Brand positioning aims to make a brand distinct in customers' minds relative to competitors. Companies emphasize distinguishing features or create a suitable image through advertising. Once positioned, it is difficult to reposition without losing credibility. Successful positioning requires elements like uniqueness, importance to customers, being communicable, understandable, and sustainable through marketing efforts. Companies employ strategies like emphasizing attributes, benefits, applications, user groups, comparisons, or different categories. Brand alliances allow two brands to cooperate, helping penetrate new markets through industrial cooperation or joint promotions. Proper positioning can help brands achieve market success through brand association with leaders or differentiation with new attributes.

1. Brand Positioning
Brand Positioning is a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a
distinct position, relative to competing brands, in the mind of the customer.
Companies apply this strategy either by emphasizing the distinguishing
features of their brand (what it is, what it does and how, etc.) or they may try
to create a suitable image (inexpensive or premium, utilitarian or luxurious,
entry-level or high-end, etc.) through advertising. Once a brand is positioned,
it is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility. It is also
called as product positioning.
Elements1
Branding has been given a lot of importance in the fast changing world and to
keep up with the pressures of the market as well as the competitors the
element of branding is inevitable. In this particular report we will talk about the
things the marketers keep in mind while positioning a particular product or a
brand. Thus we shall begin with the ELEMENTS, which hold the most
importance in terms of positioning. They are as follows: -
For successful positioning, the elements required are:
1. Uniqueness
2. Importance to the customer
3. Communicable
4. Easily understandable and memorable
5. Sustainable by the company’s approach through all the mix elements.

2. Fig 1.1 Elements of Positioning
Strategies1
Elements are the key to the success of the particular brand. Each & every
element is distinctly taken care of will deciding upon the positioning of the
products & services of the organization. If this elements are not relied upon
they might hamper the growth of your brand. After the elements are often well
communicated within the organization the path which leads to the fulfillment of
those respective elements are the strategies the organizations frame. There
are 7 peculiar strategies which are to be looked upon for study and they are :-
1. Attributes of the offering.
2. Benefits offered by the organization or product.
3. Application/use of the offering.
4. User group of the offering.
5. Comparison with competitors.
6. Positioning in a different product or service category.
7. Differentiation in terms of quality and price.
Uniqueness
Importance to customers
Communicable
Easily Understandable
Sustainable

3. Fig 1.2 The Strategic Pyramid
Brand Alliance – New Market Strategy for
Positioning2
Brand alliance is marketing cooperation between two brands. It is mainly
classified into two groups:
 Industrial cooperation involving capacities to create a new product with
a different brand name. It helps in creating consumer trust and
penetrating new markets.
 The second group involves brand alliance as joint promotions as
different brands.
Brand alliance can be categorized into two main types as functional alliance
and symbolic alliance. Functional alliance implies industrial cooperation. The
example of Phillips and Nivea coming together to manufacture a shaver aptly
shows this. Here Phillips was in the primary role while Nivea took the role of
secondary.
Price
Different Category
Comparison with Competitiors
User Group
Applictaion of offering
Benefits Offered by Product
Attributes

4. In symbolic alliance, there is no alliance at the functional level between the
brands. In this one category of the brand benefits from the brand value and
positioning of the other brand.
Advertising of this kind can be unbalanced and balanced. Some methods
used for unbalanced advertising are, sponsorship method, recommendation
method and the contribution method.
In the sponsorship method, the primary brand is advertised side by side with
the inferior host brand. In the recommendation method, the host brand is well
known and is used to introduce a new product. In the contribution method, the
host brand is the owner and the contributing brand is additional, providing
technology and support to the host brand. An example of Intel and hp shows
this relationship where hp is the primary brand and Intel is the supporting one.
Balanced advertising is done for brands where there is no inferior or superior
brand. This can be done in two ways. In the first method, brands with same
power appear together on packaging, promotion etc. In the second method,
brands with same strength but different categories come together to create
excitement and attraction in terms of luxury, beauty etc.
Brand positioning aims to distinguish the product from competitor’s product
based on functional and symbolic aspects. The alliance of Algeria Post and
Mobilis is taken as an example.
The companies provided three similar services, mobiposte, racidi, and racimo.
It was a functional alliance between the two firms. All required current postal
accounts of the customers. Mobiposte gave services ranging from 1200 to
2000 dinars, extending upto 3000 dinars. Rancidi allowed customers to
access their current accounts by just sending a sms. Racimo enabled
customers to load their or someone else’s phone line by just sending a sms.
The two brands opted for co-communication and displayed the logos of both
side by side. The deal signed was exclusive between the two and helped
those open new fronts in the market. Algeria Post benefitted as Mobilis
customers were now opening new accounts and Mobilis benefitted as Algeria
post’s customers were able to pay their bills by postal transfer. In a survey,
82% customers believed both the firms gained new customers. Customers
liked the hassle free bill payments and easy access to their accounts. This
was the edge the firms were looking for.
Brand alliance is an effective tool for re-positioning. It opens new markets for
those firms involved and improves their brand image in the customer’s mind.

5. Evaluation of the Strategies3
(Customer Perspective)
Competitors facing difficulties to create sufficient differential advantage
surround companies. So, they have to establish appropriate brand association
in the minds of consumers to differentiate their brand from competitors by
“Brand Positioning”.
Sometimes advertising companies choosing the “wrong” positioning, (i.e.
selecting positioning dimensions which are not perceived as being relevant
and important by consumers and/or do not sufficiently differentiate the brand
from rivals’ brands), taking the risk of harming the perceived positioning of a
product, thereby leading to decreasing sales. Similar problems might occur if
the intended positioning is well chosen but its execution (i.e. the actual
positioning) does not turn out to be effective perceived positioning by
consumers.
1. Benefit positioning (direct and indirect) is more effective than
feature positioning.
Consumers tend to see more advantage in benefit that the product gives as
compared to its rivals than the feature offered by a particular company. The
belief is primarily grounded in the argument that consumers tend to value
brands based on their (expected) benefits. On the contrary, sometimes
consumers may get bored of the same old messages drawn by the brands.
2. Surrogate (user) positioning is more effective than feature
positioning.
Different consumers interpret surrogate-positioning information differently.
Thus every consumer would find its benefit from buying that product which
may not be the case when you position a product based on a particular
feature.
3. Benefit positioning (direct and indirect) and surrogate positioning
differ in terms of their effectiveness.
Surrogate positioning tends to create brand associations about external
aspects of the brand and at times become alternative means for effectively
differentiating a brand from competitor brands. While benefit positioning is
effective as it intends to solve a need or problem.
4. Direct benefit positioning is more effective than indirect benefit
positioning.
Direct positioning means the communication of intrinsic motivation of
possessing a brand while indirect positioning is the follow up benefit derived
out of direct positioning. For example direct positioning is the brand features
of Apple products and indirect positioning would be the status symbol.

6. Market Success through Brand Positioning4
There is a strategic importance of brand positioning in achieving market
success. Generally two methods are used for achieving this objective.
1st
is brand association i.e. the new product tries to position its brand by
comparing it with market leader.it is for the brands which are less in resources
so by comparing themselves with market leaders in attributes they can enter
the consideration set of consumers. The familiar me too strategy is an
example of such approach
2nd
is brand differentiation, inthis the brand tries to stand out in
comparison to other existing brands. This they do so by exhibiting some new
attributes which was earlier not they’re for that product category. They try to
establish their unique image in comparision to other brands in consideration
set for the appropriate brand positioning a correct mixture of the above two
methods discussed is required.
Positioning options for seeking brand association
To position the brand effectively there are two ways as discussed earlier, in
modern practice it has been given names the exemplary based and the
abstraction based. Exemplary based is used for brand association technique.
Abstraction based is used for brand differentiation method. What mix is best
for the particular products depends on the following factors
 Product market definition: Consider the case of softdrinks, it is
available in many tastes and flavours. Suppose there is a new brand in
the market named Pepsi kona (coffee aerated drink) , it would be
inappropriate for it to make Pepsi as exemplar brand because it wont
be able to cover all its attribute.in such case abstraction based
positioning is appropriate. The drink should be rather represented as
cool, refreshing ,great taste,natural ingredients to connect it to the
consumers.

7.  Market share condition: The type of method employed depends a lot
on the market share acquired by the brand.if the brand is already a
market leader in its segment then abstraction based positioning is
used.the company will go for defining new attributes which was not in
the place earlier. If the brand has weak market share then exemplar
based positioning is used .the company will look for the accepted
attributes of the segment and will try to showcase it in its product for
easy market consideration.
 Industry organization and history : In some market there are 1 or 2
market leader and the other are the mid players or the small competitor
.in such scenario for the small competitor it is good to bench mark the
dominant players. There is also a case that in some market ther e is no
market leader but lots of mid players, like in case of laptops ,in such
markets it is advised that the players should not go for exampler based
positioning because that will only reinforce the chances of lower end
players. Hence abstraction based marketing is preferred. Also if the
market is like that comparative based advertising is widely used ,as in
case of softdrinks ,the preferred method would be to go for exemplar
positioning as it help in easy brand association.
 Product category life cycle stage: When a brand endorses a product
which is new and had never been in the market then the abstraction
based positioning is preferred.earlier there were no product of this
category so it must be projected as a product which alters the life in
some unique way. If the product is late entry in the market then
exemplar is preferred for easy brand association. For example if we are
launching a softdrink then by associating it with coke and Pepsi we can
get into the mind of consumers.
 Consumer knowledge: If a brand is targeting the less knowledgeable
customer then exemplar based positioning is preferred .this is because
by positioning our brand against established brand such customers are
able to recognize the product.if the product is targeting the high
knowledgeable customer then abstraction based poisoning is preferred
because they will go for each and every detail before making decision

8. The main premise of the article is that this selection should be driven by a
knowledge of how consumers categorize (i.e., identify and evaluate)
brands.
Brand positioning under lexicographic choice
rules5
In this article we see what factor particularly decides the buying habit of
consumer. we are going to evaluate the product in a price quality space . the
assumption is that the consumer will determine the highest quality product
within his reservation price and purchase it, provided the product is not of very
inferior quality. The main motive is to optimally redesign the product. there are
two types of brand positioning models vertical and horizontal . Vertical
differentiation involves finding a quality/price mix that will differentiate the
brand from its competitors, that appeals to enough consumers and can be
profitably implemented. with horizontal differentiation the good-better-best
options are not easily identifiable, and brand choices are made based on
individual beliefs.the model in this study belongs to the class of vertical brand
positioning. We will try to find out that how the lexicographic choice rules be
used to determine consumer behavior.
The model
Assumption considered
The model: Two brands locate in price quality space with coincidental location
prohibited.
The customers: Customers have perfect information regarding prices and
quality, and they apply a lexicographic decision rule for choosing a brand.
The demand: The total demand is normalized to one and the demand density
function r(p) is positive on its domain and twice continuously differential.
The producers: Both producers maximize their respective profit. The cost
functions are identical for both producers and the variable and fixed cost
functions V(q)† and F(q)† are both increasing functions of q and twice
continuously differentiable.
The feasible set: The feasible set S is bounded by the LAQ (which all
consumers agree upon and which is increasing in p and twice continuously
differentiable.
Consider the graph as below

9.  the lowest acceptable quality function models the concerns of the
consumers
 the maximum possible quality function models the interests of the
producers
 Juxtaposing both interests, if we let pmax represent the highest price at
which MPQ(p)>=PLAQ(p)†, we obtain a feasible set S ˆ
Competitive behavior: consider the graph as below If B locates strictly to the
northeast of A, i.e., not including the axes, then brands A and B are not
comparable: B has a higher price, but also a higher quality than A. The
reverse is true should B locate to the southwest of A (not including the axes).
Again, A and B are not comparable. In area (quadrant) II, i.e., the northwest of
A including the axes, B has the same or a lower price than A but a higher or
the same quality than A. This means that brand A is dominated by brand B

10. Similarly, if B locates to the southeast of A in area IV (including the axes), A
dominates B and B will have a zero market share. Hence, for any given
location of brand A, competitor B will locate in one of the areas I, II, or III
Nash equilibrium
A locational Nash equilibrium is a pair of locations where neither duopolist has
an incentive to relocate given that his competitor does not move. if the two
duopolists are restricted to two different quality levels, the brand with higher
quality can afford to ignore the price completion and can charge the
monopolist's price and enjoy monopolistic profits. The lower quality brand
charges a lower price than the other brand. Thus at equilibrium, the market
has two differentiated products; one that serves the higher end of the market
by selling a high quality and a higher price and another that serves the lower
end by producing a cheaper product with a lower quality.
The Stakelberg solution
In Stakelberg method there are two competitors.one is the follower and other
is the market leader. Consider A is market leader and B is follower. B will take
decision based on A’s move while A will anticipate B’s capability depending
upon reaction function. this could be applied for the cost function but not for
quality because for changing quality lots of changes need to be done and thus
cost factor needs to be considered.
Brand Positioning Through Memes6

11. Positioning may be defined as how a brand is positioned in the mind of the
consumer with respect to values. The importance of memes to marketers is
that they can be mapped and used to audit how brands are positioned in the
minds of the consumers. One advantage of this memetic approach is that it is
quick. If there has been a problem in using memetic analysis to inform brand
positioning, it is the methodological issue of integrating the associative chains
of memes made by individuals into some coherent map that reflects the
mindset of target population. By feeding individual chains of associations
made by consumers around a brand related concept into a database pre-
programmed to automatically create a link between associations, the
database can learn and build a blueprint with the help of IT department. A
simple conceptual specification for the production of meme maps is that it is
designed to capture and unpack the positioning of brands in some target
population.
Example – Meme Marketing
How healthy living is positioned in the mind of the
consumer?
The core central concept of healthy living lies at the center of the meme map
and is linked to a hierarchy of associative chains. Conceptually, a meme map
can be thought of as a blueprint of semantic DNA that progressively unpacks
the dominant living of healthy living in the mindset of participative consumers.
Marketers have the possibility of memetically modifying their brands in order
to engineer a better positive fit with the consumer mindset into which they are
positioned. Memetic analysis could be used to identify brand stretching
opportunities by mapping not only dominant memes but also latent recessive
memes lying in second or third order associations. Meme mapping could also
be used to identify value gaps in the market. However, the most exciting role
for memetic analysis is the provision through meme maps of a rich and
insightful creative stimulus for customer focused new product development
which will be the essence of new generation innovation brands.
Case – Sona Chandi Chyawanprash7

12. This case in particular gives an overview as to how the
organization really work on their brands and keep the idea flexible
enough where they can makes any sort of changes or broaden the
horizon of a particular productas and when wished for.
Emami have been associated with ayurvedic products in the personal care
category since its inception and wanted to enter into the ayurvedic OTC
health care market. After long brainstorming it decided to enter into the
chyvanprash market. Emami major competitors were Dabur, Baidyanath and
Zandu.
People have a habit of consuming a spoonful chyvanprash twice a day mostly
in the north and west region of India. It was an essential tonic in winters for
building immunity, protection from cold and cough, activating digestion system
and boosting energy and vitality. But Emami wanted to communicate in
category of energy, strength, vigor and sharp mind. Thus the tag line became
‘Sona De Surakshit Tan, Chandi De Thej Dimag’. Sona Chandi won the race
among many as it’s brings upfront the unique difference between itself and
other brands for the consumers. Sona Chandi brought a new refreshing idea
in the traditional product category and was able gradually to cover the market.
After some time Emami realized that Sona Chandi Chyvanprash is normally
consumed in 4-5 winters month as it was a notion among consumers that
chyvanprash produced heat in the body. But consumers do need stamina,
immunity and energy in summers also. So, Emami again reposition its
chyvanprash as “SONA CHANDI AMRITPRASH”.
Ref: Brand positioning strategies for competitive advantage by Subroto
Sengupta
Advantages of Brand Positioning to Small & Medium
Enterprises1

13. 1. The positioning tool that SMEs can use as a guide to gain a
competitive advantage comprises following sections:
2. Brand Situation Analysis:
3. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the brand and its
competition in terms of appearances, promotion, distribution etc.
4. Identification of opportunities and threats to the offering.
5. Conclusion of the brand position on the market by using porter model
analysis, SWOT analysis, Focus-groups etc.
6. Competitive Advantage Configuration
7. Identification of differentiation elements starting from idea to phase one
and then seeing if;
8. We offer something that others don’t,
9. we do better than others,
10.We sell cheaper,
11.We offer something extra.
i. We select that thing which is easily understood by the
target market, difficult to replicate and specific to our
brand.
12.Elaboration of position strategy
13.Usage of brand specific elements is very effective as they ensure clear
space in customer’s mind and are difficult to replicate.
14.Usage of comparable elements requires continuous monitoring of
competitors. It should be clearly worded and is most suitable for small
and adaptable companies.
15.Usage of mixed elements is ideal as it is the mix of both comparable
and specific elements. It gains a specific position in the customer’s
mind and is valid for a longer duration.
16.Competitive Advantage Communication
a. Mixing strategy with creativity, we must be able to communicate
clearly our positioning statement. It should clearly show the
differentiating element, category and emphasis should be on the
offering.
17.Competitive Advantage Sustainment
a. The differentiating element should not be changed too often and
continuous efforts are required to gain a competitive advantage.
18.Implementation of Positioning Elements
a. The difference product, price, promotion strategy, distribution
and marketing services.
19.Positioning Outcome
a. A favorable attitude must be created for the brand. It should
have seeped into customers’ brains and they should be able to
remember it.
20.The brand position should be changed if the differentiating elements
become unclear. Positioning tool must be the starting point of all
marketing programs. A strong brand and a good long term position
must be what any SME should aspire for. Any one missing and the
company will find it difficult to survive.

14. REFERENCES
1. Brand Positioning - A Marketing Resource and an Effective Tool
for Small and Medium Enterprises, Scientific Papers issue 8 Feb,
2012.
Authors: Tudor EDU, Iliuta Costel Negricea
http://www.scientificpapers.org/wp-
content/files/1252_Edu_Negricea_Brand_Positioning-
a_marketing_resource_and_an_effective_tool_for_Small_and_Medium_Enterprises.pdf
2. Brand Alliance, a Strategy to Enter New Markets and a Tool for
Positioning
Brand Alliance, a Strategy to Enter New Markets and a Tool for
Positioning, Scientific Papers, Vol. III, Issue 5, Oct 2015.
Authors: Dr. Salah Elyas and Yacoub Mohamed.
http://www.scientificpapers.org/wp-content/files/1411_Mohamed_Elyas_-
Brand_alliance_a_strategy_to_enter_new_markets.pdf
3. Evaluating the effectiveness of brand-positioning strategies from a
consumer perspective
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/03090561011079873
4. Positioning option for achieving brand association : a psychological
categorization framework
Journal of business research
Author : Girish Punj, Junyean moon
5. Brand positioning under lexicographic choice rules
European Journal of Operational research 113 (1999) 1-16
Author : J. Bhadury, H. A Eiselt

15. 6. Brand Positioning: meme’s the word
How healthy living is positioned in the mind of the consumer ?
Author : Paul Marsden
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/02634500210441558
7. Sona Chandi Chyawanprash – Brand Positioning strategies for
complete advantage
Author : Subroto Sengupta
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdf/plus/10.1108/0309056101
1079873