Positioning & Branding

1. Positioning & Branding Presented by Pankaj Jain & Brajesh Mishra

2. Summary and Learnings Positioning got its attention when in 1972 Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote a series of articles entitled “The Positioning Era” for the trade paper Advertising Age. Today positioning has become the buzzword of advertising and marketing, all over the world. Positioning starts with a product .A piece of merchandise ,a service ,a company ,an institution or a person. Perhaps yourself. But it is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. that is ,you position the product in the mind of the prospect.

3. LEARNINGS – Even as an individual you need to manage perceptions of others, about yourself –how they feel and believe about you…so it does not matter in which stream you will be into (Marketing,HR,Finance etc.) you just have to do positioning… Shahrukh Khan –Romantic,talented,monogamus

4. Vocabulary • Brand • Perception • Positioning • Brand value • Mind share

5. A name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods or services of competitors. Brand.

6. GOOGLE. SEARCH. BMW. DRIVING. INDIA. DIVERCITY.

7. Positioning • When you listen ward “Mercedes-Benz” The first ward that comes to your mind is “prestige” Here “Mercedes-Benz” is a brand which has been positioned in our minds in such a way that whenever we listen to it, we start thinking of prestige (Naam,Rutva and status) it is called Positioning.

8. Definition. “Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.” “Positioning is ,how you differentiate yourself in the mind of your prospect”. e.g. Mysore Sandal -Purity and natural fragrance. Margo- Herbal(neem). Lifebuoy-Hygiene.

9. How these companies positioned themselves • Mercedes-Benz ………………… prestige. • BMW …………………………… driving. • Volvo…………………………….. Safety. • Starbucks………………………… high-end coffee.. • Rolex………………………………high-end watches. • Google ……….……………………Search. • Red bull ………………………… energy drink. • FedEx…………………………… overnight (delivery)

10. FedEx See how FedEx , the American courier has positioned itself as a fastest and most accurate (overnight) courier giant ,which is impossible to be stopped!

12. Why positioning? • There are two kinds of products – commodities and brands. A commodity is a product that is same as those made by every other company. As a result the only way to sell a commodity is by selling it cheaper than your competitor. A brand on the other hand, is (at least perceived in that way!) a product that is unique and different. A customer can buy Tata Indica for a lot less money than a Mercedes Benz, but most Mercedes customer won’t buying tata or any other vehicle simply because “it’s not a Mercedes-Benz.” so, you need unique brands to make money.

13. Why positioning? The mind rejects much of the information offered to it due to over-communication (Per capita consumption of advertising in America today is about $200 a year) from each side. In general , the mind accepts only that which matches with it’s prior knowledge or experience. In today’s communication jungle out there, the only hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on narrow targets, to practice segmentation. In a word “positioning”

14. Why positioning? You narrow the focus Starbucks narrowed its focus to high-end coffee and became the world's largest coffee chain.Dell Computer narrowed its focus to personal computers "sold direct" and became the world's largest PC manufacturer.BMW narrowed its focus to "driving" and became the largest-selling European luxury carin the U.S.Focus is the key to successful brand building in today's ultra-competitive marketplace

15. The Oversimplified Message • Today the best approach to take, in our over communicated society is to simplified message. you simplified the message, then simplified it some more if you want to make a long last impression. -Al Ries and Trout

16. Volvo owns a single word in the minds. Volvo. Safety. Volvo has successfully simplified and Communicated this message.

17. You differentiate or die • Advertising has entered a new era where creativity is no longer the key to success ,today a company must create a position in the prospect’s mind. A position which is unique and based on company’s strengths and on realities.You don’t lie you only exaggerate. Camlin (marker)-Permanent.

19. Beers • Heidelberg - the working man’s beer. • Bud - the athletic beer • Bud Lite - the party beer • Millers Lite - the fun and great test • Coors - the environment beer • Coors light - the fastest beer

20. Cigs • Marlboro - the rugged male • Virginia slims - the independent female • Camel - cool and sophisticated • Benson & hedges - “intellectual”

21. So is positioning always beneficial? • Xerox first made photo copy machine & sold them world wide, as the time passed Xerox become synonymous to photocopy. When it launched it’s “Xerox data system", fax machine, and PC all were disastrous and Xerox lost billions of dollar since it could not change or reconstructed minds of prospects. Xerox. Photocopy. Same happened with IBM & Dalda

22. Repositioning :Reconstruction of perceptions. • Companies like IBM, Bajaj and Xerox did it.

23. “Positioning makes brands and brands give value to companies” 6 Toyota7 Intel8 McDonald’s9 Disney10 Mercedes-Benz 1 Coca-Cola2 Microsoft3 IBM4 GE5 Nokia

24. Top brands of the world

25. In the end, have a….. HUMAN TOUCH • In the automobile market where technology and innovations are key to success see how a company trying to differentiate itself from it’s competitors.

27. References • BOOKS- “Positioning: the battle for your mind” by Al Ries & Jack Trout “ Marketing Management” by Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller And of course Google.com! You may get this presentation on my blog i.e. brajeshsudarshan.blogspot.com

28. Recommended readings

29. Feedbacks are welcome. • pankaj_jain47631@yahoo.com • mishrabraj@rediffmail.com

30. THANK You. Question please….