Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Developing a Positioning Strategy

Positioning is the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market.4 The goal is to instill the brand in the minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. Unlike the value proposition, which articulates all benefits and costs of the offering, the positioning zeroes in on the key benefits that will provide consumers with a reason to choose the company’s offering.

Effective positioning helps guide marketing strategy by clarifying the brand’s essence, identifying the goals it helps the consumer achieve, and showing how it does so in a unique way. Everyone in the organization should understand the brand positioning and use it as ...