Use positioning mapping to gain clearer oversight of the market and the brand’s unique place in the customers mind.
A positioning map is a method that helps you uncover the unique position a brand takes in the mind of the customer. By defining 2 axes for each map, we can combine more benefits and make the position more unique.
A word on positioning
It’s about the position a brand takes in the customer’s mind. It’s how your customer perceives you. In the book “Positioning: The battle for your mind.” Al Ries and Jack Trout talk about how a customer only has a couple of ‘slots’ in the brain for each type of product category. Because of the media overload we can only remember a few brands in each category. Positioning is the art of defining that unique space in the customers mind.
1 — Defining the competitors
It’s important to define your market in a concise way: you need to cast a net that is wide enough, so you don’t miss any players. It’s important to define competitors based on your customers need. Not the business niche you are in. Also think about your competitors in terms of location; How will you limit the region of competition? This of course has to do with your target audience. Competitors should be serving your target audience.
Take the case of a new burger place. They list all the other burger places in town. But that’s not their only competition, it’s all the ‘fast-casual’ places. So think about what problem your customer is trying to solve when deciding on your brand. Looking for a quick bite? Looking for a place to eat with a big group of people? If so, the competitors should be all the places that can serve bigger groups of people.
2 — Defining the axes
Defining the axes is a daunting task, create as many axes as you want and there will be a few that work better than others. A good place to start is with the ‘price’ axis, you can take this as the first axis. This is a classical approach, for more info read about the price-benefit map. Again, as with selecting the competitors, choosing axises is thinking about the customer. Try to list the most important benefits and use those as axes.
Volvo could have 2 axes: price and safety, Maserati would live in the ‘not safe’ but expensive quadrant. Volvo lives in the safe but expensive quadrant. That is why they need to solidify their position as being the ‘safest’ car. These benefits are also called the ‘value’ proposition or Unique selling propositions. But it’s always about the ‘value’ for the customer.
3 — Mapping out
Plot all the different competitors on the maps. Keeping in account the strongest benefits of your brand, you will start to find interesting empty spaces that are not occupied. Those are the places to look for. Also, you can include a ‘current’ state and a ‘desired’ state, that way, the brand can see on what they need to focus in the future. Also keep in account that positioning does not have to be ‘dull’. You can think about the brand in ways that competitors do not, you can create a new ‘category’ that does not exist yet. A so called ‘blue ocean strategy’.
Use the positioning map to gain a clearer sight of your brand’s unique position in the customers mind. Use benefits valuable to the the customer to create the map.
This article is written as part of a collaboration between HolaBrief and Let’s talk branding.
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