BETTER WAY TO MAP

STRATEGYGROUP 7

A B H I N A V G A N D O T R A | S H A S H W AT S H A R M A | V I N AY YA D A V

INTRODUCTION

• Central Brands – First ones to come to mind– Brand shapes category dynamics, including pricing and direction of innovation

• Distinctive Brands– These brands position themselves away from the crowd– They avoid direct competition with the central brands

Striking a balance between Centrality and Distinctiveness of a brand is important

OLDER TECHNIQUES

• Traditionally brand positioning and business performance has been

analyzed separately

• To get a sense of customer’s perception, perceptual maps were used.

• Performance gauging has its own set of tools which measure brands on

market share, growth

• Thus there was lack of coherence in handling the brand positioning along

with the business performance

C-D MAP(CENTRALITY-DISTINCTIVENESS MAP)

• Links customers perceptions with their business performance• Customers score the brands on two parameters

– Centrality: How representative of the category they are

– Distinctiveness: The degree to which they stand out from others in the category

• The brands are mapped and divided into 4 quadrants• Each quadrant has strategic implications for – sales, pricing, risk, and profitability• Offers insights into competitive opportunities and threats

EXAMPLE

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONSD E P E N D S U P O N C U S T O M E R S E G M E N T , R E G I O N & O T H E R FA C T O R S

IMPLICATIONS(1/3)Maruti in India was present only in lower – mid price segement i.e Mainstream

Identifying the need gap – the company changed its strategy to enter aspirational segment

Identifies gaps and opprtunities

IMPLICATIONS(2/3)

Coca Cola launched Diet Coke considering its positioning as Aspirational in US market

In India , however, Coca Cola launched “Chota Coke“ to match its positioning as mainstream in Indian market

Visualizes differences in consumer perceptions & performance in different countries

IMPLICATIONS(3/3)Brands like Apple have to continuously come up with innovative designs to retain its position as Aspirational Product

Hotel Chain “Taj Hotels” can’t open budget hotels to retain its distinctiveness

Should reflect company’s strategy & consistency with business model

THE FOUR QUADRANTS

ASPIRATIONAL

• High sales volume & Premium pricing• Redefine the category • Launch Innovation• Make distinctive features mainstream, not run-of-the-mill

Eg. Toyota is seen as an Aspirational brand. To maintain its position it has come out with Hybrid Car to retain distinctiveness

MAINSTREAM

• Heavy advertisements to make brand synonymous with category• Risk- averse but can shape markets

Eg. Coca-Cola came out with Diet Coke & Dasani water to retain sales in its segment in the Us & Indian market respectively

PERIPHERAL

• “Me too strategy”• Lower prices & Minimum engagement – most likely to exit• Low marketing & innovation – Generic & private label players eg. TATA

TATA has tried to enter small car segment in India but has remained largely unsuccessful

UNCONVENTIONAL

• Niche Players• Efforts to make unique features more mainstream • Unconventional -> Aspirational , increase volume without compromising

prices.Tesla Motors has always remained unconventional with its distinctive cars

APPLYING C-D MAP

WHAT CAN C-D MAP DO?

• Move a brand along the centrality or distinctiveness dimension

• Assess affect of these moves on sales or profitability.

• Developing an understanding of the costs associated with different strategies

• And Impact that the resulting shifts in position have on brand performance.

Map competitor’s

brands

Use regression

analysis

Use regression

analysis

HOW TO??

Assess your brand’s

positioning strategy

Track the competition

• C-D map reveals disconnect between strategy and objective

• Instant check on strategy’s effectiveness by mapping customer’s perception of brand

• Conventional maps have a narrow view

• Not all brands on maps compete with each other

• C-D maps reveal consumers’ mental representations

• Compare brand performance and strategy across categories

• Standardization and rationalization for budget allocation

• Helps in setting realistic goals geographically

• Explain differences in cross-border performance

• Decisions about standardization versus localization Manage global

brand

Manage your brand portfolio

Track and Analyze results

• Repeatedly charts the position changes that result from marketing initiatives

• Helps marketer in gauging impact of their and their competitors’ actions

THANK YOU!!!