The Marketer's Handbook: Reassessing Marketing Techniques for Modern Business

POSITIONING

Application: Strategy Development, Competitive Strategy

Figure P.3: A generic perceptual map of a market to indicate positioning

Adapted from Lambin’s Figure 6.12, 2000

The Concept

The “position” of a businesses in a market is based on buyers’ perceptions of the value of its offer. By gaining and holding a clear position in a market, a firm can maximize its margins and create a long-term sustainable competitive stance. “Perceptual maps” are used by marketers in many different businesses to determine market position, set strategy, and gain insight. By understanding and ranking the buyers’ views of all the significant offers, marketers can deduce and set direction for their own offer. The diagram above (adapted from Lambin, J., 2000) is a generic “perceptual” map of buyer views (“perceptual” because it concentrates on their perceptions of value). The tool is best constructed using detailed conjoint research amongst representatives of all buyers in the market and by understanding their values (see value propositions). It uses two axes (quality and price) which together form buyers’ views of value (i.e. value f price x quality).

The “market leader” (like IBM, BA, Microsoft, and Centrica) normally takes centre stage with the offer by which all are judged. It has dominant ...