Chapter Five Marcom Positioning 2007 Thomson SouthWestern Positioning

Chapter Five Marcom Positioning 2007 Thomson South-Western

Positioning In Theory: Creating Meaning • A brand’s positioning represents the key feature, benefit, or image that it stands for in the target audience’s collective mind. • The attribute / benefit of the brand which is most strongly and robustly recalled 2

The Multi Attribute Attitude Model • Brand beliefs = Attribute x strength of its association with brand • Importance of attribute moderates belief strength • Sum of moderated beliefs = attitude to brand • Interpretation – According to the direction of the scale – Relative to attitude measures for competing brands • Multi Attribute Attitude Modeling (MAAM) 3

The MAAM n Ab = b i e i i=1 Ab = attitude toward brand bi = belief about the relationship between brand attribute i ei = attribute importance weight i n = number of salient attributes 4

Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer Through socialization, people learn cultural values, form beliefs, and become familiar with the physical manifestations, or artifacts, of these values and beliefs. 5

Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer The consumer approaches all advertisements as texts to be interpreted. 6

Meaning Transfer 7

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Advertisements Illustrating Contextual Meaning 9

The consumer infers that this product will help him or her get in shape and maintain a healthy regimen. 10

Positioning in Practice: The Nuts and Bolts • Brand positioning is essential to a successful Marcom program. • A good positioning statement should: – Reflect a brand’s competitive advantage – Motivate customers to action 11

Positioning Statement A positioning statement for a brand is the central idea that encapsulates a brand’s meaning and distinctiveness compared to other brands. BRAND (_______) STANDS FOR ________ 12

A Communication problem • BRAND (_______) STANDS FOR ________ – As planned and stated by the marketer – As understood by the consumer • If the two match – ideal situation • If they do not match – communication problem 13

Outcomes of Proposed Positioning 14

Loser Characterizes a proposed positioning where the brand possesses no competitive advantage and the basis for the positioning is not enough to motivate consumers to want the brand. 15

Swimming Up the River (SUTR) • A proposed positioning represents a competitive advantage for a trivial product feature or benefit, and does not give the consumer compelling reasons to want the brand. • Any effort will be hard work with little progress 16

Promote Competitors • Does not reflect a competitive advantage but does represent an important reason for making brand selection decisions in the product category. • Any effort would basically serve other brand selection decisions in the same category. 17

Winner • Brand is positioned on a product feature or benefit for which the product has an advantage over competitors and which gives consumers a persuasive reason for trying the brand. 18

Benefit Positioning with respect to brand benefits can be accomplished by appealing to any of three categories of needs. Functional Needs Symbolic Needs Experiential Needs 19

An Appeal to Functional Needs Products that attempt to fulfill the consumer’s consumptionrelated problems 20

An Appeal to Symbolic Needs Products that potentially fulfill a consumer’s desire for self-enhancement, group membership, affiliation, altruism, and belongingness 21

Positioning Based on Symbolic Needs 22

Attribute Positioning A brand can be positioned in terms of a particular attribute or feature, provided that the attribute represents a competitive advantage and can motivate customers to purchase that brand rather than a competitive offering. 23

An Example of Product. Related Positioning 24

Non-Product Related: Usage and User Imagery • Brands can also be positioned in terms of their unique usage symbolism or with respect to the people who use them. 25

Positioning Via Attributes: Non- Product. Related • Usage Imagery 26

Examples of Repositioning a Brand “Flame-Broiled” Vs. “Fire-Grilled” “Oil of Olay” to Olay 27

Understanding the buying process IMPLEMENTING POSITIONING 28

Consumer Buying Strategies Involvement – Experience Matrix High experience Low experience High involvement BRAND LOYALTY EXTENDED PROBLEM SOLVING Low involvement HABIT / VARIETY SEEKING LIMITED PROBLEM SOLVING 29

A Basic Strategy Ready Reckoner Prod uct Invol veme nt Product Categor y Experie nce Examples Buying Decision Strategy Process Used Hierarchy of effects Critical Factor Influencing Purchase Behavior Most Important IMC Options High Low First time buyers in a relatively expensive product category, e. g. house, stocks, insurances, vacations, etc. Extended Problem Solving Rational Aw>Att>Int>Beh Customized Solutions; guarantees Personal Selling High Frequent buyers in a relatively expensive product category e. g. airline tickets, cars Brand Loyalty Mostly Rational; Some Emotiona l Int>Beh>Att>Int Positive Reinforceme nt / Reward Direct Mail / Email Low High Frequent buyers in a relatively inexpensive product category e. g. groceries, milk, household products Habit / Variety Seeking Emotiona l Aw>Beh>Att>Int Point of Sale POP, Packaging Low First time buyers in a relatively inexpensive product category e. g. someone learning to rollerblade for the first time. Restricte d Problem Solving Mostly Emotiona l; Some Rational Aw>Beh>Att>Int Free Trials, Sampling Sales Promotion 30

The FCB Grid IMPLEMENTING POSITIONING 31

The FCB Grid (Vaughn 1980, 1986) 32

The Rossiter Percy grid IMPLEMENTING POSITIONING 33

The Rossiter-Percy Grid (1997) 34

Perceptual Mapping IMPLEMENTING POSITIONING 35

Perceptual Mapping • A representation of the consumers’ mind space with the position of brands in this mind space. • When considering more than two dimensions – Multi-Dimensional Scaling – a statistical procedure for determining clusters of similar brands. 36

The Perceptual Map – Cars – attribute based High price ferrari Mercedes BMW Acura Accord Power High mpg Prius Insight camaro firebird Civic Ford fiesta Low price 37

The Perceptual Map Cars – benefit based For younger people BMW savings ferrari Ford festiva prestige Corolla Civic Camry Accord mercedes volvo Rolls Bentley For older people 38

Information from the map • Which brands compete with each other • Strategy implications 39

Information from the map • How is every brand perceived on each attribute – the current positioning – Tylenol – – Excedrin – • Strategy implications 40

Information from the map • Length of attribute line • Strategy implications 41

Information from the map • Angle between lines – Smaller angles – – Larger angles – • Strategy implications 42

Information from the map • Brand located close to the center (origin) e. g. Panadol 43

CPM vs. HEM IMPLEMENTING POSITIONING 44

Implementing Positioning • Consumer Processing • Hedonic, Experiential Model (CPM): Model (HEM): views information and consumers’ choice are seen as a processing of marcom rational, cognitive, messages and systematic and behavior as driven by reasoned process. emotions in pursuit of fun, fantasies and feeling. 45

Comparison of the CPM and HEM Models 46

CPM The Consumer Processing Model (CPM) 47

Stage 1: Consumer Information Processing Exposure to information • Consumers come in contact with the marketer’s message • Gaining exposure is a necessary but insufficient for communication success • “The truth effect”: repeated exposure to a message increases the likelihood that the receiver will believe it to be true. • A function of key managerial decisions regarding the size of the budget and the choice of media and vehicles 48

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 49

Stage 2: Paying Attention • Focus on and consider a message to which one has been exposed • Highly selective 50

Stage 2: Paying Attention To attract consumers’ attention and avoid selectivity: • Create messages that truly appeal to their needs for product-relevant information 51

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 52

Stage 3: Comprehension • Understand create meaning out of stimuli and symbols • Interpreting stimuli involves perceptual encoding 53

Perceptual Encoding 1. Feature analysis: Initial stage whereby a receiver examines the basic features of a stimulus 2. Active synthesis: Beyond examining physical features, the context or situation plays a major role in what meaning is acquired 54

Selective Perception: Each individual is likely to perceive images in different ways 55

Miscomprehension 1. Messages themselves are sometimes misleading or unclear. 2. Consumers are biased by their own preconceptions and thus “see” what they choose to see 3. Processing of advertisements often takes place under time pressures and noisy circumstances. 56

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 57

Stage 4: Agreement • Comprehension by itself does not ensure that the message influences consumers’ behavior • Agreement depends on – whether the message is credible – whether the information is compatible with the values that are important to the consumer. 58

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 59

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 60

Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information These two information processing stages, retention and information search and retrieval, both involve memory factors related to consumer choice 61

Elements of Memory involves the related issues of what consumers remember about marketing stimuli and how they access and retrieve information when making consumption choices 62

Elements of Memory • Sensory stores(SS): – Information is rapidly lost unless attention is allocated to the stimulus • Short-Term Memory(STM): – Limited processing capacity – Information not thought about or rehearsed will be lost in 30 seconds or less 63

Elements of Memory • Long-Term Memory (LTM): – A virtual storehouse of unlimited information – Information is organized into coherent and associated cognitive units called schemata, memory organization packets, or knowledge structures – The marketer’s job is to provide positively valued information that consumers will store in LTM 64

A Consumer’s Knowledge Structure for the VW Beetle 65

Two Types of Learning Strengthening of linkages among specific memory concepts – repeating claims, presenting them in a more concrete fashion and being creative in conveying a product’s features • Establishing entirely new linkages 66

Search and Retrieval of Information • Information that is learned and stored in memory only impacts consumer choice behavior when it is searched and retrieved • Retrieval is facilitated when new information is linked with another concept that is well known and easily accessed • Dual-Coding Theory: Pictures are represented in memory in verbal as well as visual form, whereas words are less likely to have visual representations. 67

CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 68

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing 69

A CPM Wrap-Up • The rational consumer processing model (CPM) and the hedonic, experiential model (HEM) are not mutually exclusive. 70

The HEM perspective • People often consume products for the fun of it or in the pursuit of amusement, fantasies, or sensory simulation • Products are subjective symbols that precipitate feelings and promise fun and the possible realization of fantasies • The communication of HEM-relevant products emphasizes nonverbal content or emotionally provocative words and is intended to generate images, fantasies, and positive emotions and feelings 71

CPM vs. HEM An advertisement exemplifying the HEM approach 72