1. BETTER WAY TO
MAP STRATEGY
GROUP 7
A B H I N A V G A N D O T R A | S H A S H W A T S H A R M A | V I N A Y Y A D A V

2. INTRODUCTION
• Central Brands
– First ones to come to mind
– Brand shapes category dynamics, including pricing and direction of innovation
• Distinctive Brands
– These brands position themselves away from the crowd
– They avoid direct competition with the central brands
Striking a balance between Centrality and Distinctiveness of a brand is important

3. OLDER TECHNIQUES
• Traditionally brand positioning and business performance has been analyzed
separately
• To get a sense of customer’s perception, perceptual maps were used.
• Performance gauging has its own set of tools which measure brands on market share,
growth
• Thus there was lack of coherence in handling the brand positioning along with the
business performance

4. C-D MAP
(CENTRALITY-DISTINCTIVENESS MAP)
• Links customers perceptions with their business performance
• Customers score the brands on two parameters
– Centrality: How representative of the category they are
– Distinctiveness: The degree to which they stand out from others in the category
• The brands are mapped and divided into 4 quadrants
• Each quadrant has strategic implications for – sales, pricing, risk, and profitability
• Offers insights into competitive opportunities and threats

5. EXAMPLE

6. STRATEGIC
IMPLICATIONSD E P E N D S U P O N C U S T O M E R S E G M E N T ,
R E G I O N & O T H E R F A C T O R S

7. IMPLICATIONS(1/3)
Maruti in India was present only
in lower – mid price segement i.e
Mainstream
Identifying the need gap – the
company changed its strategy to
enter aspirational segment
Identifies gaps and opprtunities

8. IMPLICATIONS(2/3)
Coca Cola launched Diet Coke
considering its positioning as
Aspirational in US market
In India , however, Coca Cola launched
“Chota Coke“ to match its positioning as
mainstream in Indian market
Visualizes differences in consumer perceptions & performance in different countries

9. IMPLICATIONS(3/3)
Brands like Apple have to
continuously come up with innovative
designs to retain its position as
Aspirational Product
Hotel Chain “Taj Hotels” can’t open
budget hotels to retain its
distinctiveness
Should reflect company’s strategy & consistency with business model

10. THE FOUR QUADRANTS

11. ASPIRATIONAL
• High sales volume & Premium pricing
• Redefine the category
• Launch Innovation
• Make distinctive features mainstream, not run-of-the-mill
Eg. Toyota is seen as an
Aspirational brand. To
maintain its position it
has come out with
Hybrid Car to retain
distinctiveness

12. MAINSTREAM
• Heavy advertisements to make brand synonymous with category
• Risk- averse but can shape markets
Eg. Coca-Cola came out with Diet Coke & Dasani water to retain sales in its
segment in the Us & Indian market respectively

13. PERIPHERAL
• “Me too strategy”
• Lower prices & Minimum engagement – most likely to exit
• Low marketing & innovation – Generic & private label players eg. TATA
TATA has tried to enter small car segment in India but has remained largely
unsuccessful

14. UNCONVENTIONAL
• Niche Players
• Efforts to make unique features more mainstream
• Unconventional -> Aspirational , increase volume without compromising prices.
Tesla Motors has always remained unconventional with its distinctive cars

15. APPLYING
C-D MAP

16. WHAT CAN C-D MAP DO?
• Move a brand along the centrality or
distinctiveness dimension
• Assess affect of these moves on sales or
profitability.
• Developing an understanding of the costs
associated with different strategies
• And Impact that the resulting shifts in
position have on brand performance.
Map competitor’s
brands
Use regression
analysis
Use regression
analysis

17. HOW TO??

18. Assess your brand’s
positioning strategy
Track the
competition
• C-D map reveals disconnect between
strategy and objective
• Instant check on strategy’s effectiveness by
mapping customer’s perception of brand
• Conventional maps have a narrow view
• Not all brands on maps compete with each
other
• C-D maps reveal consumers’ mental
representations

19. • Compare brand performance and strategy
across categories
• Standardization and rationalization for
budget allocation
• Helps in setting realistic goals
geographically
• Explain differences in cross-border
performance
• Decisions about standardization versus
localization
Manage global
brand
Manage your
brand portfolio

20. Track and
Analyze results
• Repeatedly charts the position changes
that result from marketing initiatives
• Helps marketer in gauging impact of their
and their competitors’ actions

21. THANK YOU!!!