CEB Marketing Excellence Survey®

Brand Positioning
Course Workbook

In this course, you will learn the basics on how to make your brand stand out from
the crowd.

To review this course, please visit: www.mes.executiveboard.com/Members/ResearchAndTools/AllTraining.aspx.

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MES5662013SYN
Table of Contents
Module 1 Module 3

Introduction to Brand Positioning Creating Brand Positioning

• Module One: Introduction......................................... p. 1 • Module Three: Introduction............................. p. 23

• Introduction to Brand Positioning......................... p. 3 • Steps in Brand Positioning.............................. p. 23

• What Is Positioning?.................................................... p. 7 • Step One: Identify............................................... p. 24

• Where Does Positioning Fit?................................... p. 9 • Step Two: Analyze............................................... p. 24

• Review.............................................................................. p. 9 • Activity.................................................................... p. 27

• Case Example: Toyota................................................ p. 10 • Step Three: Differentiate.................................. p. 27

• Conclusion....................................................................... p. 11 • Step Four: Implement ...................................... p. 30

• Retention Quiz............................................................... p. 12 • Step Five: Measure.............................................. p. 32

• Review..................................................................... p. 32
Module 2
• Conclusion.............................................................. p. 33
Brand Positioning Strategies • Action Item Two................................................... p. 34
• Module Two: Introduction......................................... p. 13 • Retention Quiz...................................................... p. 35
• Brand Positioning Strategies................................... p. 13

• Positioning Is About Focusing Course Review

on the Benefits.............................................................. p. 15
Course Conclusion...................................... p. 36
• Review.............................................................................. p. 18

• Conclusion....................................................................... p. 19
Glossary of Terms........................................ p. 37

• Action Item One............................................................ p. 20

• Retention Quiz............................................................... p. 22

To review this course, please visit: www.mes.executiveboard.com/Members/ResearchAndTools/AllTraining.aspx.

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MES5662013SYN
Module One: Introduction to Brand Positioning

module 1
Module One: Introduction
• This course will teach you the basics on how
to make your brand stand out from the crowd.
• When you are walking down the street, it is
very common to see brand imagery wherever
you look. One person may be carrying a

Module 2
Starbucks mug, perhaps there is a jogger
with a Nike swoosh on his shirt, you may
see a man carrying a Dell laptop, or a woman
walking with the signature Tiffany blue
colored paper bag.

Module 3
Notes
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Course review
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Module One: Introduction (Continued)

• The question perhaps you have asked yourself
is, how are you going to make your brand stand
out like these “big brands”?
• In an era where there are so many brands
and general information overload, brand
positioning is a core necessity for making
your brand stand out. Positioning is necessary
to ensure your message gets heard in a noisy
marketplace. This applies to both business-to-
business and business-to-consumer companies,
as well as small and large companies.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 1
Module One: Introduction (Continued)
• This course is intended to provide you with

module 1
an understanding of the key concepts and
activities associated with brand positioning.
Once you’ve been through it, you’ll have a
better idea of what you need to know and
where you should start—from picking your
positioning strategy to creating a positioning
statement.

Module 2
Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Module One: Introduction (Continued)
• Here is how this course is structured.
There are three modules. The first module
is an introduction to brand positioning. This
module will introduce the concept of brand
positioning. The second module is on brand
positioning strategies. This module will
introduce the different positioning approaches
that you can choose from and the benefits
of brand positioning. In the third module,
creating brand positioning, we’ll go over the
steps involved in implementing a positioning
strategy at your company.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 2
Module One: Introduction (Continued)
• By the end of the course you should be able

module 1
to do three things:
– Know how brand positioning fits
into larger marketing activities.
– Develop a brand positioning strategy
that works best for your product
or service.
– Implement brand positioning for your

Module 2
product or service.

Notes
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Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Course review
Introduction to Brand Positioning
• Welcome to Module One: Introduction
to Brand Positioning. In order to understand
brand positioning and how to effectively
apply it in your organization, you have to first
understand what the word “brand” in “brand
positioning” stands for.
• People often confuse a “brand” for just a logo
or tagline or even a product name. A brand
includes these, but it’s not exclusive of these
elements. A brand is how people perceive
a particular product, service, or company.
It’s tangible and intangible, and exists
in the mind of the customer.
Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 3
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• Brands are business assets. A primary benefit

module 1
of a brand is that it secures future income by
developing customer preference and loyalty.
Because of its ability to generate income, a
good brand has a direct impact on the overall
performance of the business and therefore
has an influence on a company’s share price.

Module 2
Notes

Module 3
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Course review
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• For many companies the brand is the sole
reason that the company survives in the
marketplace. The product in the package,
which in many cases can be identical to a
competitor’s product, is worth more simply
because of the brand name on the front of the
package. The additional amount the company
charges because of the brand is referred to
as “brand equity,” and in many cases is worth
more than the tangible assets of the company.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 4
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• In fact, brands are built over time and can

module 1
be worth millions. For example, the stock
market value of Coca-Cola was around $136
billion in mid-2002, but the book value was
only $10.5 billion. That’s because about 52%
of its market value was attributed to its brand.
• That’s a whopping $70 billion. Another
famous example is McDonald’s. Around 70%

Module 2
of its market value is due to its brand. There
are many other examples: Cadbury from the
United Kingdom, Tata Motors from India,
Samsung from South Korea, to name a few.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• Brands help simplify decision making for
the buyer by representing quality assurance
and differentiating the marketplace’s offerings
for customers. To illustrate, let’s go over a
common scenario that I’m sure you’ve come
across at some point in your life.
• A consumer purchasing a new computer may
be overwhelmed with the sheer number and
complexity of choices facing him or her when
selecting a new computer. This is what happens
when there are many competing products in
the retail store environment, and none have
successfully differentiated themselves in the
Notes mind of the customer.
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 5
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• In the personal computer market, Toshiba,

module 1
Sony, and Hewlett-Packard all have excellent
reputations, but many customers are not able
to establish the practical difference between
any of them.
• Dell became the largest computer assembler
and distributor in large part because it
established a brand image in the middle of

Module 2
a confused computer market. Dell sidestepped
the confusing and often intimidating
environment of computer retail stores
by placing its sales online.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Introduction to Brand Positioning (Continued)
• You probably know what your company
sells and the advantage of your products
over competitors’ products, but does your
customer know? Have your products changed?
How are you different from others? Have
you communicated all this to your customers?
If you haven’t, you should start thinking about
it now.

Reflection Questions
Think about your company’s brand.

What are the tangible properties of your

company’s brand?

What are the intangible properties of your

Notes company’s brand?
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 6
What Is Positioning?
• Visit any company, big or small, and ask

module 1
the first five employees what their brand
positioning strategy is. You’ll probably find
that they have no clue what you’re talking
about. Maybe it’s because the company doesn’t
communicate its branding strategy to their
employees. However, most times it’s simply
because the company doesn’t really position
its brand.

Module 2
• For most companies brand positioning means
coming up with a good brand name and then
advertising it. Unfortunately, coming up with
a name and advertising is the weakest and
probably the worst way of positioning. Effective
positioning involves much more than just
coming up with a nice name.

Module 3
Notes
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Course review
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What Is Positioning? (Continued)

• Positioning considers how you communicate
what makes your brand different from others
to your target market. It’s about connecting
with the customers. It’s figuring out how you
want to be perceived by the customer.
• There are different definitions of positioning,
but advertising executive Jack Trout, who
popularized the term “positioning,” probably
created the most common one. “Positioning is
an activity in which you position your product
or service in the mind of your target customer.”

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 7
What Is Positioning? (Continued)
• Positioning is a strategy you can use to

module 1
differentiate your product or service from
that of a competitor. Furthermore, this
differentiation strategy will be executed in
such a way that your product becomes the one
that is preferred over that of your competitors.
In other words, the way you position your
company’s product should occupy a distinct
place in the mind of the customer.

Module 2
Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
What Is Positioning? (Continued)
• The primary benefit of positioning is that
you can control what the market thinks of
you and make your product more attractive.
It is not the job of the advertisement agency
to come up with this but the job of the
executive team and the marketing staff
to make this happen.

Reflection Questions
Positioning is an activity in which you position
your product or service in the mind of your target
customer.

How is your company positioning your brand?

How does this positioning help your customers

choose your product or service over your
competitors’?

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 8
Where Does Positioning Fit?
• Typically, positioning is an activity done up

module 1
front when you are creating your marketing
plan. A marketing plan is a written document
that summarizes what the marketer has
learned about the marketplace and how it
plans to reach its marketing objectives for
a particular product or service based on this
market information.

Module 2
• Brand positioning is a core part of the
communications element of the marketing
mix strategy that needs to be communicated
to the target market.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Review
• A brand is how people perceive:
– Product,
– Service, and
– Company.
• Brands are valuable assets.
• Brands help differentiate products.
• Positioning is how you position your product
in the mind of your target customer.
• Positioning is a key element of a
communications strategy in the marketing mix.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 9
Case Example: Toyota
Situation

module 1
• Toyota has become famous for its lean
manufacturing technique it developed. This
internal manufacturing process, which is
known as the “Toyota way,” was based on
the principle of “continuous improvement.”
According to this principle, all employees
are asked to stop processes if they detect a

Module 2
problem and to limit any losses incurred from
defects. As a result of this process, the company
reduced costs associated with defects.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Case Example: Toyota (Continued)
Action
• Soon this “Toyota way” became an internal
brand. Company executives soon realized
the value of this and decided to leverage this
by communicating their internal brand to
customers so it could differentiate the company
for suppliers and end users.
Result
• As a result of differentiating its product with
its “Operational Excellence” campaign, it
positioned its brand in the minds of customers
as “Toyota equals reliability.” This is an
example of how a company successfully took
an internal initiative and used it to position its
brand externally with suppliers and customers.
Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 10
Module One: Conclusion
• You have now finished the first module,

module 1
an Introduction to Brand Positioning.
The following are some key takeaways
to remember:
– A brand is how people perceive a particular
product or service or company.
– Brand positioning is about differentiating
your brand in the minds of the buyer.

Module 2
– Positioning is part of marketing
communications; it is the communications
element of the marketing mix strategy.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 11
Retention Quiz
Please circle one answer per question.

module 1
1. Brands are business assets because they generate income.
a. True
b. False

2. Why do you need to position your brand? (Select all that apply.)
i. To advertise your price

Module 2
ii. To differentiate your product
iii. To control what the market thinks of you
iv. To advertise your brand
a. i, iii
b. i, iv

Module 3
c. ii, iii
d. ii, iv

Note: To receive credit for this quiz and see an explanation of each correct answer,
take this quiz online in slide 10 of this course at www.mes.executiveboard.com.

Course review
Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 12
Module Two: Brand Positioning Strategies

module 1
Module Two: Introduction
• In the last module, we looked at the
Toyota case example. Unfortunately, not
all companies are as successful as Toyota at
creating blockbuster brand positioning. Most
companies struggle with the basics, such as

Module 2
how to create a brand, and communicating
what it stands for to its customers.

Module 3
Notes
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Course review
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Brand Positioning Strategies

• When referring to “customers” in this course,
we are referring to your target market. Your
target market is a specific group of customers
(also called a market segment) who are
potential buyers of your product. It’s important
to identify your market segments so you can
better position your promotional activities
to that segment.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 13
Brand Positioning Strategies (Continued)
• You can have a product and spends millions

module 1
of dollars positioning it, but if it’s not targeted
to the right market segment, all the money
and effort will be spent in vain. As a result,
successful positioning to the right target
market can be a major source of revenue.
Positioning and segmentation are inseparable,
and so target market segments should be
identified prior to developing your positioning.

Module 2
Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Brand Positioning Strategies (Continued)
• The foundation of positioning can be shown
as a simple equation, which is positioning
equals market segmentation plus competitive
differentiation. A successfully defined market
segment combined with product or service
differentiation is the cornerstone for a solid
position foundation.

Reflection Questions
In this course we defined positioning in this way:
Positioning = Market Segmentation + Competitive
Differentiation. It is crucial to your successful
positioning to define your target market before
coming up with a positioning strategy. Think
Notes about one of your company’s products or
services.

______________________________________________ What is the target market for this product

or service?
______________________________________________ Is there more than one target market?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 14
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits
• Once you’ve defined your market segment, next

module 1
you want to focus on what is unique about your
product or service to your target market.
• Is American Express a better credit card
company than Capital One? Or is Cigna better
than Blue Cross? The answer depends on who’s
answering the question and the needs and
wants of those customers. Most times it doesn’t

Module 2
matter which product is objectively better but
rather how able they are to satisfy customer
needs.

Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)
• There could be many reasons why one
would prefer Sony over HP, but most of the
differences boil down to branding. The first
thing that comes to minds when people think
of a product is the brand perception they’ve
built over the years. To get a positioning
strategy to stick in people’s minds you need
to focus on the benefits that you want to
communicate. For example, Volvo’s main
benefit it emphasizes is safety; Coca-Cola’s
is refreshment.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 15
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)
• Positioning is the rational and emotional

module 1
benefits people associate with a brand. Many
companies tend to confuse positioning as
a focus on features and attributes. That is
incorrect. While there may be some companies
whose positioning is based on product
attributes, it is the weakest form of positioning
as your competitors can easily copy product
attributes.

Module 2
Module 3
Notes
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Course review
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Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)

• For example, BMW announces new products
and new features all the time. But BMW does
not position itself around its features. It knows
what matters to its market segment are not
the features it adds every year but the way the
car drives and feels. This is exactly how it has
positioned itself. Performance is the benefit
BMW offers to its customers.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 16
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)
• As you are positioning your own brand, you

module 1
should think of the benefits (not the features)
your brand provides and use those benefits
to position the company and its products.
Remember, your competitors can always copy
or add features, but the distinct image, which
includes the overall benefits that only your
products can provide, cannot be easily copied.

Module 2
Notes
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Module 3
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Course review
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)
• While a benefits-based approach is one of
the most successful positioning strategies,
there are several other approaches you can
use. For instance, you can position your
product directly against your competitor, like
Microsoft’s Zune directly challenging the iPod
from Apple. Or you can position your products
based on characteristics of individuals who use
your product, like Jitterbug cell phones being
positioned to seniors and baby boomers.

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 17
Positioning Is About Focusing on the Benefits (Continued)
• For more positioning approaches, we have

module 1
included a document download with more
positioning strategies. Make sure to evaluate
your product against each strategy to
determine which one is best for your product.
• After you’ve selected a positioning strategy,
you should test it to see if the approach you
choose works. Simplicity and clarity are just

Module 2
two of several factors you need to test your
strategy against. Getting positioning right is
the first step in creating a brand worth billions.

Notes Note: To download these documents please visit slide 15 of this course.

______________________________________________ Reflection Question

Module 3
Think of some of the features or attributes of one
______________________________________________ of your products or services. Now translate those
features into benefits (e.g., a car’s cup holder is a
______________________________________________ feature, but the convenience of having a place to
store a beverage without spilling it is the benefit).
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Course review
______________________________________________

Review
• Successful positioning is based on effective
segmentation.
• Positioning = Market Segmentation +
Competitive Differentiation
• Positioning must focus on the benefits
of a product, not the features.
• Other positioning strategies include
the following:
– Positioning directly against a competitor
– Positioning based on characteristics of users

Notes
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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 18
Module Two: Conclusion
• You have now finished the second module

module 1
on brand positioning strategies. The following
are some key takeaways to remember:
– Market segmentation and positioning
are interconnected. You need to know
your target audience to position your brand.
– Positioning is about focusing on the benefits
and not the physical aspects of the product

Module 2
or service itself.
– There are several positioning strategies
to choose from. The three we highlighted
were “against a competitor,” “characteristics
of users,” and a “benefits-based” approach.
Notes

Module 3
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Course review

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 19
Action Item One:
Test your brand positioning strategy.

module 1
1. Is it simple?—There could be many things about your product you would like to communicate
to your customers, but then that may be a lot for your customers to digest. Like ad guru Bill
Bernbach said, “Find the simple story in the product and present it in an articulate
and intelligent, persuasive way.”

Module 2
If it is not simple, what would make it more simplistic?
__________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is it differentiable?—Having a simple positioning strategy is important, but it doesn’t have

to be differentiated directly against your competition. You can differentiate on many things—
from price, to features, to process—but you want to make sure that it’s not something your

Module 3
competitor can easily copy. For example, when Miller Lite first launched, it was the only “light”
beer in the market, but now there are so many that Miller Lite is struggling to find its place in
the market.

If it is not differentiable, what would make it more differentiable?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
3. Is it meaningful?—Does your positioning strategy make sense to your customers? Will it connect
with them?

If it is not meaningful, what would make it more meaningful?

__________________________________________________________________________________

4. Is it believable?—Your positioning could be simple and differentiated and still not work if it’s
too much of a stretch for customers to believe. For example, at one point, McDonald’s tried
to sell pizzas, but it realized it’s too much of a stretch for the brand.

If it is not believable, what would make it more believable?

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. Is it credible?—If your positioning strategy is to be believable, you need to make sure it’s credible.
Whatever promises your positioning strategy makes, you need to deliver on it. For example,
SunnyD faced stiff criticism from the American Food and Drug Administration because it
positioned its product as a healthy fruit juice for kids, when in reality it only had negligible
amounts of fruit juice.

If it is not credible, what would make it more credible?

__________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 20
Action Item One (Continued):

module 1
6. Is it sustainable?—Can you sustain the strategy well into the future? For example, Miller Lite
couldn’t sustain its strategy as the only light beer in the market because competitors could
copy it.

If it is not sustainable, what would make it more sustainable?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Module 2
7. Is it defensible?—Your positioning could be reliable, sustainable, credible, and simple, but it’s
no good if you can’t defend it. That’s why it’s important to create a positioning strategy that will
make it hard to copy. For example, Gatorade maintains its 80% market share regardless of how
hard its competitors try because of its head start in market share as an originator of the sports
drink market.

Module 3
If it is not defensible, what would make it more defensible?
__________________________________________________________________________________

Course review

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 21
Retention Quiz
Please circle one answer per question.

module 1
1. To create a positioning strategy, you don’t have to know who your target market is.
a. True
b. False

2. Complete the sentence with the best answer: “The first thing that comes to people’s minds when they think
of any product is _________________ .

Module 2
a. If they’ve used it before
b. If they have a good reputation and brand name
c. How much it costs them
d. The perception they’ve built over the years

3. The best approach to positioning a product is to focus on _________________.

Module 3
a. Characteristics
b. Features
c. Benefits
d. Attributes

Course review
Note: To receive credit for this quiz and see an explanation of each correct answer,
take this quiz online in slide 19 of this course at www.mes.executiveboard.com.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 22
Module Three: Creating Brand Positioning

module 1
Module Three: Introduction
• In this module we’ll walk through the five steps
in brand positioning, how to differentiate your
product from competitors, and finally, guide
you in creating a positioning statement for a
product or service.

Module 2
• By the end of this module, you’ll be able to
use this information to create a powerful
positioning strategy in your company.

Module 3
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Steps in Brand Positioning

• According to Philip Kotler, an expert in
marketing, brand building is “the art and
cornerstone of marketing.” However, this
is often a major area companies overlook.
Executives often don’t know where to start
and what they need to know to build a
positioning strategy.
• Typically, the marketing team is in charge of
positioning. We are going to review a five-step
process that whoever is in charge of positioning
can follow. The five key steps involved in brand
positioning are identify, analyze, differentiate,
implement, and measure.
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 23
Step One: Identify
• The first step is to identify and define

module 1
the market segment in which you can
and want to compete. For brand positioning
to be successful, it’s important that you
have identified a segment to focus on. Your
positioning should be created to appeal to
that segment.

Module 2
Notes

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Two: Analyze
• After you’ve identified the market segment
you are targeting, the next step is to analyze
your competitors in that market space. In order
to have a successful positioning strategy, you
must differentiate your product from that of
your competitors, which requires an in-depth
analysis of your competitors and how they’ve
positioned their products.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 24
Step Two: Analyze (Continued)
• Competitive positioning is about how you

module 1
will differentiate your product from that of
a competitor and create value for your market.
You need to assess your company’s perceived
strengths and weaknesses against those of
your competitors to develop a more effective
strategic plan.

Module 2
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Two: Analyze (Continued)
• A simple way to do this is to list all the
competitors who can satisfy the fundamental
needs and wants that your products can satisfy.
Then identify the attributes of their products
that make them different. Then ask customers
their perceptions of each attribute for the
company’s product and its competitors.
• Outside firms often best accomplish this
process since customers are often reluctant
to criticize products in front of company
employees.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 25
Step Two: Analyze (Continued)
• In addition, it’s critical to include people

module 1
who are not customers of the company.
Customers who shop at a company do so
because the company satisfies them. While
this is insightful, only using current customers
can bias the understanding of what is driving
perceptions in the overall marketplace.

Module 2
Module 3
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step Two: Analyze (Continued)

• You can visually display these findings using
a perceptual map. Perceptual mapping is useful
in communicating the relationship between
competitors and the criteria your consumers
use while making purchase decisions. Use a
perceptual map to find out the position of each
product in the product space.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 26
Activity
• In addition, by using a perceptual map,

module 1
you can rate your own company and your
competitors on variables like price, quality,
leadership, service, and other factors that are
applicable to your company and your industry,
which will help you understand how you want
to position your product or brand.

Module 2
Note: View the activity on slide 27 of this course
to create a sample perceptual map.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Three: Differentiate
• After you’ve identified your target market and
analyzed your competitors, now you will want
to come up with your positioning strategy.
A positioning strategy is simply how you
differentiate your product in the minds of your
customers. You can choose your strategy from
the list covered in the previous module.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 27
Step Three: Differentiate (Continued)
• To communicate your brand positioning

module 1
strategy, you need to have a positioning
statement. This describes the unique value you
provide compared to competitors’ products.

Module 2
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Three: Differentiate (Continued)
• The communication process starts from
the outside by first understanding your
target market’s perceptions and using that
information to develop a positioning statement
within the organization.
• This is then translated into external
communications, which could be anything
from marketing collateral to advertising
campaigns.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 28
Step Three: Differentiate (Continued)
• A positioning statement has four main

module 1
components:
– The first one is audience—who you are trying
to connect with?
– Second is definition—what space are you
competing in?
– Third is deliverable—what benefits does your
brand deliver to its customers?

Module 2
– Fourth is differentiation—what makes your
brand special?

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Three: Differentiate (Continued)
• Here is an example of a positioning statement
that incorporates all of the four components.
• FedEx’s positioning statement is:
– “For deadline dependent people, FedEx is
the overnight delivery service that leverages
sophisticated tracking technology to provide
the easiest and most reliable service to its
clients.”
– Deadline dependent people is how FedEx
defines its audience. Overnight delivery
services defines the market space that FedEx
wants to compete in. FedEx differentiates
themselves through their sophisticated
tracking technology and their reliability
Notes is the benefit it delivers to its customers.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 29
Step Three: Differentiate (Continued)
• Do not confuse a positioning statement

module 1
with a tagline or slogan. A tagline is a
translation of the positioning statement
into a small collection of meaningful words
to the customer—a sound bite. A positioning
statement provides the platform for
communication; it’s an internal document and
is held in strict confidentiality by companies.

Module 2
• A positioning statement is also different from
a market position. A market position is how
your prospects perceive you, and a positioning
statement, by contrast, expresses how you wish
to be perceived.
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Step Four: Implement
• Once you have outlined your strategy and
defined your positioning statement, discuss
it with your executives and employees to
make sure everyone is on board. To execute
any strategy successfully, everybody in the
company should be on the same page.
• Many organizations, even with a great
positioning strategy, are ineffective in
implementing them. Typically, this is because
there is a disconnect between internal groups.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 30
Step Four: Implement (Continued)
• For example, Company A1 decided to feature

module 1
the service aspects of its product as a key
differentiator in its marketing campaigns.
• It did this because Company A’s
competitors had moved their call centers
to foreign countries, and the marketing group
viewed this as a key competitive opportunity
to differentiate their company, since their

Module 2
service call centers were still located in the
United States. But the marketing group didn’t
know that the company was secretly moving
its call center to another country to cut costs.
1
Pseudonym.

Module 3
Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step Four: Implement (Continued)

• Within two weeks of implementing its
new positioning and millions of dollars spent
on advertising, the group found out that
the call center was being moved to another
country.
• It’s critical that you have management
involvement throughout the process and
keep them engaged until the very end.
Implementation without management
involvement is often the cause of positioning
failure.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 31
Step Five: Measure
• The last step is measure. After you’ve

module 1
implemented your positioning strategy, you
want to make sure it’s successful and that
you’re getting the results you expected.
• Because the marketplace is extremely dynamic
and competitive, your positioning must be
constantly updated. While some consistent
messages must run through the core of all

Module 2
positioning efforts, nuances must be constantly
fine-tuned so that the positioning remains
competitive and satisfies current and future
customers.

Notes

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Course review
Review
• Steps in brand positioning:
– Identify your segment.
– Differentiate what makes your brand special.
– Implement your positioning in all aspects
of the business.
– Measure your results.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 32
Module Three: Conclusion
• You have completed this module on brand

module 1
positioning strategies. Now that you’ve been
through this course, you now know why it’s
worth spending money on positioning and the
steps involved in brand positioning.
• The five steps involved in brand positioning
are the following:
1. Identify your target segment.

Module 2
2. Analyze your competitors.
3. Determine a positioning strategy.
4. Implement the plan.
Notes 5. Measure the results.

Reflection Questions
______________________________________________

Module 3
Think about one of your company’s products
______________________________________________ or services.

How well has your company executed the five

______________________________________________ brand positioning steps for this product
or service?
______________________________________________
Which step do you think could use more time,
______________________________________________

Course review
effort, or understanding?

______________________________________________ What kinds of improvements would you like

to see to these steps?

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 33
Action Item Two:
Create a positioning statement for one of your company’s product or service brands by answering the

module 1
following four questions:

Product or Service Brand (e.g., Ecopetsnaks—a organic pet food brand)

____________________________________________________________________________

Module 2
1. Audience: Who are you trying to connect with? (e.g., environmental or health conscious pet
owners)

__________________________________________________________________________

Module 3
2. Definition: What market space are you competing in? (e.g., pet food)

__________________________________________________________________________

3. Deliverable: What benefits does your brand deliver to its customers? (e.g., healthy, nourishing)

Course review
__________________________________________________________________________

4. Differentiation: What makes your brand special? (e.g., taste better than the competitor’s)

__________________________________________________________________________

Try creating a positioning statement out of what you wrote above: (e.g., for pet owners who want
a healthy pet food alternative, Ecopetsnaks are not only organic and nourishing but taste as good
or better than any pet food on the market)

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 34
Retention Quiz
Please circle one answer per question.

module 1
1. Positioning involves understanding who your competitors are and how they’ve positioned their products.
a. True
b. False

2. It’s advised to not involve your customers in the brand positioning process, especially when you’re analyzing
your competitors.

Module 2
a. True
b. False

3. Your positioning statement is something you share with your target customers.
a. True
b. False

Module 3
4. You can use a positioning statement to create the following:
i. Tagline
ii. Logo
iii. Marketing collateral

Course review
iv. Brand
v. Advertising
a. i, ii, v
b. i, iii, v
c. ii, iii, iv

Note: To receive credit for this quiz and see an explanation of each correct answer,
take this quiz online in slide 34 of this course at www.mes.executiveboard.com.

Notes
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MES5662013SYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 35
Course Conclusion

Module 1
• You have completed the course on brand
positioning. You should now have a better
understanding of the different positioning
strategies that you can choose from. You
should also be able to carry out the positioning
process for your product or service.

Module 2
NOTES

Module 3
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

CouRse RevieW
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Mes5662013sYN Brand Positioning: Course Workbook 36
Glossary of Terms

module 1
Brand Equity—The attractiveness of a brand based on its name and image

Brand Image—The perceived image of what a brand stands for in the mind of a target customer

Competitive Positioning—The position a firm occupies in a market, or is trying to occupy, relative

Module 2
to its competition

Continuous Improvement—A Japanese principle, whereby all employees are asked to stop processes
if they detect a problem, to limit any losses incurred from defects

Marketing Mix Strategy—The marketing competencies needed to build a marketing mix strategy
(product, price, place, and promotion) to satisfy customers and increase revenue in a target market

Module 3
Marketing Plan—Refers to a strategy to achieve marketing objectives that support a corporate or brand
mission; this includes the situation analysis, portfolio analysis and planning, competitive positioning,
and market positioning strategies

Course review
Market Segmentation—The process of dividing and sub-dividing the total market into small, clearly
identifiable segments based on shared characteristics

Perceptual Mapping—A display of competing products based on their relative substitutability

and customer ideal products based on their strength of preference for each competing product

Positioning—An activity in which you position your product/service in the mind of your target customer

Positioning Statement—A positioning statement defines what the marketed product or service is, what
makes it unique, and why it is relevant to the audience

Congratulations! You have finished this training course. Now head back to the MES Web site listed
below and look for more courses to grow your marketing knowledge:
www.mes.executiveboard.com/Members/ResearchAndTools/AllTraining.aspx.

CEB
CEBMarketing
marketing Excellence
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MES5662013SYN 37