In the journey of building and developing the company brand positioning. The company brand positioning map is an indispensable element. Like a road map. Brand positioning map is a special guide for startup businesses. Let’s explore with Apexcorp how to draw a brand positioning map that business owners and executives cannot ignore.
What is a brand positioning map?
The term Brand Positioning Map is a popular marketing tool. Used by businesses and experts to visualize and evaluate a brand’s position in the minds of consumers. Below is detailed information that clearly explains the concept and role of the brand positioning map.
What is the brand?
Brand is a concept used to describe a set of elements created by a business. Through brand names, slogans, symbols, products and services, customer awareness…
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Brand positioning is the journey of determining and shaping the brand position of a business. This positioning is in the customer’s mind compared to competitors. Brand positioning is a combination of the core strength of a business and the hidden needs of consumers. With impressive, different and unique elements. Brand positioning helps businesses assert their competitive position against competitors.
The goal of a business when positioning a brand is to create an image. Convey a unique value message to occupy a special position in the eyes of customers. From there, the corporate brand becomes outstanding, different and trustworthy.
Warren Buffett – America’s most successful businessman and investor said. “Your luxury brand needs to offer something special to customers. Otherwise it won’t make any rice or porridge.”
What is a brand positioning map?
The brand positioning map is a visual coordinate system. Helps determine the position and value of business attributes compared to competitors. The positioning map coordinate system is often built with two axes: Price and Quality. In addition, if you want to compare other attributes for a clearer and more objective assessment, it is completely possible.
This positioning tool helps experts and researchers analyze businesses. Identify and clearly position the brand position in the market. Brand positioning maps are often used in the field of marketing and brand management. To help businesses clearly understand the position of their brand in the minds of customers.
The role of brand positioning map in business
Accurately determining the brand positioning map will help businesses achieve much success in business.
- Determining brand positioning: Brand positioning map helps businesses determine the brand’s position in customer perception compared to competitors in the same business field.
- Identify and build a marketing strategy: A brand positioning map provides important information about your target audience and competitive position.
- Building a reputable position with customers: Creating a brand positioning map helps businesses clearly identify customer segments. Thus, businesses will have a more effective way to reach customers.
- Support for business decisions: Brand positioning map provides an overview of the brand’s position in the market through objective indicators and data.
- Track, measure and evaluate effectiveness: Brand positioning mapping helps businesses track and know whether the brand is growing or stagnating compared to competitors.
Content of the brand positioning map
To determine and evaluate their position on the business map, businesses need to choose appropriate criteria. Only then can we successfully attract customers as well as create competitive advantage over competitors in the same industry. Let’s take a look at the main criteria of the brand positioning map.
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Quality criteria
To build a successful brand positioning map in the eyes of customers, the most important criterion is the quality of products and services. This is the criterion to attract customers, retain customers and build loyal customers. When businesses choose quality criteria to build a brand positioning map, they need to focus on product research and development.
Price criteria
Price is a criterion that customers often consider before making a decision to purchase or use a service. Therefore, many businesses choose prices to compare with competitors. To use appropriate price criteria and achieve high efficiency, businesses need to determine.
- Price segmentation strategy: Research and determine which price segment the brand is targeting. Each price segment will target different target audiences and competitors.
- Competitive value: Compare the price of the business brand with direct and indirect competitors. From there, businesses analyze, measure and evaluate. See if the brand competes on price, what is more outstanding and superior for customers to choose from.
- Apply promotions: To attract potential customers as well as retain loyal customers. Businesses should regularly develop attractive promotions and discounts.
Value criteria
Determine the core values that the business brand wants to convey and target to customers. This helps determine the importance of the brand. In solving customers’ pains, needs and wants. Value criteria need to be considered from two aspects.
- Product and service aspect: What core values do the business’s service products want to convey to customers? Do those values meet and align with consumer needs?
- Marketing aspect: What message content do marketing communication campaigns want to spread to consumers? Is the accessibility and level of interest of those values high?
Feature criteria
In brand positioning, feature criteria play an important role. From there, build the content and image of the business in the eyes of target customers. To create a competitive advantage over competitors in terms of product and service features, businesses need to answer the following questions:
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What are the uses of the features in the business’s products and services?
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What makes those features different and unique?
- Compared to direct and indirect competitors, what features are outstanding and superior?
Criteria for customer needs
Customer needs are what they want. And search for business products and services to solve their problems or meet their needs. To successfully build a brand positioning map based on criteria related to customer needs. Businesses need to:
- Survey, research and collect information from customers.
- Measure and evaluate data information available from customers.
- Conduct detailed analysis of that data on the brand positioning map.
Brand positioning mapping is a continuous research and development process. The reason is because the market and customers are always changing. Therefore brands need to be flexible and adjust their strategies. To maintain and enhance the value of the business in the eyes of customers
Detailed instructions on how to create a brand positioning map
Brand positioning mapping is one of the important stages. Not only for developed businesses, but also especially important for startups. To be able to create a successful and effective brand positioning map. Enterprises need to take the following detailed steps:
Step 1: Identify customers and target market
For a business, target customers are the most important factor. Because it determines the business operations and revenue of the enterprise. Currently, there are many different methods of identifying customers and target markets. One of them is the Canvas Business Model. The model is commonly applied by many large and small businesses.
According to the Canvas business model, businesses need to determine:
- Target market: Does the business want to position its brand in the national market or in a concentrated market?
- Customer segmentation: To identify successful customer segments. Businesses need to survey and analyze based on groups of questions. What are the demographic characteristics of the target customer group? Insight research and analysis of target customer groups? What are the pains and difficulties they are facing? What are their psychology, interests, habits, behaviors? What knowledge and awareness does this customer group have about the business? How do they feel and react to the company’s products?
One method for businesses to successfully research customer segments is to create surveys and interviews. Businesses need to focus carefully on the process of qualitative and quantitative customer research.
Step 2: Research product attributes
Product attributes are the specific characteristics and features of the product/service that the brand provides to customers. When businesses research the value of product attributes, they need to determine the rational and emotional benefits.
Determine rational benefits
Businesses need to determine: What are the products and services? What needs and problems do those products and services solve for customers? What physical benefits do products and services bring?
After determining the rational benefits. Businesses need to research, analyze and choose 2-3 impressive benefits, different from their competitors. Note, businesses need to avoid choosing rational benefits that are general, vague and used by many other companies. Because those are all beneficial goals that businesses aim for and are not enough to make a difference.
Suggested ways to determine effective rational benefits for businesses:
- Works better for you
- Makes you smarter
- Saves you money
- Helps your family
- Helps you be healthier
Identify emotional benefits
Like rational interests, businesses also need to answer questions. How does a corporate brand leave an impression on customers’ emotions? What emotional benefits do the product differences bring to customers?
To successfully build emotional benefits in the hearts of customers. Businesses need to combine with rational interests to determine what are the unique and different points of the product. Only then can businesses succeed in positioning their brand in the minds of customers.
Suggest some ways to determine emotional benefits for businesses:
- Curious for knowledge
- Self assured
- Feel myself
- Stay in control
- Get noticed
Step 3: Select two brand characteristics for the X and Y axis
The purpose of brand positioning mapping is to show the difference in products and services of the brand compared to competitors. Therefore, on the X – Y coordinate system, businesses should choose the 2 most prominent and customer-attracting benefits.
According to Marketing experts, businesses use factors: Price and Quality to compare and give results. In addition, businesses can also combine other comparison factors such as: Diversity of product and service portfolios; Friendliness – Benignity of the product (For cosmetics field).
Analyze and determine the position of competitors
This is an important step in brand positioning and competitive strategy building. This helps business teams better understand the market. The strengths, weaknesses, and advantages of each competitor.
Conduct research and analyze your competitors carefully to know what their competitive position is. Note, business teams should learn and identify the rational and emotional benefits of competitors. From there, understand what their customers need and how they feel when using products and services.
Decide on a positioning plan
The final step in building a brand positioning map is to choose the most optimal positioning plan. However, businesses need to pay attention to two factors. Market needs and competition from competitors in the market before making a decision. Because, with a strong level of business competition. The most important thing is that businesses should focus on investing in differences. Only then can businesses easily position their brand and position on the market map.
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The process of mapping brand positioning is a detailed process. Used to determine the brand’s position and core value to customers. It is an important part of your marketing and branding strategy. Helps differentiate a brand from its competitors. Therefore, businesses need to properly follow the mapping process to create a distinctive and unique image for the brand.
Research lessons on Apple’s brand positioning
When talking about businesses with successful brand positioning maps, it is impossible not to mention Apple. The world’s leading technology corporation with a value of 3,000 billion US dollars. Let’s analyze interesting points worth learning from the Apple brand when building a brand positioning map.
Breakthrough transformation to become the world’s leading technology corporation
Before becoming a technology corporation valued at 3,000 billion US dollars. Apple is just a normal computer manufacturing business. Apple has no product differentiation. Normal, bland design does not attract customers’ attention.
In 2001, when Apple released the iPod with an eye-catching design and unique features. Since then, we have initially attracted consumers to successfully position our brand. After that, Apple continued to release quality products. Continuously improving with outstanding, user-friendly features. From there, step by step success in the process of building a brand positioning map.
Brand positioning is closely linked to user experience
All Apple products are designed with user experience in mind. Apple meets two product attributes:
- Rational benefit: Simplify features for a great experience.
- Emotional benefits: Provides an experience of joy, freedom, comfort, and attention.
Apple’s brand positioning process revolves around three core values. It is Simplicity – Innovation – Humanity. Apple wants to become a modern high-end corporation with simple but different products.
Criteria for positioning high-end brands
Unlike competitors who do not apply price competition strategies. From the beginning, Apple identified the target customer segment as high-end. To successfully position a high-end brand, Apple has implemented strategies such as:
Focus on modern, simple but beautiful design.
Continuously improve and improve product quality.
Diversify product portfolio with many different versions.
To achieve the current success in brand positioning. Apple’s team did a great job mapping the brand positioning. Do they understand who the customers are? What products do you want? How do customers feel different when using Apple products? All because Apple has continuously developed and built a suitable business model system.
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