Positioning is the final stage in the SCP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) marketing approach. It involves defining our brand identity, the image we want to have in the minds of our customers, prospects and users.
How do you create effective positioning? We tell you all about it. 👇🏻
What is positioning?
Positioning is the image we want to convey to our target audience about our offer and our company.
It is closely related to a different concept, namely image. Image is what the individual actually perceives. Positioning is what the company communicates, the image it wants to have. Sometimes it’s different. Positioning is an objective, image a result.
It is the position that a product or brand occupies in the minds of consumers in relation to its competitors. Positioning a brand means giving it a credible, attractive and different position in the eyes of customers.
How do you set up the right positioning ?
You need to identify the two dimensions that matter most to your customers. Point out the features of your product that best meet these expectations. Find a unique position that allows you to stand out from the crowd.
For example, for an electric battery, the two criteria will be price and battery life.
How do you position yourself successfully?
For people to become consumers, they need to think that
- Your offer is easy to understand
- That it is credible : you choose your positioning, but you already have a brand image. For example, if the low-cost airline Ryanair offered luxury flights, it wouldn’t be credible.
- Different: you need to quickly understand the difference from other brands.
- Attractive, of course, because the whole aim of our SCP approach is to make a brand attractive to the target audience.
The golden triangle of positioning
Positioning must strike a balance between the expectations of the public, the potential strengths of the product and the positioning of competitors.
To achieve this balance, three questions need to be answered: The chosen positioning:
- Does it meet the expectations of the target audience ?
- Is it consistent with the real strengths of our offering ?
- Does it enable us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors ?
Repositioning
It is sometimes necessary to reposition a product that is performing too poorly commercially. Two types of action can be taken to improve positioning:
Invest in the product to improve it through innovation, for example by repackaging existing offers.
Invest in communication to highlight the product’s advantage by revamping its packaging and launching a communication campaign.)
