The Anatomy of Marketing Positioning Strategy
Market positioning is the process of developing a distinct image of a company and its products and services. For example, think about the message Dominoes Pizza used, "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less -- or it's free." This positioned Dominoes very powerfully in satisfying one important need of its potential marketplace -- fast delivery. Unlike corporate positioning, marketing positioning is targeted to a specific market. Understand the anatomy of a marketing positioning strategy and you will be able to position your company and its products and services in a much more powerful way.
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Targeting
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Segment your target markets, since segments may respond differently to positioning messages. A segment is a homogeneous group of prospects or customers with similar characteristics. Segmentation can be based on a variety of factors, such as geography, demographics, or psychographics, which defines a group based on its lifestyle.
Needs Assessment
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Assess what the most important customer and prospect needs are in each identified market segment. Examine those needs to determine if and how you can position your company as a company that best fulfills one of those needs. For example, if a segment of the business travel market must have handicapped accessible rental cars and you can satisfy that need, this could provide a positioning basis.
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Market Problem Determination
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Determine if your company excels in addressing critical problems for a market segment because this can be a basis for positioning. One example is a company with the ability to efficiently process toxic waste, a new government mandate.
Positioning Statement
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Develop a positioning statement for each market segment. For example, "Do you know how often you have to keep a high level of inventory at high carrying costs to make your manufacturing plants always have the raw material they need? Our company provides just-in-time raw material delivery services by providing only the amount of raw materials you need each week. This dramatically reduces your inventory carrying costs."
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