Are product positioning and brand positioning the same?
1. What is product positioning?
"Product Positioning" in English is called "Product Positioning". This is the process of best communicating product features to target customers based on their needs, competitors' products, and the company's desires for how its products are perceived by customers. identify. Product positioning plays an important role for large businesses that offer many products in the same category. This helps them meet the needs of their target market by providing a variety of options and avoiding competition between products from the same business.
Research also helps determine which product benefits attract customers more. Having this information helps optimize marketing strategies and create effective marketing messages, thereby attracting more customers and increasing sales. It also helps clearly differentiate the product or service from its competitors in the market.
"Product positioning" is an indispensable element in any marketing strategy, but it does not necessarily have to be aimed only at one target group. For example, a product may have multiple target audiences, each with different reasons why they are interested in the product. Therefore, it is extremely important to tailor marketing messages to each audience.
Illustrative example of product positioning:
Product positioning can depend on many different factors. A product can be defined based on how it reaches its target audience through advertising media, communication channels, packaging design and even how the product is priced. For example, through market research, it is possible to identify products that are highly appreciated by mothers. What do they love about the product? What needs to stand out to attract them? And what is the best way to advertise products to them? By finding the answers to these questions, a precisely targeted marketing campaign can be built, helping to drive benefits to the target audience, wherever they are online (e.g. for example on Facebook, which allows targeted advertising based on demographic and interest criteria).
2. What is brand positioning?
"Brand positioning" in English is called "Brand Positioning".
Brand positioning refers to the position a business's brand occupies in the minds of customers relative to other brands in a competing industry. The main goal of brand positioning is to create a unique impression of the brand in the hearts of customers, making them trust and favor that brand over other options.
To position a brand, businesses need to identify target customers who want to consume their brand. This helps them identify the right target market. This is the first step in creating a "brand positioning strategy," which describes how the business wants customers to perceive its brand.
Through the brand positioning map, we can see how consumers evaluate the brand compared to its competitors on important characteristics. The goal of positioning is to help businesses stand out and emphasize the advantages that they have over their competitors. Therefore, to clearly understand their position, businesses also need to grasp and analyze the positioning of rival brands.
Illustrative example of brand positioning:
Tesla is a brand that is much more valuable than its industry competitors. Instead of focusing on pricing, Tesla focuses on improving product quality. Tesla's car models are not only electric cars, but also combine luxury and luxury.
Tesla's outstanding difference compared to luxury cars running on traditional fuel is its electric operating method. Tesla not only stands out with its conventional electrical products but also excels in its quality and long-lasting performance.
Tesla has built and developed a unique market and owns a distinct brand. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has established his personal image as that of Tony Stark, and through creative advertising campaigns and unique features such as “Ludicrous Mode”, his trademark Tesla has become outstanding and unique.
3. Are product positioning and brand positioning the same?
The difference between product positioning and brand positioning is this: product positioning focuses on communicating product characteristics to target audiences, based on their needs. Meanwhile, brand positioning involves the brand's position in the minds of customers compared to its competitors. Both aim to create a unique impression in the mind of the customer, which becomes even more important when the market has many other options. The success in positioning can be directly assessed on the development and profits of the business.
Based on the mentioned criteria, the author distinguishes the difference between product positioning and brand positioning as follows:
- In essence: Product positioning aims to determine how to optimize the message about the product's characteristics to customers based on their needs, while brand positioning refers to the brand's position in the mind. customer position compared to other brands.
- Positioning basis: Product positioning is based on distinguishing characteristics in a competitive environment, while brand positioning focuses on customers' emotional experiences.
- Focus: Product positioning focuses on filling any gaps in customer needs, while brand positioning aims to satisfy their specific requirements.
- Measurement method: Product positioning is often measured through market share, while brand positioning is often abstract and difficult to measure.
The main difference between product positioning and brand positioning lies in the company's focus: whether they are focusing on managing and presenting their product portfolio (product positioning) or investing in Developing your brand (brand positioning). A brand can include many products and each product may require its own management. During this process, the company must ensure that the brand message is conveyed clearly and consistently to customers. Therefore, applying both types of positioning helps businesses get closer and create great value for customers.
During your marketing campaign, you can apply symbols and tools to characterize your brand. However, the goal is not just to want to be special but to focus on what customers value. Based on this, you will determine a unique presentation for the product. The uniqueness of the product will come from thorough research and must be consistent with the comprehensive strategy for the product.
The most important issue is to synchronize your brand with your target market. The term "uniform" in this context refers to your meeting exactly the needs or wants that your target market has identified. If your product or service meets a need that the market hasn't yet identified, you may need to educate them, help them recognize and solve the problem you can help with.