For brands anticipating rapid growth, it is helpful to define the product or benefit space in which the brand would like to compete, as Nike did with “athletic performance” and Disney with “family entertainment.” Words that describe the nature of the product or service, or the type of experiences or benefits the brand provides, can be critical to i

DESIGNING A BRAND MANTRA Unlike brand slogans meant to engage, brand mantras are designed with internal purposes in mind. Although Nike’s internal mantra was “authentic athletic performance,” its external slogan was “Just Do It.” Here are the three key criteria for a brand mantra. Communicate. A good brand mantra should clarify what is unique about

one common challenge in positioning is that many of the benefits that make up points-of-parity and points-of-difference are negatively correlated.

We can examine competition from both an industry and a market point of view.7 An industry is a group of firms offering a product or class of products that are close substitutes for one another. ... Using the market approach, we define competitors as companies that satisfy the same customer need. For example, a customer who buys a word-processing so

All marketing strategy is built on segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP). A company discovers different needs and groups of consumers in the market place, targets those it can satisfy in a superior way, and then positions its offerings so the target market recognizes its distinctive offerings and images.

Positioning is the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market.

A person’s emotional response to a brand and its marketing will depend on many factors. An increasingly important one is the brand’s authenticity.29 Brands such as Hershey’s, Kraft, Crayola, Kellogg’s, and Johnson & Johnson that are seen as authentic and genuine can evoke trust, affection, and strong loyalty.

Firms should broaden their competitive frame to invoke more advantageous comparisons. Consider these examples: In the United Kingdom, the Automobile Association positioned itself as the fourth “emergency service”—along with police, fire, and ambulance—to convey greater credibility and urgency. The International Federation of Poker is attempting to

EMOTIONAL BRANDING Many marketing experts believe a brand positioning should have both rational and emotional components. In other words, it should contain points-of-difference and points-of-parity that appeal to both the head and the heart.