3 takeaways

Positioning a New Product or Service

1. Importance of brand positioning in the consumer mindset. How the brand upholds its reputation will determine if a consumer pays more or less for a product or service. The brand image will also depend on its social and environmental contributions, for example, Wal-Mart’s sweatshop practices dramatically decreased the consumer sales because of the social activists. Tom’s Shoes contribution to buy one give one theory showed that even though the shoes are not $60 worth for its plain design, the consumers are helping a good cause.
2. The 6 steps to positioning a product or service. The most important is the first step: “definition of the business and then consider the offerings of both direct and indirect competitors.” The first step determines how the brand competes and targets the correct market segment. If I went to QFC, and wanted to buy Draino, the brand name Draino is $5.99 compared to the generic version of Kroger at $3.49. I would purchase $5.99 because I am confident that brand name will be more effective than buying multiple bottles of Kroger for the same effectiveness of one Draino.
3. Few different position techniques are available such as quality emphasis, unique features or benefits, and low-cost competitive advantages. On eBay, there is generic version of tablet PCs for those who cannot afford an iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tablets. Moreover, Galaxy Tablets and iPads vary on their operating systems but it is ultimately consumer preference on which operating system they are more familiar with.