1. This document discusses three important questions for brands to consider regarding their positioning: establishing a frame of reference, leveraging points of parity, and ensuring compelling points of difference. 2. It emphasizes that brands must not only focus on their unique selling points but also show how they fit within the category frame and meet basic consumer expectations on parity points. 3. Examples are given of both brands that successfully positioned themselves by answering these three questions as well as those that failed by neglecting the frame or parity points. Compelling differences are also discussed in terms of desirability and deliverability.

1. Three Questions you need to ask about
your BRAND.
By Kevin Lane Keller,
Brian Sternthal,
and Alice Tybout.

2. What comes to your mind when you
see these brands?

3. Superior Handling!
Innovation.
Natural hair
smoothening
A non-cosmetic, skin
friendly cream

4. Observe, that one major aspect is the
points of differentiation . They are,
in many cases, what consumers
remember about a brand.
Aspects of Brand Positioning :

5. HOWEVER, Managers have to pay
attention to two more important
aspects :
Understanding the frame of
reference within which their
brands work
Addressing features that
brands have in common with
competitors. ( points of
parity)

6. Consider SUBWAY..
It differentiated itself from other fast-food
restaurants by focusing on “Healthfulness” offered
by the Sub sandwich.

7. The management feared
that a strong health-
centered campaign would
jeopardize the perception
of subway as a fast-food
establishment where good
taste instead of health is
often an important factor !

8. Brand positioning focusing only on a point of
difference leaves out important issues.
Identification of an appropriate frame of
reference and associated points of parity
are important.
THINK. AGAIN.

9. SO we ask ourselves ….
Have We Established a Frame?

10. A frame of reference
Signals to consumers
the goal they can
expect to achieve by
using a brand !
Dictates the types of
associations that will
function as the points
of parity and
difference.
It can be Brands in the
same category.
Can also be the
brands in quite
disparate categories.
The influence of
Product’s stage in the
life cycle
Competitors as the
frame of reference.

11. Consider FedEx :
Started off with a clear point of
difference from traditional mail
delivery via Postal service as “Overnight
Delivery”.
However, Many new competitors became providers of the same service and now,
they served as the frame of reference .

12. How? By specifying
attributes like “Speed”
and “Dependability”.
In such a frame, in order to stand out FedEx
Positioned itself as superior to them.

13. Sometimes, The
frame of reference
changes. Even the
established brands
need to pay close
attention.
Due to the advent of other forms of
document transmission like Fax,
email , the “speedy delivery” point of
difference is rendered meaningless.
The frame of reference is expanded
to include fax and email here.

14. After we have set the frame of
reference, we find out…
Whether or not are we leveraging
our Points of Parity?

15. It is especially important to identify points of
parity when we introduce a new brand.
Consumers must perceive your product as a
legitimate and credible player within that
frame.
The more innovative the product, the greater the
difficulty of fitting it into an established frame and
meeting the frame’s minimum requirements.

16. The life and death of Motorola Envoy
(1994-96)

17. The Biggest Faux Pas was …
1. Wow. Is it a pager?
1. nah. It’s too Large to
be one and quite
expensive.
2.Oh. Okay. Is it a like a
laptop computer?
2.Yeah it can
send emails and
fax. But NO. Less
storage and no
keyboard.
3. Noow I get it. Is it an
Organizer/calendar?
3. It can store contact
info and calendar. But
very cumbersome entry
system.

18. Hmm. I am not sure why I
should even spend $1500
and purchase this product.
Without a clear frame of reference and lack
of points of parity, The envoy was impossible
to be a member of any category!

19. Then came The Palm Pilot 1000, a
device with only a fraction of the
capabilities of Envoy , was launched.
The key factor in
the product's
success was its
point of parity with
electronic
organizers; it was
able to claim this
category as a frame
of reference.

20. The more the extension differs from a base
brand, the greater the importance of focusing on
the frame of reference.
Brand Extensions.
Dove moved into the
dishwashing liquid business
with a product that claimed
to “soften your hands as you
do the dishes” !

21. Sales were disappointing. It
was obvious that consumers
were looking for a
dishwashing liquid that
cleaned the dishes properly
rather than soft hands.
Dove needed to establish its points of Parity with competitors
before stressing its differences.

22. Established brands.
Managers of established
brands also need to reassess
points of parity from time to
time because attributes that
were once differentiators can
become minimum
requirements.

23. Dealing with competitors – Savvy
Marketing.
Marketers can hold off a competitor’s point of difference by creating
competitive points of parity.
Example : Gillette is no longer the only company
selling triple-blade razors…

24. A brand can “break even” in an area where competitors are trying
to break away and then achieve a point of difference in some
other area.
By attacking a competitor’s point of difference and
recasting it as a point of parity, a company hopes to
draw attention to its own point of difference.
DESI EXAMPLE :

25. Another example :

26. The third most important question we
ask ourselves is :
Are The Points of Difference Compelling?
(Would the consumers put a straw in them ? )

27. Assuming a frame of reference is identified correctly, even
seemingly contradictory points of difference can be powerful.
To target your message
better, consider these
kinds of differences
Brand performance
associations
Brand imagery associations
Consumer insight
associations

28. 1. Brand
Performance
associations
They relate to the
ways in which a
product or service
attempts to meet
customers functional
needs.

29. Five broad categories , which
come into play when brands are
assessed on characteristics a
buyer can investigate are :
Brand’s performance on
benefits that prompt
consumption
The Brand’s
reliability,
durability, and
serviceability
Service
effectiveness,
efficiency, and
empathy
Style and design
Associations to value
and price might help
differentiate a brand
from its competitors

30. 2. Brand Imagery Associations
When making choices based on experience-such as where to get a
haircut or eat dinner – consumers use brand imagery associations.
Brand imagery is typically established by depicting who uses the brand and under
what circumstances.
I’m going to use your brand from now
on, because it makes me feel good. :P

31. 3.Consumer Insight associations.
They are generally used when a
brand’s performance and imagery
don’t differ much from those of the
competition.
If all other measures are equal, a brand that can
show consumers it has insight into their problems
or goals can then make the case that it is the
solution.

32. For example Lee
jeans show
women’s
tribulations in
the search for
jeans that fir well
as the basis for
positioning Lee
as the brand that
offers superior
fit.

33. However, use of consumer insight as a point of
difference is generally a less attractive basis for
positioning than focusing on a brand benefit or
imagery association because insights into consumers
goals are readily emulated.
The insight that young men desired to be hip and admired by
their peers has become a point of parity rather than a point of
difference for automobile companies- the same insight
underlines ads from Volkswagen, Toyota, and Subaru

34. Desirability.
To qualify as desirable, a point of difference must be perceived by the brand’s
audience as both relevant and believable.
Example : Flaked crystals have been used in successfully promoting
Folgers coffee, even though flaking’s contribution to product
performance is unclear.

35. The simplest approach to believability is to point to a
unique, provable attribute of the product.
A High caffeine soft drink
Higher caffeine concentration for
more energy
Palm-pilot 1000
organizer
One-button PC
synchronization
Subway sandwiches Fewer grams of fat

36. Deliverability.
A product’s point of difference needs to meet three deliverability criteria. First, creating
the point of difference must be feasible !
Airlines have been wise enough
to abandon efforts to claim
superior on-time performance as
their point of difference because
there are too many
uncontrollable factors.

37. Secondly, positioning on a particular
benefit must be profitable, defensible,
difficult to attack.
For example, Outpost.com offered free delivery of
customer purchases but canceled the service after one
year when it became apparent the benefit could not be
sustained profitably

38. Market Leaders typically market their products
on the basis of the category’s points of parity.
Follower brands must not neglect
points of parity as a means of
announcing their frame of reference,
but they compete on points of
difference
Like McDonalds is great taste; Subway has good enough taste but
competes on healthfulness.
Pantene offers healthier hair ; Suave gives
you healthy hair at a lower price.

39. Putting It All Together.
Points of
Parity
Frame of
Reference
Points of
Difference.
Developing an
effective position
requires these
elements to be
internally consistent
at any point of time.

40. Ensuring that attributes don’t
contradict one another is particularly
important.
Inexpensive
“of highest
quality”
Nutritious Good tasting
Powerful safe
ubiquitous exclusive
From a consumer’s perspective, the fact that a brands possess a given benefit can
imply that it will not possess the other. It is difficult to position brands as mentioned
above!

41. But. It’s sometimes possible to make
the case that contradictions are, in
fact, Complements !
When apple launched Macintosh, its
key point of difference was “ user
friendly”
But customers assumed that easy
to use PC could not be very
powerful

42. But. Look at Apple’s genius reaction to
that.
It started an Ad
Campaign that stated “
The most powerful
computers are ones that
people actually USE “

43. Making it Last.
As the brand ages, the challenge is to make sure it
stays up to date and in touch with consumers
shifting needs.

44. Presenting the same points of difference over time does not
sustain a brand’s performance. It may be necessary to deepen
the meanings associated with this brand.
The brand is then positioned
in such a way that its point of
difference becomes its
essence and implies goal
attainment. This is called
Laddering up.

45. An example :
The focus of initial advertising spot of a cellular company in the first
generation was on unique product features that made the phone service
reliable
In the second generation, the ads examined the implication of reliable
service which is that customers would be less concerned about being
tied to the office to await important calls.
The next generation of advertising might focus on a more general implication :
consumers greater freedom of movement.

46. Identify what is your “BIG IDEA”.
Present the customers , over time, with a variety of
attributes that imply the BIG Benefit. It builds a
Stronger brand image.

47. A DESI EXAMPLE :
Which ever advertisement of Nirma you see, Notice that the
names of the characters and their job remain the same .i.e.
getting their clothes murky!
Hema, Rekha, Jaya Aur Sushma.
The people readily associate the ad with the brand name. They understand the
Big idea of the Ladies mentioned above. And hence the Brand image is built.

48. Avoid these Pitfalls of brand
Positioning.
Trying to build brand
awareness before
establishing a clear brand
position.
Promoting attributes that
consumers don’t care
about!
Investing in points of differences
that can be copied easily
Becoming so intent on responding
to competition that they walk away
from their established positions.
Repositioning a brand without proper
thought. It is always difficult and
sometimes impossible.

49. Frames of reference, points of parity
and differences are moving targets!
Don’t be stupid enough to think
they will ever be Static. Foresight
is always a great strength.

50. Recap of the three golden questions of Branding!
Are The Points of Difference
Compelling? (Would the consumers
put a straw in them ? )
Have We Established a Frame?
Whether or not are we leveraging
our Points of Parity?

51. Asking yourself these questions will
help ensure right brand positioning.
The Savviest Brand Positioners are also the most
vigilant!

52. A presentation by Aishwarya
Kandukuri,
IIITDMK,
Guided by Prof. Sameer Mathur,
An internship in Marketing
Management,
IIM Lucknow.
www.iiminternship.com
Thank you !