Establishing your product position will allow you to take your strategy from concept to implementation. Product positioning is another important way to enforce strategic focus. Position your product properly in the market where it will stand strongest. Product positioning is closely related to market segment focus. Product positioning involves creating a unique, consistent, and recognized customer perception about a firm’s offering and image. A product or service may be positioned on the basis of an attitude or benefit, use or application, user, class, price, or level of quality. It targets a product for specific market segments and product needs at specific prices. The same product can be positioned in many different ways.
The two-dimensional perception map shows how to analyze the positioning of an instant breakfast drink relative to variables of the price of the product and the speed of preparation. Another common framework for product positioning is taken from a series of questions. You can position a product using a positioning statement that answers these important questions:
• For whom is the product designed?
• What kind of product is it?
• What is the single most important benefit it offers?
• Who is its most important competitor?
• How is your product different from that competitor?
• What is the significant customer benefit of that difference?
Some positioning strategies work better than others. The best positioning plays to your company’s strengths and the product’s strengths, and away from weaknesses. Position your product to reach the buyers whose profiles most closely match the needs you serve, in the channels you can reach, at prices you set.