Essay Sample on Positioning and Repsotioning a Product

Introduction

Product positioning is an important aspect in any marketing plan. This can be defined as the process which marketers use in order to determine the best way to communicate their products' strength to their target customers and this is based on the needs of the customer, competitive pressures, the communication channels and carefully crafted key messages (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). When product positioning is done effectively it ensures that the marketing messages reverberate with the customers and call them to action. These actions include buying the product.

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One of the major importance of product positioning is in order to understand the needs of the customers. When doing a product positioning the marketers require a clear understanding of what the customers need. This is so that the right communication channels will be selected and the key messages will work with the customers (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). When doing product marketing we start with identifying specific, niche market segments to target. The more specific we are in the market, the better we get the customers.

Another importance of product positioning is to weigh competitive pressures. There is a need for marketers to weigh competitive pressures when they are positioning elements of their plans (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). When there is effective positioning it conveys to the consumers the reason why the product from the company should be preferred over other competitive options.

On the other hand it is usually important to reposition a product in the market. This is whereby after initial introduction of the product in the market there will always be a need to reposition as a result of the changes that happen in the competitive market. This always involves changing the market's perceptions of an offering so that it can be able to compete more effectively in its present market. There is a need to reposition when the need arises so as to improve demand for offering (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). It is usually important to look at the factors that can trigger decision to reposition a product and may include competition. When we have new competitors entering the market it is usually good to reposition the product so as to be able to compete effectively with the new entrants.

Another reason might be because of the market environment. This may be due to economic-slow down or recovery, a change in consumer confidence; we also look at the political climate or the social forces. All these might warrant product repositioning (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). Consumer trends is also another important factor because when trends change the product also needs to be changed so as to suit the trends. The evolving attitudes of the consumers will always affect the product marketing hence call for repositioning. Through repositioning it is usually good to study the market so as to be able to reposition it in a strong way. As always the product repositioning will make the product be able to compete with other products and services in the market.

A product positioning map is usually defined as a tool that is used by marketers who deal with products that they are marketing. The main idea here is that everyone will always have a different perception of the product (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). The maps are drawn in order to illustrate the customer perception of the business in terms of price, quality, or other product benefits. This will always show how the perception compares against the competitors (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). To create a position map one first needs to define what the consumer needs are especially the ones that would like to understand and develop the market scope to be used for the analysis. When looking at these factors we may for example look at the price which can be for retail and wholesale. The primary benefits from this can be in terms of quality, features, and also serviceability.

The main idea in a product positioning map is usually to determine and also show the position of the product in relation to other competitors. A product positioning map will help in assessing the strengths and weaknesses as compared to other products (Green & Warren 2019). It helps in the identification of the competitive advantage. It can be used to identify market opportunities signified by empty spaces in the map. These maps are usually very important when it comes to assessing and determining product positioning.

The figure above shows an example of a positioning map for a product. Products or services are usually mapped together as this allows them to be compared and contrasted with each other. This is the main advantage of using a positioning map. The map can have Variable one as price whereas variable two will be quality. The products will be mapped together and any gaps will be considered as possible areas that can have new products (Green & Warren 2019). In our example in Burberry we can map the two products (Gucci and Primark). For Gucci it is a high price hence it will be in Product B whereas Primark which is low priced will be product C. Through this we can be able to identify the gaps for the new products that we want.

The first method will be to consider the growth of the target market and how the market has changed. This will always be important to reposition a product well in the market. Having the insight of how the market has grown will always be an important aspect to make product repositioning (Lancaster & Massingham 2017). This will make the product to change its marketing and also packaging. Through this the product will be able to enter the market afresh and compete with other products. This will always be a good way to reposition in the market and take on competition which is usually present with the ever changing market sphere.

The second way is to remove the barriers to the humans that provide life to the product or the company. It is always good to let humans interact with the target market and do less of automated software (Lancaster & Massingham 2017). There is usually that feel of human interaction that improves marketing (Green & Warren 2019). The customers will always crave human contact more than automated robots which deal with them. Although we cannot ignore the fact that automation is the way to go it is always good to have that feel of a human contact. This usually makes the brand breath in life and makes the customer want to associate with the brand. This brings brand loyalty (Fahy & Jobbe 2015). This usually means that the brand has become a living element that evolves with the customer. By replacing the human subjects with automated machines the customers always feel like being taken away from reality and that they are just seen as products, dealing with them makes them understand their importance in the brand and that improves brand loyalty hence repositions the product well.

Reference List

Fahy, J. and Jobber, D., 2015. Foundations of marketing.Green, M.C.K. and Warren, J., 2019. GLOBAL MARKETING. Pearson.

Lancaster, G. and Massingham, L., 2017. Markets and customers: market boundaries; target marketing. In Essentials of Marketing Management (pp. 70-101). Routledge.