Positioning involves designing a company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the target market's mind. Brands differentiate themselves through their value propositions, slogans, and defining associations like points-of-difference and points-of-parity. Differentiation strategies include the product, channel, customer service, and brand image. Products go through distinct life cycle stages requiring different marketing strategies, such as improving quality and features to sustain rapid growth or modifying prices and distribution in maturity.