Arguments against brand positioning

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Arguments against brand positioning

• Maxwell Winchester Dr. Byron Sharp

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Marketing theory or marketing rubbish?

• Most marketing theories developed on single
  cross-sectional studies
• Rarely replicated
• When replicated usually results in contrary
  findings
• e.g. Hubbard Armstrong (1994)
• Research Development Initiative into Marketing
  (school of empirical generalisationalists)
• Study marketing phenomena across MSOD
• In different countries
• Across different market structures

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Brand positioning

• First appeared in the Advertising Age
• Reis and Trout (1972)
• Now in every marketing textbook
• Seen as a fundamental aim of marketing
• Yet not scientifically tested
• Position brand in consumers minds
• Make it the preferred brand for your brands
  target market

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The arguments

• Brand image varies with usage
• Attributes that are prototypical are prototypical
  for every brand
• Attitudes are fickle
• Brand image remains stable over time
• Consumers have repertoires of brands
• There is no brand segmentation

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1) Brand image varies with usage

• Evaluative brand attributes vary with usage
• e.g. reliable, a bank I can trust, good
  value for money
• Users respond to an attribute more often than
  non-users

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1) Overall scores
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2) User non-user response level
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2) Response level and usage?

• Big brands score higher than smaller brands and
  users respond to attribute more often than
  non-users
• Usage drives brand image/brand attitudes?
• This pattern has held up
• Different countries
• Different market structures
• Different industries
• If positioning theory held, wouldnt we expect
• Smaller niche brands to show significantly
  higher response levels on specific attributes
  (e.g. Volvo - safety)
• This response level would drive usage

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2) Attributes are protototypical consistently

• Prototypicality comes from taxonomy
• How we categorise things
• In this case - brands
• Attribute that is scored highly for one brand is
  so for others
• E.g. Up to date with technology

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2) Attributes scores prototypicality
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2) Prototypicality arguments

• This pattern has held up
• Different countries
• Different market structures
• Different industries
• If positioning theory held, would we not expect
  brands to score highly on different attributes?
• i.e. the ones they were positioned on

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3) Attitudes are fickle/unstable

• Only about half of the people who gave a
  particular attitudinal response on one occasion
  do so on the second interview

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4) Brand Attitudes are fickle

• Table of of respondents who responded on 1st
  interview who also responded on 2nd interview

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3) Attitudes are fickle/unstable

• Individuals' responses are as-if random
• But this variability cancels out at aggregate
  level - this is why so few researchers know about
  the individual variability
• If positioning theory held, we would expect
• Consistent responses to the attributes brands
  were positioned on
• By the same respondents

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4) Brand image remains stable over time

• While we have seen at an individual level, image
  responses are fickle
• At an aggregate level, over time, brand image
  remains stable in stable markets
• Whether it 3 weeks or one year between interviews
  results tend to be relatively the same
• These results are from a longitudinal study in
  the insurance market
• Interviews were 3 months apart

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4) Brand image _at_ t1 and t2
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4) Brand image remains stable over time

• We see little change in the aggregate results
• So brand image does not change much
• Except with changes in market share
• If positioning theory held, we would expect
• Dramatic changes in brand perceptions as
  different competitors re-positioned their brands
  in the marketplace

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5) Consumers have repertoires of brands

• Proponents of positioning theory believe
• If you position your brand well, people will
  prefer your brand over all of the others
• But!
• Consumers have brand repertoires
• They are generally not loyal to one brand in
  repertoire markets
• Your buyers are buyers of other brands who
  occasionally buy you
• Professor Andrew Ehrenberg

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6) There is no brand segmentation

• Are Ford buyers different from GM buyers?
• A fundamental argument provided by proponents of
  the positioning theory
• Different brands are bought by different types of
  people
• Study in Research Development Initiative into
  Marketing
• Ehrenberg Kennedy
• 42 industries, 200 segmentation variables
• Only minor differences found

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6) There is no brand segmentation
Av.
MAD
Credit Card 1 -3 3 3 Credit Card 2
-3 3 3 Credit Card 3 0 0
0 Credit Card n 2 -2 2 Av.
MAD 2 2 2
. . . .. .. .. . . .
.. .. ..
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6) There is no brand segmentation

• If positioning theory held
• We would expect to see large demographic,
  behavioural and psychographic differences between
  brands
• This assumes we do not hold brand repertoires
• This assumes we can target different competing
  brands at different segments
• We are not saying that
• You cannot segment markets
• Cat food is generally bought by cat owners!

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So where does this leave us ?

• Evidence is not conclusive, BUT
• Youve seen a sufficient challenge to the
  tradition of brand positioning
• Assumptions about the existence of 'ideal' or
  'killer' attributes or image positions may be
  unfounded
• Users of different brands think pretty much the
  same thing about their brands
• Just because you tell consumers something,
  doesnt mean theyll act on it!

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An interesting study

• Romaniuk Sharp (2000) found that
• Image perceptions are linked to future buying
  behaviour in a systematic and predictable manner
• Mentioning a brand for any attribute means you
  are slightly more likely to keep buying it
• Mentioning one particular brand attribute does
  not lead to purchase

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Where to from here?

• Were not saying that your brand can not be
  distinct from other brands
• But we do compete in a competitive market
• More scientific studies required
• Such as those conducted as part of the Research
  and Development Initiative into Marketing
• The marketing task does not seem to be about
  repositioning to some desirable spot
• but rather is very much about taking into account
  what people already think of you
• Building salience for your brand may be the
  answer
• Perhaps brand positioning is marketing rubbish
  rather than marketing theory?
• Replicate extend
• Longitudinal studies