Concept of positioning

According to the Peter F. Kotler, positioning defines as an act of designing image and offering of the company so that a distinct and meaningful competitive position can be occupied by them in the mind of the target customer. The foremost principle of the positioning to gain the competitive advantage in the market is that it should be concerned with how the end-users in different market segment perceive the competing companies, brands or products/services. In addition, positioning is an aid to the planning of the product which shows where present and or proposed brands are situated in the market. Moreover, the process of positioning can be defined as the process of recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the product, wants of the market segments and the extent at which the product can be achieved demands of the customers. The process of positioning is done by effectively used of positioning map which is shown below:

[Source: http://www.sanandres.esc.edu.ar/secondary/marketing/page_63.htm]

Further, positioning is the most effective tool in the marketing and is the final and last step of the STP approach. There are two main platforms; the consumer and the competitor on which the product of the company can be positioned i.e. when the positioning is done on the basis of the consumer, the message and campaign are always targeted to the consumers whereas it is based on the competitor the messages and campaigns are targeted towards competing with another player in the market.

 There are several strategies of the positioning the product that are; positioning by product attributes and benefits, price and quality, use and application, product class, product user, competitor and cultural symbol. The positioning strategy comprises of four major steps, the first steps of the positioning is to identify a set of possible advantage on which a product position can be built (Wood, 2011). The second step is to choose the right comparative advantage which is followed by selecting an affecting an overall positioning strategy. The last stage of the positioning incorporates delivering and communicating the chosen position to the target market. 

[Source: http://teawater-fci.blogspot.com/2011/05/market-positioning-strategy-and-how.html]

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF POSITIONING

The utmost benefit of the positioning strategy is that an effective strategy can develop a competitive advantage. In other words, if an organization is succeeding in establishing its product unique valuable then it would be very difficult for the competitor to match that. The second strength of the positioning is the perception, in which an organization can use the variety of marketing techniques to the position rather than creating objectively better products.

The major drawback of this strategy is the high competition because every company wants to position their products favourably in the consumer’s mind so it is common that they will face high competition. The inevitable change is the biggest weakness because maintaining a competitive position in a market in very problematic. An organization can face numerous changes from radical shifts in technology to economic distress which can be a hurdle in growth.