Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers - Differentiation and Positioning

9 important questions on Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers - Differentiation and Positioning

What is product positioning?

How a product is defined based on its attributes in consumers mind (perceptions, impressions, feelings) relative to the products of competitors.

What is a positioning map?

This is a tool used by marketers to show the consumer perceptions of their brands versus those of competing products on important buying dimensions.

Define the perceptional positioning map?

Reveals the consumers' perception on the brand relative to its competitors on important buying dimensions.
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

How do you choose a differentiation and positioning strategy?

1.  Identify a possible set of competitive advantages to build a position.
2. Choosing the right competitive advantages.
3. Selecting an overall positioning strategy
4. Communicating and delivering the position to the market.

A Brand's positioning must serve the needs and preferences of well defined target markets. The differentiation and positioning consists of three steps. What are those steps?

1. Identify possible value differences and competitive advantage
2. Choose the right competitive advantage
3. Select an overall positioning strategy

When is competitive advantage reached?

When greater value is offered to consumer by lower prices or higher quality justified by higher prices.

Competitive advantage can be gained through product, service, channel, people and image. What's the difference between those differentiation strategies?

Product; differentiation on features, performance, style and design.
Serivce; differentiation on speed and convenient service.
Channel; differentiation on design of channel's coverage, expertise and performance.
People; hiring and training people, better than competitors do.
Image; should convey a product's benefits and positioning. 

How can a company differentiate itself? (5)

1. Line of products
2. Services
3. People
4. Channels
5. Images

A competitive advantage should be:

- Important: Highly valued benefit to target buyers
- Distinctive: Competitors do not offer the difference, or the company can offer it in a more distinctive way
- Superior: The difference is superior.
- Communicable: The difference is communicable
- Preemptive: Cannot easily copy
- Affordable: Buyers can afford the difference
- Profitable: Needs to be profitable

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo