Product positioning is the process of determining the place that a new product should take among existing ones. Good customer mapping of a particular product in a competitive group is very helpful when planning new product launches or identifying ways to upgrade and improve products that are already on the market.
Product positioning is carried out in order to ensure its competitive position among analogues in the market. To this end, a set of appropriate measures is being developed and implemented. The place of a particular product in the mind of the consumer in marketing is called its position.
In a classical market, consumers are overwhelmed with information about the goods and services they offer. Often they are not able to evaluate the goods before buying. The position that a product occupies in the mind of the buyer is a whole set of perceptions, sensations and impressions that arise when it is compared with competing analogues.
Consumers try to categorize different products for themselves. However, such spontaneous product positioning is not beneficial for manufacturers who, using marketing tools, seek to make this process manageable and profitable for themselves.
To date, three main product positioning strategies have been developed and successfully applied:
- Strengthening the brand's current position in the minds of consumers.
- Search for an unoccupied position of value to a large number of consumers.
- Forcing competitors out of their position in the minds of consumers or repositioning (if necessary, penetrating into new segments or new markets).
Developing a positioning strategy in three stages. At the first stage, the current positioning is determined, at the second, the desired position is selected, at the third, the actual set of measures to achieve the desired position is developed.
The main principles of positioning are as follows: consistency and fidelity to the once chosen direction for a long time; accessibility and simplicity combined with the expressiveness of the presentation of the position; full compliance of all business components (goods, services, advertising, etc.) with the selected position.
The key advantage of the product, which allows the consumer to satisfy his needs in the best possible way and distinguishes the product from its competitors, is called the positioning attribute. That's itis a source of motivation for buying. Attribute selection by marketers begins with identifying customer segments by benefit. They are divided into clusters according to a number of characteristics: based on the price of the product, image, quality, the way the product is used, the solution of specific problems, or based on a combination of benefits.
Positioning of a product in terms of competitiveness to its analogues can be carried out either through a new (free in a niche) position, or by ousting competitors from this position.
