the chance to say ‘‘We made
on rival P&G’s Tide, without the typical them change’.
airbrushing or pixilation to hide the rival brand
name on TV. The Rin washing powder
commercial, claimed to be a better quality
product in comparison to Tide. The visual
clearly showed a variant of Tide, Tide Naturals,
shown against Rin with the audio saying ‘Tide
se kahin behatar safedi de Rin’ (Rin gives better
whiteness than Tide). Within a day of its going
on air, the campaign had landed up in court.
According to HUL, the advertisement
reinforces the promise to Rin consumers that
Rin delivers superior whiteness. The claim was
based on laboratory tests done through globally
accepted protocols in independent third party Picture 13. 3 Airwars
laboratories.
Horlicks took on Complan with an offensive
campaign, but it was limited to quantifiable
comparison of ingredients and prices.

Picture 13. 2 Tide or Rin

Earlier, skirmishes between the two companies

were always restricted to disguise comparative
Picture 13. 4 Height of competition
advertising or matching each other’s price cuts
in the market. Pepsi and Coca-Cola, fierce The self-regulatory code of the Advertising
rivals in the aerated beverage category, have Standards Council of India, of which both HUL
ruled ad wars in India. In the past also, Amul- and P&G are members, states that comparison
Nutralite (butter), Jet Airways-Kingfisher between competing products is allowed,
(airline), Pepsodent- Colgate and Cadbury provided there is no likelihood of the consumer
Dairy Milk-Nestle Munch (chocolate) had taken being misled about the brands being compared.
pot-shots at each other. With ‘whiteness’ being the quality compared in

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Rin’s advertisement, HUL seems to treading a

thin line.

Globally, around 25 years ago, IT giant Apple

initiated an assault campaign, hammering
away at PCs using Microsoft. These ads, which
became legendary, showed actor Justin Long,
as the smart Mac user, getting the better of
comedian John Hodgman, as the confused PC
guy (Bureau@Economic Times, 2010).

Picture 13. 5 PC vs Mac Troubleshooting

IDENTIFYING CATEGORY
Identifying competitors also refers to identification of category. The category membership includes all
potential and current competitors as well as substitutes. For example, Coke can have number of
competitors depending upon the category membership:

The range of a company’s actual and potential competitors may not be obvious, and broad competitive
frames can result in advantageous comparisons. An industry is a group of firms offering a product or
class of products that are close substitutes for one another, classified based on:

 Number of sellers
 Degree of product differentiation
 Presence or absence of entry, mobility
and exit barriers
 Cost structure
 Degree of vertical integration
 Degree of globalization

When Coca-Cola determines the bottled-water

competitors for its Dasani brand by identifying the
products or sets of products with which a brand
Figure 13. 1 Category Frame of Reference
competes and which function as close substitutes.

Q13.2 With the help of an example, explain why a company's competition may not be
from companies in the same category.

ANALYSING COMPETITION
A company is required to map the buyer’s steps in obtaining and using a product to profile direct and
indirect competitors:

• Analyse competitors’ real and perceived strengths and weaknesses

• Ascertain strategies and objectives of primary competitors
• Determine what drives the competitor’s behaviour
• Define the competitive frame of reference to guide positioning

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The competitors can be analysed on the parameters of awareness, product quality, availability,
technical assistance provided and the employees. Different companies have different combinations of
these factors. A company that is very good in quality and have a good name in market may not
distribute extensively.

For the companies entering into new markets, the first task is to identify and associate a category
which is very new. For example, apple decided for products like ipod or ipad and Alibaba for Alipay.

Q13.3 Gambhir’s is a chain of coffee shops. List possible competitors first from an
industry point of view and then from the market point of view.

Step II – Identify Potential POD and POP

POINT OF DIFFERENCE
These are attributes that are strongly associated with the brand in the minds of consumers. POD is
also known as USP or unique selling propositions. A firm may have one or number of such point of
differences. The differences can be based on functional benefits, emotional benefits and psychological
benefits. Hettich kitchen fittings focus on kitchen design that are more space saving and functional.
Hero motors differentiate on mileage of its two-wheeler.

Creating strong, favourable, and unique associations is a real challenge, but an essential one for
competitive brand positioning. The differentiation strategy should be focused on customer advantage.
Ideal firm develops differentiation in such a way that enhances the overall ability to perform in one or
more ways. Also the differentiation should be leverageable and can use as a springboard to new
advantages. Strong brands often have multiple points-of-difference.

Three criteria determine whether a brand association can truly function as a point-of difference:
desirability, deliverability, and differentiability.

DESIRABLE TO THE CONSUMER personally relevant and there must be a compelling reason to
believe and an understandable rationale for why the brand can deliver the desired benefit.

DELIVERABLE BY THE COMPANY The Company must have the internal resources and commitment
to feasibly and profitably create and maintain the brand association in the minds of consumers. The
product design and marketing offering must support the desired association. The ideal brand
association is pre-emptive, defensible, and difficult to attack.

DIFFERENTIATING FROM COMPETITORS Consumers must see the brand association as

distinctive and superior to relevant. The extent to that a company can differentiate and position itself
as providing superior customer value, it gains competitive advantage. The differentiation can be
created in products and services, distribution strategies, people and overall image.

POINT OF PARITY (POP)

This describes the category the company or brand wants to serve. It's put larger frame of reference in
the minds of consumer. These are the associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but
may be shared with other brands.

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CATEGORY POINTS-OF-PARITY are associations’ consumers view as essential to be a legitimate

and credible offering within a certain product or service category. They represent necessary conditions
but not necessarily sufficient for brand choice. For example, a cafe or a fast food restaurant. However,
it may change over time due to technological, legal, or consumer trends.

Consumers might not consider a hand sanitizer truly a hand sanitizer unless they are gels designed to
apply topically, contain alcohol that kills the germs present on the skin, and developed for use after
washing hands or for those times when soap and water are not available. These service elements are
considered as category Points of parity. Nivea became the leader in the skin cream class on the "gentle,"
"protective," and "caring" platform. The company further moved into classes such as deodorants,
shampoos, and cosmetics. Attributes like gentle and caring were of no value unless consumers believed
that its deodorant was strong enough, its shampoo would cleanse, and its cosmetics would be colourful
enough.

CORRELATIONAL POINTS-OF-PARITY are potentially negative associations that arise from the
existence of positive associations for the brand (research trade-offs consumers make in their
purchasing decisions). These correlations might be low priced brand, or because of brand ambassador
or may also be associated with the country of origin.

COMPETITIVE POINTS-OF-PARITY are associations designed to negate competitors’ points-of-

difference. The brand should be in a strong competitive position.

POINTS-OF-PARITY VERSUS POINTS-OF-DIFFERENCE

Often, the key to positioning is not so much achieving a point-of-difference as achieving points-of-
parity. Dettol and Savlon both are antiseptic is their POP. No-sting property of Savlon is its POD.

Picture 13. 6 Dettol Vs Savlon

MULTIPLE FRAMES OF REFERENCE

Some POPs and PODs will be unique to one competitive frame of reference; others might be shared.
When a brand identifies more than one actual or potential competitive frame of reference it is has
multiple frame of reference. A firm can develop the best possible positioning for each type or class of
competitors and then see whether there is a way to create one combined positioning robust enough to
effectively address them all. For example, Cafe coffee Day can position itself as a cafe (frame of
reference local cafe), or a quick-serve restaurant (frame of reference any fast food joint like MCD) or as
a retail coffee brand (frame of reference coffee brand like Nescafe).

If the competition is too diverse, it may be necessary to prioritize competitors and then choose the most
important set of competitors to serve as the competitive frame. Try to be all things to all people—that
lead to lowest-common-denominator positioning, which is typically ineffective. It may be useful to

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either develop the positioning at the categorical level for all relevant categories or with an exemplar
from each category

STRADDLE POSITIONING
Occasionally a company will try to straddle two frames of reference. Straddle positioning is a situation
one a brands POD in one segment becomes POP in other segment and visa-versa. For example, MG
Hector is Honda Mobilio's positioning as spacious MUV yet stylish car. It is a stylish car in MUV
segment and spacious for normal cars.

When BMW first made its strong competitive push into the US market in the early 1980s, it positioned
the brand as the only automobile that offered both luxury (competing with Cadillac) and performance
(competing with the Corvette), which is known as Straddle Positioning because it uses points-of-
difference and points-of parity across categories.

If Starbucks considers quick-serve restaurants and convenience shops in its competitive frame of
reference, then intended POD might be quality, image, experience and variety, while intended POP
might be convenience and value.

Step III – Choosing POP and POD

The selection of POP and POD is driven by the needs of category membership and the necessity of
competitive differentiation. Competitive advantage is a company’s ability to perform in one or more
ways that competitors cannot or will not match. Few competitive advantages are inherently
sustainable. A leverageable advantage is one that a company can use as a springboard to new
advantages. Marketers typically focus on brand benefits in choosing the points-of-parity and points-of-
difference that make up their brand positioning.

No company has mastered order fulfilment and shipping quite like Amazon. Not only are they
extremely efficient and accurate but speed is a major priority. Through Amazon Prime, the company’s
flagship paid membership service, customers can get guaranteed two-day shipping on all products that
are Prime eligible. Offering this two-day service is a smart move for Amazon for two distinct reasons:

• Conditions customers: Even if a customer only tries two-day shipping once, they find it hard
to go back to the standard three to seven days. As a result, they’re apt to continue paying
for a Prime membership.
• Encourages more purchases: The biggest disadvantage ecommerce has compare to brick-
and-mortar retail is that consumers have to wait for products to arrive after purchasing
them. By focusing on speedy delivery, Amazon has been able to mitigate this disadvantage
(Edwords, 2016).

Brand attributes generally play more of a supporting role by providing “reasons to believe” or “proof
points” as to why a brand can credibly claim it offers certain benefits. P&G, the marketers of Olay
Total describes that how the product is beneficial in seven different ways.

Marketers can decide about changing the position according to markets/ consumer’s taste &
preferences, for example, Dabur honey for health conscious peoples. Al time POP and PODs are helpful
in broadening the frame of reference, for example, Britannia’s Little Hearts biscuits are “a treat to
your heart”. Using a POD can help shifting to a new category, for example Dove – “superior
moisturizing”.

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PERCEPTUAL MAPS:
Marketers must decide the levels of brand attributes,
benefits and value by using quantitative research.
Consumer centric positioning aims at identifying the
POP and POD using perceptual maps. These maps are
drawn looking into consumer perceived positioning by
plotting them in a graph. The dimensions of the graph
can be any two dimensions. For example – price and
quality. The relative and absolute position of a firm
Figure 13. 2 Perceptual Positioning Map can be identified on these two dimensions (attributes).

Q 13.4: Draw a position map for Airline industry in India.

Step IV – Establishing Brand Mantras

A brand mantra is closely related to other branding concepts like “brand essence” and “core brand
promise”. It ensures 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. They provide guidance about what products to introduce under the brand,
what ad campaigns to run, and where and how to sell the brand by highlighting PODs

They create a mental filter to screen out brand-inappropriate marketing activities or actions of any
type that may have a negative bearing on customers’ impressions. Brand mantras are designed with
internal purposes in mind.

Kevin Keller in his paper, Brand Mantras: Rationale, Criteria and Examples, has defined the core
brand promise that combines functional benefits with emotional and descriptive modifiers.

Applied Marketing 13.3 Brand Mantra for Mother Dairy

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd., our own family table, there is always a Mother
creating a new positioning for the value added Dairy product around to make the moment
dairy products with a distinct visual language sweeter and bring them together in a wonderful
at all consumer touchpoints – be it way. The upcoming campaign will be on print,
communication, pack graphics etc. They are radio, digital and outdoor media.
looking at creating refreshing design template
to engage consumers with key category codes
and product attributes. Mother Dairy strives to
create and deliver values to its consumers
through its range of healthy & delightful dairy
products. The articulation of the new
positioning proposition – ‘Rishton Ka Swad
Badhaey’ is a testament to the fact that Mother
Dairy’s dairy products offers the quintessential
delightful refreshing taste that prolongs the Picture 13. 7 Mother Dairy's Offerings
time spent with friends and loved ones. When
The campaign is expected to create awareness
people come together, magic happens – the
and brand affinity for Mother Dairy’s range of
magic of togetherness! So, whether the
dairy products while making it aspirational
consumers are chilling with friends or around
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among consumers across target audience. The building the brand equity and will be a step
communication is going to further strengthen towards making the brand contemporary and
the position as a ‘caregiver’ which the brand has aspirational among consumer mind space. In
been known for over several years. addition, the brand is working towards aligning
our future product portfolio in line with the
All consumer facing communication for dairy
central theme of our new positioning. (Senger,
products will be basis the new brand essence
2020)
which eventually will help Mother Dairy in
Q13.5 Develop an effective positioning strategy for a new eyewear brand.

Applied Marketing 13.4 Innova Crysta

Having ruled the multi-purpose segment for monocoque architecture, to help the company
almost two decades, Toyota Kirloskar is meet stringent Corporate Average Fuel
planning yet another mid-sized MPV which is Economy norms. Unlike Innova, the new C
expected to be lighter and more fuel efficient MPV is likely to come with a pure hybrid
and priced between ₹15 lakh and ₹20 lakh. The solution. N Raja, deputy MD of Toyota
vehicle will adhere to the stringent cleaner and Kirloskar, declined to comment on future
greener norms that carmakers have to conform product plans, but he said that Toyota is
to. The company is also launching an SUV. studying various sub-segments including
compact SUV and MPV.
With the new Innova Crysta transitioning to
the higher price bracket, Toyota’s new MPV is “Now, that there’s a clear strategy for relying
likely to sit below the Innova and the new SUV, on Suzuki for B-segment vehicles, Toyota can
and will take on the Jeep Compass head on. clearly lead the charge for the C segment —
According to several people in the know, the C both MPV as well as SUV. Interestingly, both
MPV architecture is planned for 2022-2023 the segments — mid-size SUV and MPV — are
market launch, and in all likelihood will be big, wide spaces in the portfolio of Suzuki and
shared by Maruti Suzuki, to add to its product Toyota, which they could jointly leverage,” said
portfolio. the second person, requesting anonymity
(Thakur, 2019)
The new C MPV is likely to come with a hybrid
solution and will be based on the lighter
13.6 Discuss the positioning strategy for Innova Crysta.

References
Bapna, A., Irani, D., & Nair, P. (2020, January 8). The Problem with brand purpose.

Bereau@Bestmediainfo. (2014). Creating ‘impressions’ with Kansai Nerolac ‘High-Definition’ paints.

Retrieved from Best MediaInfo: http://bestmediainfo.com/2014/04/creatingimpressions-with-
kansai-nerolac-high-definition-paints/

Bureau@Economic Times. (2010). Rin Vs Tide. Retrieved from Economic Times:

economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5629626.cms?utm_source=contentofintere
st&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Edwords, S. (2016). Companies Using Speed as a Competitive Advantage. Retrieved from

Entrepreneur India: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253372

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Senger, N. S. (2020, January 7). Mother Dairy's 'Rishton Ka Swad Badhaey' campaign asserts new
brand positioning. Retrieved from ET Brand Equity:
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/mother-dairys-rishton-ka-
swad-badhaey-campaign-asserts-new-brand-positioning/73131739

Thakur. (2019). Toyata PlansNew Models toKeep UV Edge. Retrieved from Economic Times:
https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TheEconomicTimes/#

Trivia 13.1 MCQs

1. The goal of positioning is to ________.
A) locate the brand in the minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm
B) discover the different needs and groups existing in the marketplace
C) target those customers marketers can satisfy in a superior way
D) collect information about competitors that will directly influence the firms' strategy

2. The ________ defines which other brands a brand competes with and therefore which brands
should be the focus of competitive analysis.
A) consumer profitability analysis
B) competitor indexing
C) service blueprint
D) competitive frame of reference

3. ________ are defined as companies that satisfy the same customer need.
A) Communities
B) Competitors
C) Trendsetters
D) Task groups

4. A(n) ________ is a group of firms offering a product or class of products that are close substitutes
for one another.
A) community
B) task force
C) industry
D) focus group

5. ________ refers to the products or sets of products with which a brand competes and which
function as close substitutes.
A) Consumer profitability analysis
B) Competitive frame of reference
C) Category membership
D) Value membership

6. When Coca-Cola determines the bottled-water competitors for its Dasani brand by identifying
the products or sets of products with which a brand competes and which function as close
substitutes, it is determining Dasani's ________.
A) customer-focused value proposition
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B) points-of-parity
C) points-of-difference
D) category membership

7. When Coca-Cola focused on developing its soft drink business but missed seeing the market for
coffee bars and fresh-fruit-juice bars that eventually impinged on its soft-drink business, it was
suffering from ________ because it defined competition in traditional category and industry
terms.
A) factor elimination
B) marketing myopia
C) factor reduction
D) category points-of-parity

8. Which of the following terms is most closely associated with the statement: "attributes or
benefits consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe that they
could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand"?
A) points-of-inflection
B) points-of-difference
C) points-of-parity
D) points-of-value

9. Points-of-________ are product associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but
may in fact be shared with other brands.
A) parity
B) difference
C) inflection
D) presence

10. Which of the following criteria relates to consumers seeing the brand association as personally
relevant to them?
A) deliverability
B) authenticity
C) desirability
D) differentiability

11. Which of the following criteria relates to the company having the internal resources and
commitment to feasibly and profitably create and maintain the brand association in the minds
of consumers?
A) differentiability
B) peculiarity
C) desirability
D) deliverability

12. ________ are attributes or benefits that consumers view as essential to a legitimate and credible
offering within a certain product or service class.
A) Category points-of-difference
B) Conceptual points-of-parity
C) Competitive points-of-parity
D) Category points-of-parity

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13. When BMW first made its strong competitive push into the US market in the early 1980s, it
positioned the brand as the only automobile that offered both luxury (competing with Cadillac)
and performance (competing with the Corvette), which is known as ________ because it uses
points-of-difference and points-of-parity across categories.
A) a competitive frame of reference
B) zone of tolerance positioning
C) straddle positioning
D) red-ocean thinking

14. Consumers might not consider a hand sanitizer truly a hand sanitizer unless they are gels
designed to apply topically, contain alcohol that kills the germs present on the skin, and
developed for use after washing hands or for those times when soap and water are not available.
These service elements are considered ________.
A) competitive points-of-difference
B) competitive points-of-parity
C) category points-of-difference
D) category points-of-parity

15. ________ are visual representations of consumer perceptions and preferences.

A) Brand narratives
B) Share of mind variables
C) Perceptual maps
D) Exemplars

16. American Express' "World-Class Service, Personal Recognition," Mary Kay's "Enriching
women's lives," Hallmark's "Caring Shared," and Starbucks' "Rewarding Everyday Moments"
are examples of brand ________.
A) mantras
B) parity
C) identity
D) architecture
17. Brand mantras typically are designed to capture the brand's points-of-________, that is, what
is unique about the brand.
A) conflict
B) parity
C) inflection
D) difference

Assignment 13.1 #ICA

Find out some examples of failed brands. Analyse what went wrong with their positioning with
reference to the four tasks of positioning.

Date of submission _________________

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