1. Advertising Strategy and Media Planning6
Creative Strategy - Positioning…

2. Percy and Elliott’s Five Steps…
Select the target audience
Understand target audience decision making
Determine the best positioning
Develop a communications strategy
Setting a media strategy

3. what is positioning?
“Positioning refers broadly to the values and associations, both tangible and intangible, that are linked with a given brand. The positioning differentiates the brand from its rivals.”
Hackley 2010 p70

4. Why positioning?
Percy and Rosenbaum-Elliott, 2016
To answer the question ‘what is it?’ in order to drive awareness and ‘what does it offer?’ to determine benefits to support the attitude.
brand
Category need
benefit
What is it?
What does it offer?
brand awareness
brand attitude

5. hypothesised perceptual mapping
high price
cowboy brands
premium brands
low quality
high quality
economy brands
bargain brands
low price 5

6. brand mapping (through the marketing mix)
high distinctiveness
unconventional
aspirational
low representation
high representation
peripheral
mainstream
low distinctiveness
Dawar and Bagga, 2015 6

7. Defining markets… Perceived similarity… useful but simplistic
Through hierarchical definition… often relative and abstract
…to develop subcategories to define narrower markets
Bases that can be used include…
type of product
end benefit
usage situation
brand name

9. Hierarchical positioning…
Protein element of meal
Meat
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Turkey
Lamb
Alternative meats
Meat substitute
Soya-based
Healthy
Athletic
Quorn
Dietary focus
Tofu-based

10. what is positioning in advertising?
A key insight summed up in a positioning statement which is part of the advertising strategy document and the creative brief.
Needs to consider…
Who it’s for…
Reason to buy…
Product category…
Benefit(s)…

11. They vary wildly…
It is “…so much more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone with its gorgeous screen.”
For families concerned about safety, Volvo builds a vehicle with state-of-the-art safety features that give you peace of mind when driving
Designed to provide internal agreement and clarity for specific value offered to specific markets against competition
Gospe, 2012

12. Other points for consideration…
Adapted from Percy and Elliott, 2009
Competitive environment
Target consumers
What makes the brand distinctive
Consumer benefits (tangible and intangible)
Brand values and personality
Why consumers believe and trust
Why/how consumers see the brand as different to its competitors

13. Also important… What the product does… functional positioning
Yeshin, 2006
What the product does… functional positioning
What the product means… emotional positioning

14. what is a brand?
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.”
Godin, 2011

15. what is a brand? intrinsic extrinsic functional… meaning… value design
Fill, 2011, identifies that a brand has two main attributes…
intrinsic
extrinsic
functional…
design
performance
ingredients/components
size/shape
price
meaning…
value
brand image
images of stores where sold
perceptions of users of the brand

16. Central or differential?
Central positioning…
Delivers all the category benefits, Brand “owns” the category,
Best and most loved brand in category, Must already have a large/majority market share
Differential positioning…
Delivers a specific category benefit better than the leading brand, Different to the leading brand in an important way,
Different in a way sufficient consumers want, occupies a worthwhile niche or is a new entrant

18. User or product benefit
User-oriented position…
The user is the focus (“for the serious athlete”)
Underlying benefit is social approval (“for the discerning”)
User benefits drive the message (“because you’re worth it”)
Product-oriented position…
The product is the hero (“there’s no better”)
Product benefits drive the message (“the best a man can get”)

20. Selecting the appropriate benefit
What distinguishes the brand from competitors in a way that is important to the target audience
Reflects the motivation that drives purchase behaviour
Must be…
Important to the target audience
Believable to the target audience
Deliverable by the brand better than the competition

21. Link to advertising content…
Positioning then becomes a key component of the creative brief
Once this far in the strategy process, can brief the creatives to come up with the advertising message/content
Positioning sometimes reflected in the advertising tag line…
L’Oreal - because you’re worth it
BMW - the ultimate driving machine
Tesco - every little helps
Lloyds - for the journey

22. References and reading…
Burtenshaw, K., Mahon, N. and Barfoot, C. (2006). The Fundamentals of Creative Advertising. Switzerland: AVA Publishing.
Percy, L. and Elliott, R. (2009) Strategic Advertising Management. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Shimp, T. (2007) Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising and Promotion. USA: Cengage.
Yeshin, T. (2006). Advertising. London, Thomson