Positioning

Market positioning refers to the process of establishing a brand or product in a specific way in
the minds of the target market. It involves crafting a distinct image and identity that
differentiates it from competitors and aligns with the preferences and needs of the target
audience.

(1) Market Research:

Conduct surveys, focus groups, and interviews to understand customer perceptions and needs.

Analyze market trends and consumer behavior.

(2) Identify Unique Selling Points (USPs):

Determine what makes your product or brand unique.

Highlight attributes that resonate most with your target market.

(3) Develop Positioning Strategy:

Choose positioning bases such as quality, price, convenience, or innovation.

Craft messages that emphasize your USPs and align with your brand identity.

(4) Create a Positioning Map:

Visualize your position relative to competitors using key attributes (e.g., price vs. quality).

Identify areas for differentiation and potential market opportunities.

Positioning Map

A positioning map (or perceptual map) is a visual representation that shows how customers
perceive a product, brand, or company in relation to competitors in the market. It typically uses
two dimensions (axes) that are important to customers, such as price, quality, convenience, or
any other relevant attributes. Positioning maps help companies understand their competitive
positioning and identify opportunities for differentiation.

Information processing

Central processing
Definition: This involves careful and thoughtful consideration of the true merits of the
information presented.

Characteristics: Consumers engage in this type of processing when they are highly motivated,
have the ability to process the information, and find the information relevant.

Examples: Reading detailed reviews, comparing product specifications, and evaluating the
arguments and evidence presented in advertisements.

Peripheral processing

Definition: This involves a more superficial or heuristic approach where consumers rely on
peripheral cues rather than the content of the information.

Characteristics: Consumers use this type of processing when they have low motivation or ability
to process information, or when the information is perceived as less relevant.

Examples: Being influenced by celebrity endorsements, attractive packaging, or catchy jingles in

advertisements.

Consumer Decision Making

Need recognition

 Information search

 Alternative evaluation

 Purchase and consumption

 Post purchase
 Key Points:

 - Importance of Market Orientation: Leaders must understand their organization's

market orientation to make informed decisions and drive success.

 - Delegation Temptation: It can be tempting to delegate market orientation tasks, but

leaders at all levels should be involved.
  - Business Acumen: Identifying market orientation is fundamental to building business
acumen.

 - Customer Understanding: Knowing who the customers are, what they value, and how
to serve them helps leaders make smarter choices.

 - Decision Making: Fluency in the language of business enhances leaders' ability to

persuade and rally decision-makers around their plans.

 - Organizational Story: Key elements include understanding customers, value

proposition, differentiation from competitors, and how the organization makes money.

Environmental Sustainability: How to Market Sustainable Products

 - Companies often overestimate consumers' desire for sustainable products, leading to

unsold inventories.

 - Basic product attributes are more influential in purchasing decisions than social and
environmental benefits.

 - Sustainable products' market share in the U.S. consumer goods market is still relatively
low (17% in 2021).
  - Marketing should balance traditional benefits and sustainability features to meet
consumer needs.

 - Products can have independent, dissonant, or resonant sustainability features affecting

their appeal.

 - Consumers can be categorized into Greens (high value on sustainability), Blues

(moderate value), and Grays (low value).

 - Strategies for marketing sustainable products vary based on consumer segmentation

and product attributes.

Mapping customer journey

Step 1 – Create a customer persona to test In order to effectively understand the customer
journey, you need to understand the customer – and this is where creating a persona really
helps. You may base this around the most common or regular customers, big spend, or new
customers you haven’t worked with before. This persona is beyond a marketing segment, but
that can be a great place to begin if you’re just starting out on the mapping process for your
organization.

Step 2 – Choose a customer journey for mapping

Using theory. Select a customer journey map to construct, then build a behavior line. This might
be a new customer journey, renewal, or fixing a product issue.

Using data. You might also choose this based on the most frequent customer journeys taken, or
the most profitable.

Step 3 – Work through the mapping process

Who are the people involved in this journey?

What are the processes or the things that happen during this journey?

What are the customer attitudes?

What is the moment that matters?

How do you measure how effectively you are meeting customer needs throughout the journey?

Step 4 – Innovate
When you are mapping out your customer journey, brainstorm ideas for how to improve that
moment that really matters. These ideas don’t need to be practical, but by putting together a
diverse mapping team from around the business you can begin to filter through these ideas.
Then, test it. Ask yourself: Is it feasible? Is it viable? Is it desirable? Don’t ask can we do it, ask
should we do it? Then you can start to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Step 5 – Measure

Use the customer journey map to decide on your measurement framework. Who are you
measuring? What are you measuring? When on the journey are you measuring it? And why?
And finally, what metrics and KPI’s are in place to measure this?

Stages of the Customer Journey:

1. Awareness:

 Touchpoints: Social media ads, word of mouth, street banners.

 Channels: Instagram, Facebook, physical banners.

 Emotions: Curiosity, interest.

 Pain Points: Overwhelming number of choices, unclear messaging.

2. Consideration:

 Touchpoints: Online website, in-store visits, customer reviews.

 Channels: Company website, physical store, review platforms like Yelp.

 Emotions: Anticipation, doubt.

 Pain Points: Inconsistent information, difficulty comparing products.

3. Purchase:

 Touchpoints: Checkout counter, online payment gateway.

 Channels: In-store, online website.

 Emotions: Satisfaction (if smooth), frustration (if problematic).

 Pain Points: Long waiting times, payment issues.

4. Retention:
  Touchpoints: Follow-up emails, loyalty programs, customer service.

 Channels: Email, in-store, phone support.

 Emotions: Valued (if positive experience), neglected (if negative experience).

 Pain Points: Poor after-sales service, lack of personalized offers.

5. Advocacy:

 Touchpoints: Social media sharing, word of mouth, review submissions.

 Channels: Social media platforms, review websites.

 Emotions: Pride (if advocating), disappointment (if deterring).

 Pain Points: Lack of incentives to share positive feedback, unresolved negative

experiences.

CX, CE and CS

Customer experience is an immersive brand process that may include marketing campaigns or
cultivating a distinct in-store culture. The goal is to see your business from your customer's
perspective and create an ideal situation that moves them to make a purchase.

Customer engagement is how the consumer sees and interacts with the experience across
platforms. Do they comment on social posts? Have you seen an uptick in email subscriptions?

Customer satisfaction measures how much your consumer likes their experience, and
engagement and is usually the last determining factor on whether a customer will return or
walk away from the interaction feeling unfulfilled.

“Marketing research links the organization with its market environment. It involves the
specification, gathering, analysis, and interpretation of information to help the company
understand the environment, identify problems and opportunities, and develop and evaluate
courses of marketing action.”

Marketing research
Market research
What does it It involves study of It involves the systematic study of all
do? the marketplace and the buyer’s aspects of a business’s marketing.
behavior within that market.

Feeds into Marketing research. The whole of a business’s marketing

information system.

Scope of Limited – it studies only market and Wide – it studies the entire
research consumer behavior. marketing process – the Four Ps, as
well as the market itself.

Nature of Specific – its research gives insights Generic - its research can be used
research into a particular market, and cannot for solving various marketing
easily be applied to other markets. problems and issues.

Dependent or Dependent upon the requirements Independent - marketing research is

independent? of marketing research. developed by the business for the
business.

Purpose To research the viability of a product To inform decision-making about all

or service in the target market. marketing activities.

Why Marketing Research?

 Alternate is your “Intuitiveness”, “Gut Feelings”, “Guess” or “Instinct”

 Prone to issues such as

 Overconfidence – false sense of skill, talent or self-belief

 Herd mentality – blindly copy and follow what others are doing

 Loss aversion – tendency to fear losses and avoid them

 Confirmation bias – seek out information and data that confirms their pre-
existing ideas