1.

POSITIONING
Positioning in the context of a marketing battle plan has three overlapping objectives:
i. Positioning has an enterprise perspective. The enterprise scans the market environment
and decides to position itself with products that specifically addresses the needs of the
target market
ii. Positioning has a competitive perspective. The enterprise has to differentiate and
distinguish itself from the competitors.
iii. Positioning tales the customers’ perspectives. It is the way the customers perceive the
enterprise and its products or services in their minds.

The stronger the overlap is in these perspectives, the more defined the positioning of an enterprise is in
the marketplace. The competitive landscape of the enterprise relative to its market can be clearly mapped
out by laying out both the latitudinal and the longitudinal market dimensions.

Latitude lays out what is important to the different customer segments from their different points of view.
Longitude on the other hand in the marketing map represents the product features and attribute of
competitors in the market place.

Powerful brands have become the generic name for their product categories like Kleenex, Colgate, Band-
Aid, Xerox and Scotch Tape. It is hard to separate these brands from their permanent positioning in the
marketplace. These brands have also been able to extend their good image to their product lines.

2. PRODUCTS
A product is a tangible good or the intangible service that the enterprise offers to its customers in
order to satisfy their needs and to produce their expected results. Products are often identified
with their brand names to distinguish them with other products in the market. Some products
have built up so much loyalty to the point that their brand names have become their best-selling
proposition.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRODUCTS

Common examples are products borne out of biotechnology field particularly in terms of
coming up with new vaccines such as for the COVID-19 virus.
 b) Differentiated products- they try to claim a new space in the mind of the customer
different from the spaces occupied by the existing products. The performance benefits
may be close to existing products but there would be additional benefits on the special
aspects of the products.

There are many available eyeglasses in the market today but Transition lenses was able
to differentiate itself from the rest because the lenses the use adapt to changing lights.

c) Copycat products- these will not make much impression on the customers’ mind. The
marketer should make up for this lack of mental space by offering more physical space in
the shelves, lower prices, easier access, promotional freebies and he like. Aggressive
advertising may add to market demand but at a greater cost than leading brands.

A classic example of copycat product is Beer na Beer brand against the San Miguel Pale
Pilsen. Both have amber-colored bottles with similarly styled white colored font printed
outside the bottle.

d) Niche products- they do not intent to compete directly with the giants. They are products
with lower reach, lower visibility, lower prices and lower top of mind. They are expected
to play a minor role in specific smaller market segments.

3. PACKAGING
Now, packaging can even be more important than the product itself if done imaginatively. The
following are the roles of packaging:

✔ Packaging identified the products describes its features and benefits, and complies with
government rules on specifying its contents weight, chemical components and potency.
Packaging provides easy brand identification for the customers.
✔ Packaging differentiates the product from its competitors and even from its other brand
offerings.
✔ Packaging lengthens the life span, physically protects and extends the usefulness of the
product. Vacuum-packed or aseptically packaged products prolong the shelf-lives of
many food and beverage items. High-tech packaging protects fragile and sensitive
products like crystal sculptures, laptops, tools and the likes
✔ Packaging has become an environmental issue by itself.
✔ Packaging have increased the cost of the product because of the material used in
packaging in itself.
Packaging does not only refer alone to the wrapper or container of the product. It can mean the bundle
of product or services that are put together to attract and delight customers. It can also mean the terms
and conditions attached to the sale and after-sale servicing of the product

4. PLACE
Location is an often-recited mantra of a salesperson who want to have the best access to their
customers. In finding a good location, one must consider the following in the initial screening
process.
i. The number of customers residing or working in the area
ii. The density or number of customers per unit area
iii. The access routes to alternative locations and their traffic count
iv. The buying habits of customers
v. Location features such parking areas among others

In addition to the things mentioned above, the final choice of location must be based on the following:

● Image and location conditions

RELEVANT LOCATION DRIVERS

1) Physical Proximity to the target Market. Ideally, the best location should be easily accessible from
home or the workplace.
2) Customer traffic flow. This refers to the people that regularly come into contact with the business
establishment.
3) Industry clustering. A lot of competitors clustered in one location usually draw in a bigger market
to the area.
4) Convergence of Multiple industries. Location where multiple industries converge like that of the
IT Park are able to attract more customers people of the one-stop-shop convenience.
5) Population concentrations. The greater number of people, the greater the number of needs and
wants to be satisfied.
6) Activity hubs. Activity hubs such as large-schools, high-rise buildings, public parks and others
provide good location for food establishments and client-specified services.
7) Growth potential- businesses are always looking for new areas to expand and grow.
8) Business Climate. Enterprises prefer locations that are conducive in doing business.
 9) Cost of doing business and producing goods and services. More industrial establishments, the
more relevant criteria are those locations with lower cost of doing business and lower cost of
producing goods and services.

SIX GEOGRAPHY DETERMINANTS

1) Concentration vs Destination
2) Access vs Abundance
3) Clustered vs Dispersed
4) Developed vs Underdeveloped
5) Physical vs Virtual
6) Upscale vs Downscale

FIVE ATMOSPHERE DETERMINANTS

1) Formal or Informal
2) Exclusive vs Public
3) Conservative vs Adventurous
4) Aesthetics vs Functionality
5) Minimalist vs Maximalist

5. PEOPLE
People are the ultimate marketing strategy. People sell and push the product. People search hard
to find the right market. People distribute, promote, price and sell the products in the most
attractive market places. People aim to please the customers have bought the product. The
marketing efforts of people are organized at four levels: (1) to create customer awareness; (2) to
arouse customer interest; (3) to educate customers as they evaluate their buying choices and (4)
to close the sale and deliver the product.

Availability means that the enterprise has the goods or services on hand. Accessible means that
the customers can easily get the product from their usual buying places or the products can be
conveniently delivered to them. Adequate means the product meets the quality and delivery
specifications of the customers. Acceptable means that the customer is convinced by the selling
points of the product. Affordable means the price and payment terms are right.

6. PROMOTION
Promotion is the explicit communication strategy adopted by an enterprise to elicit the
patronage, loyalty and support not only from its customers but also from its other significant
stakeholders.
 Promotion encompasses all the direct communication efforts of the enterprise such as
advertising, public relations campaign promotional tours, product offerings, point-of-sale
displays, websites, flyers and others. Effective promotion depends on three critical factors: the
credibility of the communicator, the message and the medium of the message, and the
receptiveness of the audience to all that is being communicated.

In developing a promotion campaign, the enterprise should start with the target audience in mind.

7. PRICE
Pricing depends on the business objectives set by the enterprise. While price is a major factor for
the customer in buying a product, it is not the only factors such as n the case of buying premium
products.

Finding the right price for a product is therefore, not a simple matter of adding a mark-up on the
cost of the product or service as some companies do.

The enterprise should set the prices of its products or services based on its business objectives
such as the following:

1) Profit maximization
2) Revenue maximization
3) Market share maximization
4) Attainment of the desired prestige or quality leadership
5) Penetration, survival or liquidation
6) Scarcity pricing or market skimming
7) Cost recovery
8) Subsidy pricing
9) Marginal pricing