Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage - Essay Example

Part 1 Primary Research Brand building is an essential part of marketing. It is built through taste, touch, smell, sound and sight. Today the brands need to stand out from its competitors and develop something unique for its target market. In short, brand is evolving (Lindstrom, 2005, p.195). The brand chosen for this project is a consumer product is Pantene a Procter & Gamble product. Primary research has shown that the most preferred brand in the category of consumer product is Pantene. They prefer Pantene than any other brands because it caters to all types of hair requirements. Pantene is the most famous brand in hair care; they are brand loyal towards the product. Brand loyalty is an attitude toward a brand (Pride & Ferrell, 2008, p.330). The primary research shows that they are satisfied with the brand and thus consistently purchase the same brand. Pantene a product of Procter & Gamble has very well positioned itself in the minds of the customers. The survey has shown that the most recalled brand was Pantene. Positioning is nothing but the battle of the mind. In order to stay ahead from the competitors, the first thing is to position the brand in the consumers mind so that he or she tends to go for that particular brand (Sengupta, 2005, p.2). And this is exactly what the hair product has done. It is the number one hair care brand. Brand loyalty plays an important factor when deciding upon a brand. When asked about how loyal they were with their brand, it was found that Pantene follows the third degree of brand loyalty, brand insistence. They would not go for any other substitute, they strongly prefer Pantene. This is referred to as brand insistence. They feel connected with the brand; they are more comfortable with the product. Brand loyalty is one of the important components of brand equity as it decreases brands vulnerability over the competitors (Pride & Ferrell, 2008, p.331). Pantene is preferred by all age groups, and they feel by using Pantene they get shiny and soft hair. When asked about the first five brands that come to their mind, the first name was Pantene. Thus the brand had achieved the success because it takes a lot of effort to remain on top of the mind thus it has positioned very well in the minds of the consumers. As discussed earlier, they would not go for any other brands even if they do not find the desired product; this indicates the loyalty towards the brand. The purchase decision criteria for most respondents depend upon the brand name. The very reason why as to Pantene is preferred was because of its focus mainly on the health of the hair. Pantene is the brand which caters to all hair segments be it long straight short curly etc. it has a wide range of products which deals with the different types of hair of the consumers. Hair care is one of the important factors that mainly concern the consumers. Many of the Pantene users believe that it provides their hair with a healthier looking with more shine and more confidence among themselves. One of the respondent stated that hair has a personality and it is taken well care of by Pantene. Thus Pantene has proved to be the number one brand and captures the market share. It is a product that has emotionally affected the consumers. They feel that it is only Pantene that suits their hair types and especially because it is available for all hair types. Secondary research Market segments and targets Pantene is a product of Procter & Gamble, a fortune 500 company. It deals in consumer goods. Market segmentation is an important part in marketing. It is necessary to decide the segment in which the product is to be introduced. It has segmented its product in three categories that is Fine, med-thick, curly and color. Since it has segmented its product on these bases, it becomes easier for the consumers to choose the preferred segment. Since Pantene has defined its segments into four strains, it can therefore expand its market share by targeting the different sections. Pantene has divided through geographic segmentation. Pantene is catered around the world, across the globe. The tagline of Pantene also states that hair becomes healthily and it shines and it is this line that is recognized globally. Pantene has targeted the women. Pantene is consumer goods and deals with hair care products from shampoos to conditioners. Pantene was born in 1947, which was owed by a Swiss company before it was acquired by P&G. Pantene is a premier hair care brand and is also seen as a fashion statement. It concentrates on what the women wants (Pantene, 2011). Brand equity over time Procter & gamble challenge was to make pentane a global brand. In order to remain competitive in the market and to build its brand equity Procter & gamble redirected its strategies several times. Technology always played an important role for the company and its products. But it is not only through technology that a product can build brand equity, positioning is also required (Dyer, et.al, 2004, p.227). The company has tried different approach and launched the Pantene Pro V. It had developed a site secrettogreathair.com. This campaign was the biggest in 2000. Pantene has touched the value approach and the consumer feels that value is not cheap; it works well for a price that is not bad. Procter & gamble positioned the brand as a beauty product. Recently Pantene has been regarded as the most preferred product when it comes to hair care (Wong, 2008, p.1). Positioning Pantene has positioned itself as beauty product in the minds of its prospective consumer. It remains the number one hair care brand till date. It has positioned itself for the age group of 25 to 35, providing silky smooth hair. The brand has also repositioned itself as a brand which would make women shine. This repositioning is famous in India. Pantene mainly positioned itself as shiny hair which guarantees a healthy hair. Healthy hair can be regarded as a feeling of self confidence by Pantene users. This positioning helped Pantene to grow and achieve the success till date (Pantene, 2011). Positioning is a process which influence its potential customers (Lamb, 2011, p.279). Part 2 New consumer product When a new product is to be launched, the market should be properly analyzed. Depending upon the demands of the consumer, a product is made and launched in the market. Seeing the rising demand for hair products a new consumer product which would be effective would be a conditioner which would make the hair straight. This would save time and would be easy to use. The market is growing and the customers are trying all new possible products, therefore it would be a good option to introduce a product which is not yet available in the market, and would be something new for the consumers. Target market Deciding upon the target audience is the most important tool of marketing. If the target is not correct the product may experience a serious loss. It has happened with many products. Therefore a careful selection needs to be done before deciding upon the target audience. Since it’s a consumer good, it would be used by all age groups but particularly by the youths because of its USP. Its USP is that it will make the hair straight along with conditioning the hair. It’s a two in one process. Therefore the target would be the youths like the college goers and the working ladies who wants to look fashionable and most importantly tries new products. Song and an Endorser The endorser for the product could be a person having straight hair. Anybody having a straight hair would be perfect to endorse the brand. Endorser could be Katrina Kaif and Taylor Swift as both has straight long hair. And song could be dazzle with straight long hair. Competition The product being a consumer good, the competition is high as every other company tends to come out with something new. There are already many brands in the market which conditioners the hair so the people might not go for this brand rather go for the competitor’s one. As the target audience for the product is the youths, consumers who do not want to straighten their hair would not prefer the product. Thus the other companies who manufactures only conditioners steps ahead and gain a better market share. Therefore competition is high. But if again a normal conditioner is to be launched there would not be any differentiation in the product. In order to bring in differentiation something new needs to be invented. Thus a conditioner that can straighten the hair could prove to be a successful product. A product in order to feel the success needs to go through some tough times and its competitors are who makes them feel the heat. In order to tackle the competition, proper positioning must be done. Once the product is set in the minds of consumer, it would not be a difficult task to survive in the market. Reference Dyer, D. et.al. (2004). rising tide: lessons from 165 years of brand building at Procter & Gamble. Harvard Business Press. Lamb, C.W. et.al. (2011). Essentials of Marketing. Cengage Learning. Lindstrom, M. (2005). Brand sense: how to build powerful brands through touch, taste, smell, sight & sound. Kogan Page Publishers. Pantene. (2011). the history of Pantene. Retrieved on October 13 2011, from http://www.pantene.com/en-US/pages/about-pantene.aspx Pride, W.M & Ferrell, O.C. (2008). Marketing. Cengage Learning. Sengupta, S. (2005). Brand positioning: strategies for competitive advantage. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Wong, E. (2008). P&G Tries Again with Pantene. 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