Product Positioning

Product Positioning Anuradha Sridharan Product Manager Cleartrip

Think about your product or service

Unique position that a product occupies in the mind of a consumer

Web Search “ Reliable ” - Google “ New ” - Bing My mind space E-Commerce “ Reliable ” - Flipkart “ Saves time ” - IRCTC “ Simple ” - Cleartrip Email “ Emotional ” - Yahoo! “ Productive ” - Gmail

Created using http://www.wordle.net

Why?
"Positioning is the single largest influence on the buying decision.”
Geoffrey Moore in his book “Crossing the Chasm”

Who owns positioning? Product Management OR Product Marketing

Positioning <> Tagline

Positioning Brand Name Logo Creative Message Requirements Product Design Tagline

Pre-Requisites
Segmentation of the market
Identification of Target segments
Competitive Analysis

Positioning varies with market phase Emergence Growth Maturity Decline Market Life Cycle

“ It's not enough to invent or discover something. You must be first to get into the prospect's mind” Al Ries and Jack Trout

New Product Category Start with who you are not! Horseless carriages Frost-free refrigerators Tubeless tires Cashless payments

Existing Product Category
Who is your target audience?
What is the one most important problem of your audience?
What is the one most important benefit of your product?
Why is your product better than your competitors' products?

Positioning Statement
Sentence #1
For (target customer)
who (statement of the need or opportunity),
the (product/service name) is a (product/service category)
that (statement of benefit).
Sentence #2
Unlike (primary competitive alternative),
our product (statement of primary differentiation).

Kindle - “Take your book library with you” Access to over 200,000 books Longer battery life Read from anywhere Sleek interface Light weight (241 grams) No glare Picture Credits: http://www.amazon.com

Cleartrip for Business
Problems faced by our target audience
No transparency in travel costs
Less control
Positioning: Comprehensive travel management solution
Product
Ability to define travel booking policies
Get a snapshot of travel booking trends
Link travel expenses to departments, cost centers and projects

A few pointers
Keep it short and specific
Stick to one target customer's problem you will solve and one significant benefit your product offers in relation to competition
Share your positioning statement with all Internal stakeholders (customer service, sales, technical support, design, engineering, marketing)

B2B Products
Basic Principles remain the same!
Focus on channel strength (delivery model)
Reseller capabilities
Support systems

Validation
Does your positioning strategy
Match with your target customers' needs?
Compare your product/service with respect to competition?

Expected Outcome
Differential advantage
Distinctive Image
Instant recall from consumers

Repositioning story from Jack Trout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YaSF2_K9l4

Source: http://www.engrish.com/

Thank You!! Contact me at Twitter: @anura Email: anuradha.sridharan@gmail.com

References
Positioning: The battle for your mind by Al Ries, Jack Trout
Consumer Behavior 9 th edition by Leon G Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk
Crossing the chasm by Geoffrey Moore

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Product Positioning

by Anuradha Sridharan on Oct 23, 2010

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Product Positioning — Presentation Transcript