Product Positioning Meaning
When you are going in your car on road than you see big advertisement hoardings, if these advertisement hoardings are on traffic intersection than you have time to read that hoarding because cars stop on intersection until the traffic light turns green from red but if same hoarding is on highway than chances are you will not notice that advertisement due to you speeding past it, in simple words advertisement hoarding at traffic signal is a better position than advertisement hoarding at highway. In the case of marketing companies also try to place as well as market their product at such places where it grabs maximum attention of the customers which in turn will convert into higher sales of the product of the company. In order to understand more about this concept, one should look at some of the important features of product positioning –
Characteristics of Product Positioning
Understanding Market Segmentation
The first and foremost feature of product positioning is that the company needs to understand the market segmentation first, market segmentation refers to the process of dividing the potential customers of the company’s product into various groups according to different characteristics of the consumer’s. Hence for example if company is selling mobiles phones in an area which is dominated by students than correct way to position the mobile would be to market budget phones because students cannot afford to have costly mobiles hence company can take advantage of this factor and score over its competitors by positioning the budget mobiles in such area.
Effective Strategy for New Products
This strategy is ideal when company decides to launch new products into market as for already established products there are different market strategies but when it comes to new product launch company needs to grab maximum eyeballs from the customers and that is the reason why companies position their new product in crowded areas like shopping malls, stadiums, fairs and so on.
Creation of Brand
Product positioning is also used by companies for creating a brand image in the minds of the consumers, hence take the case of toys making companies they usually advertise their products on kid’s television channels or display their products at fairs and play area of shopping malls where small kids with their parents come. In simple words product positioning apart from increasing the sales of the company also help the company in creating a brand for itself in the minds of the consumers.
Different Types of Positioning
Positioning can be of three types while one is functional positioning in which the product provides a solution to the problems of the consumers hence, for example, dandruff shampoos provide a solution to the problem of dandruff. The second type of positioning is symbolic in which the company tries to develop a feeling of fondness or love in the minds of consumers so that consumers buy the product of the company not due to its features or quality but due to love for the brand of the company.
Out of Box Thinking
Product positioning requires the company to do out of box thinking and use creative ideas so that the product gets maximum attention from the consumers. Hence mere display of products on every shop is not product positioning rather using creative ways to display your products at selective places or markets is a good way to position the product of the company.
As one can see from the above that product positioning is an important concept and every company as well as marketer should be aware of the unique characteristics of this concept so that they can formulate their market strategy accordingly.