Know-How Exchange : Branding

Repositioning is the act of redefining the placement of a company and/or product. Positioning involves:

• Placement within a market segment – In which segments does the product/service play?


• Placement of the product relative to other products/services categories and application – What are upstream and downstream in the supply chain with respect to the product/service? Is the product/service high value or low value with respect to other product/services used by the customers?


• Placement versus competitors' products/services – How well does the product/service satisfy the customers’ needs versus the competition?


• Placement of the product/services in terms of features and benefits - Is the product/service high performance or basic in features and benefits? What is the value proposition for the product/service versus the competitors?


• Placement in the sales channel – How is the product sold by whom to whom?


• Placement in the minds of decision makers and influencers – For those who make the “buy” decision, is the product/service critical or a commodity? Does it represent a major determiner for success and therefore involved in a major part of their daily activities for buyers and influencers?

Some marketing folks may think of "rebranding" as the act of coming up with new logos, name, tag lines, colors, packaging, etc. Or it could mean to some purchasing a product manufactured by someone else and putting your own brand on it. And it's always possible that "rebranding" could mean to someone the same thing as repositioning - taken very loosely.

As far as Engro - EFL is a brand extension. This is where you use established brand recognition to launch other products/services. Generally, brand extensions are more successful when they are closely related to the initial product.

I hope this helps.

Wayde

Rebranding definitely could (and probably would) be a part of repositioning. Points to consider for evaluating a given brand's repositioning are the same as those you'd consider when defining the position and brand strategy in the first place - see above. In addition, for ALL marketing activities, you MUST consider the customers. If you are repositioning, you must consider the existing customers that you would like to MOVE to the new repositioned brand and you must consider the new customers you may be targeting. You look at their needs, their emotional influencers (words and images that affect their buying decision), where they look for information to make the "intellectual" part of the buy decision. And as with ALL marketing, you look at the competition - strengths, weaknesses, how they satisfy the customers' needs and where they don't - with repositioning, you could pick up new competition. And then you look at your company's SWOT. You also have to look at product/service strategy and definition because chances are that in the repositioning, you have to change the product/service definition.

So basically, when you reposition, you have to tear up your old marketing strategy and start fresh.

Wayde