What refers to creating distinct image in the minds of the audience towards a specific brand?

The process of creating an image of a product in the minds of the consumers is called as positioning. Positioning helps to create first impression of brands in the minds of target audience. In simpler words positioning helps in creating a perception of a product or service amongst the consumers.

Example

The brand “Bisleri” stands for purity.

The brand “Ceat Tyre” stands for better grip.

Steps to product Positioning

Marketers with the positioning process try to create a unique identity of a product amongst the customers.

Know your target audience well

It is essential for the marketers to first identify the target audience and then understand their needs and preferences. Every individual has varied interests, needs and preferences. No two individuals can think on the same lines.

Know what your customers expect out of you.

The products must fulfill the demands of the individuals.

Identify the product features

The marketers themselves must be well aware of the features and benefits of the products. It is rightly said you can’t sell something unless and until you yourself are convinced of it.

A marketer selling Nokia phones should himself also use a Nokia handset for the customers to believe him.

Unique selling Propositions

Every product should have USPs; at least some features which are unique. The organizations must create USPs of their brands and effectively communicate the same to the target audience.

The marketers must themselves know what best their product can do.

Find out how the products can be useful to the end-users ?

Why do people use “Anti Dandruff Shampoo?”

Anti Dandruff Shampoos are meant to get rid of dandruff. This is how the product is positioned in the minds of the individuals.

Individuals purchase “Dabur Chyawanprash “to strengthen their body’s internal defense mechanism and fight against germs, infections and stress. That’s the image of Dabur Chyawanprash in the minds of consumers.

USP of a Nokia Handset - Better battery backup.

USP of Horlicks Foodles - Healthy snack

Communicate the USPs to the target audience through effective ways of advertising. Use banners, slogans, inserts and hoardings.

Let individuals know what your brand offers for them to decide what is best for them.

Know your competitors

A marketer must be aware of the competitor’s offerings. Let the individuals know how your product is better than the competitors?
Never underestimate your competitors.
Let the target audience know how your product is better than others.
The marketers must always strive hard to have an edge over their competitors.

Ways to promote brands

Choose the right theme for the advertisement.
Use catchy taglines.
The advertisement must not confuse people.
The marketer must highlight the benefits of the products.

Maintain the position of the brand

For an effective positioning it is essential for the marketers to continue to live up to the expectations of the end - users.
Never compromise on quality.
Don’t drastically reduce the price of your products.
A Mercedes car would not be the same if its price is reduced below a certain level.
A Rado watch would lose its charm if its price is equal to a Sonata or a Maxima Watch.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Aaker, D.A. and McLoughlin, D. (2007), Strategic Market Management, , John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex.

Aaker, D.A. and Shansby, J. (1982), “Positioning your product”, Business Horizons, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 56-62.

Abril, C., Gavilan, D.Y. and Avello, M. (2009), “Influence of the perception of different types of store brands on consumer typologies and satisfaction levels”, Innovative Marketing, Vol. 5, pp. 475-482.

Adcock, D., Bradfield, R., Halborg, A. and Ross, C. (1993), Marketing-Principles and Practice, Pitman Publishing, London.

Alba, J.W. and Chattopadhyay, A. (1986), “Salience effects in brand recall”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 363-369.

Alpert, L. and Gatty, R. (1969), “Product positioning by behavioral life-styles”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 65-69.

Antonides, G. and Van Raaij, F.W. (1998), Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.

Apostolidis, P., Kioulafas, K.K., Sohoritis, Y. and Viachakis, N. (1989), “The ABC’s of positioning”, Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy, Vol. 15, pp. 1063-1077.

Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2012), Marketing: An Introduction, 11th ed., Pearson Education, London.

Arnott, D.C. (1992), “Bases of financial services positioning in the personal pension, life assurance and personal equity plan sectors”, PhD thesis, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester.

Arnott, D.C. (1994), “Positioning: on defining the concept”, Marketing Educators’ Group (MEG) Conference Proceedings, University of Ulster, Coleraine.

Auken, S. and Lonial, S.C. (1991), “Multidimensional scaling and retail positioning: an appraisal”, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 11-18.

Bainsfair, P. (1990), “Create your own context and find a place in a public mind”, Campaign, Vol. 16, , p. 18.

Baker, M.J. (1992), Marketing Strategy and Management, 2nd ed., Macmillan, London.

Baker, M.J. and Hart, S.J. (2007), Product Strategy and Management, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, Harlow.

Batra, S.K. and Kazmi, S. (2008), Consumer Behaviour, 2nd ed., Excel Books, New Delhi.

Belch, G.E. and Belch, M.A. (1995), Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective, Richard D. Irwin, Chicago, IL.

Berkowitz, N.E., Kerin, A.R. and Rudelius, W. (1989), Marketing, 2nd ed., Irwin, London.

Berkowitz, E.N., Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W. and Rudelius, W. (1992), Marketing, 3rd ed., Irwin, London.

Berry, L.L. (1982), “Retail positioning strategies for the 1980’s”, Business Horizons, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 45-50.

Bhat, S. and Reddy, S.K. (1998), “Symbolic and functional positioning of brands”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 32-43.

Blankson, C. and Crawford, J.C. (2012), “Impact of positioning strategies on service firm performance”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 65, pp. 311-316.

Blankson, C. and Kalafatis, S.P. (2004), “The development and validation of a scale measuring consumer/customer-derived generic typology of positioning strategies”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 20 Nos 1/2, pp. 5-43.

Blankson, C. and Kalafatis, S.P. (2007), “Positioning strategies of international and multicultural‐oriented service brands”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 435-450.

Blankson, C., Kalafatis, S.P., Cheng, J.M.S. and Hadjicharalambous, C. (2008), “Impact of positioning strategies on corporate performance”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 48 No. 1, pp. 106-122.

Blankson, C., Cowan, K., Crawford, J., Kalafatis, S., Singh, J. and Coffie, S. (2013), “A review of the relationships and impact of market orientation and market positioning on organisational performance”, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 499-512.

Blythe, J. (2005), Marketing Strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, Berkshire.

Blythe, J. (2008), Essentials of Marketing, Pearson Education, London.

Boatswain, M.L. (2015), “Decoy effects in brand positioning”, Unpublished PhD thesis, Kingston University, West Yorkshire.

Boone, L.E. and Kurtz, D.L. (2009), Contemporary Business 2010 Update, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.

Botha, C., Crompton, J. and Kim, S. (1999), “Developing a revised competitive position for sun/lost city, South Africa”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 341-352.

Bradley, M.F. and Mealey, J.A. (1984), “Brand positioning in a consumer products market”, Journal of Irish Business and Administrative Research, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 12-20.

Briner, D. and Denyer, D. (2012), “Systematic review and evidence synthesis as a practice and scholarship tool”, in Rousseau, D.M. (Ed.), Handbook of Evidence-Based Management: Companies, Classrooms and Research, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 112-129.

Brooksbank, R. (1994), “The anatomy of marketing positioning strategy”, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 10-15.

Brown, J.H. and Oplatka, I. (2006), “Universities in a competitive global marketplace: a systematic review of the literature on higher education marketing”, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 316-338.

Brown, H.E. and Sims, J.T. (1976), “Market segmentation, product differentiation and market positioning as alternative marketing strategies”, in Bernhardt, K.L. (Ed.), Marketing: 1776-1976 and beyond, Educators Conference Proceedings Series No. 39, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 483-487.

Burton, J. and Easingwood, C.J. (2006), “A positioning typology of consumers’ perceptions of the benefits offered by successful service brands”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 301-316.

Buzzel, R.N., Mathews, J. and Levitt, T. (1972), Marketing: A Contemporary Analysis, Mc Graw Hill, New York, NY.

Chandrasekar, K.S. (2010), Marketing Management Text and Cases, Tata McGraw-Hill Publication, New Delhi.

Cherunilam, F. (2010), Business Policy and Strategic Management, Himalaya punishing Houses, New Delhi.

Chew, C. (2005), “Strategic marketing planning and positioning in voluntary nonprofit organizations: empirical findings and implications for British charitable organizations”, , Aston University, Birmingham, Vol. RP0506 No. May.

Clement, M. and Werner-Grotemeyer, H. (1990), “The iterative positioning process: an internal approach from the pharmaceutical industry”, Marketing and Research Today, Vol. 18, pp. 85-96.

Clow, K.E. and Baack, D. (2009), Marketing Management: A Customer-Oriented Approach, Sage Publications, London.

Corstjens, M. and Doyle, P. (1989), “Evaluating alternative retail repositioning strategies”, Marketing Science, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 170-180.

Cravens, D.W. and Piercy, N.F. (2009), Strategic Marketing, 9th ed., McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston.

Crawford, C.M. (1985), “A new positioning topology”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 243-253.

Crawford, C.M., Urban, D.J. and Buzas, T.E. (1983), “A conceptual review and taxonomy of alternatives”, , University of Michigan.

Cronshaw, M., Cubbin, J. and Davis, E. (1990), “The importance of product positioning: successful entry in the national newspaper market”, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 53-73.

Crosier, K. (1981), “Ladders in the mind Occasional Reports Series, No. 2”, University of Strathclyde: Department of Marketing, Glasgow.

Czinkota, M.R. and Ronkainen, L.A. (2004), International Marketing, 4th ed., SouthWestern, Mason.

Dahlen, M., Lange, F. and Smith, T. (2010), Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

Darling, J.R. (2001), “Successful competitive positioning: the key for entry into the European consumer market”, European Business Review, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 209-221.

Day, G.S. (1984a), Strategic Market Planning, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN.

Day, G.S. (1984b), Strategic Market Planning, West Publishing, New York, NY.

Day, G., Weitz, B. and Wensley, R. (1990), The Interface of Marketing Strategy, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 387-412.

de Chernatony, L. (1994), “Developing a more effective brand positioning”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 1 No. 6, pp. 373-379.

de Chernatony, L. (2009), “Brand extension effects on brand equity: a cross-national study”, Journal of Euromarketing, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 71-88.

Delozier, W.M. and Woodside, A.G. (1978), Marketing Management, Merril Publishing Company, Columbus, OH.

DeSarbo, W.S., Park, J. and Rao, V.R. (2011), “Deriving joint space positioning maps from consumer preference ratings”, Marketing Letters, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 1-14.

Devlin, J., Ennew, C. and Mirza, M. (1995), “Organizational positioning in retail financial services”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 11 Nos 1/3, pp. 119-132.

Dibb, S. and Simkin, L. (1993), “The strength of branding and positioning in services”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 25-35.

Dillon, W.R., Domzal, T. and Madden, T.J. (1986), “Evaluating alternative product positioning strategies”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 29-35.

DiMingo, E. (1988), “The fine art of positioning”, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 34-39.

Diwan, S.P. and Bodla, B. (2011), “Development of empirically based customer-derive positioning typology in the automobile industry”, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 531-550.

Dovel, G.P. (1990), “Stake it out; positioning success, step by step”, Business Marketing, Vol. 5, pp. 43-51.

Droge, C. and Darmon, R.Y. (1987), “Associative positioning strategies through comparative advertising: attribute versus overall similarity approaches”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 377-388.

Easingwood, C.J. and Mahajan, V. (1989), “Positioning of financial services for competitive advantage”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 207-219.

Engel, J.F., Blackwell, R.D. and Miniard, P.W. (1993), Consumer Behavior, 7th ed., The Dryden Press, Orlando, FL.

Ennew, C.T. (1993), The Marketing Blueprint, Blackwell Business, Oxford.

Ennew, J.C. and Mirza, M. (1995), “Organisational positioning in retail financial services”.

Esch, F.R. (2010), Strategy and Technique of Brand Management, Vahlen, Munich.

Ensor, J. and Drummond, G. (1999), Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

Esch, F.R. (2005), “Brand positioning as the basis of brand management”, in Esch, F.-R. (Ed.), Modern Brand Management – Basics. Innovative Approaches, Practical Implementations, 4th ed., Business publishing house, Wiesbaden, pp. 131-163.

Evans, E. (2003), “Market segmentation”, in Baker, M.J. (Ed.) The Marketing Book, 5th ed., Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

Evans, J.R. and Barman, B. (1988), Principles of Marketing, 2nd ed., Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, NY, pp. 167-169.

Feldman, R. and Sanger, J. (2007), The Textmining Handbook: Advanced Approaches in Analyzing Unstructured Data, Cambridge University Press.

Ferrel, P. (1997), Marketing, 10th ed., Harvard Business School Publications, Boston, MA.

Fill, C. (1999), Marketing Communications: Contexts, Contents and Strategies, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead.

Fill, C. (2006), Marketing Communications – Engagement, Strategies and Practice, 4th ed., Prentice Hall, Edinburgh.

Fisher, R.J. (1991), “Durable differentiation strategies for services”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 19-28.

Font, X. (1997), “Managing the tourist destination image”, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 123-131.

Friedmann, R. and Lessig, P.V. (1987), “Psychological meaning of products and product positioning”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 265-273.

Fuchs, C. (2008), “Brand positioning through the consumers’ lens”, Unpublished PhD thesis, Universitat Wien, Betreuerin.

Fuchs, C. and Diamantopoulos, A. (2010), “Evaluating the effectiveness of brand-positioning strategies from a consumer perspective”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 44 Nos 11/12, pp. 173-1786.

Fuchs, C. and Diamantopoulos, A. (2012), “Customer perceived positioning effectiveness: conceptualization, operationalization, and implications for new product managers”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 229-244.

Gartner, W. (1989), “Tourism image: attribute measurement of state tourism products using multidimensional scaling techniques”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 16-20.

Ghodeshwar, B.M. (2008), “Building brand identity in competitive markets: a conceptual model”, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 4-12.

Gwin, C.F. and Gwin, C.R. (2003), “Product attributes model: a tool for evaluating brand positioning”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 30-42.

Hankinson, G. and Cowking, P. (1997), “Branding in practice: the profile and role of brand managers in the UK”, Journal of Marketing Management , Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 239-264.

Hartmann, P., Ibanez, V. and Sainz, F. (2005), “Green branding effects on attitude: functional versus emotional positioning strategies”, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 9-29.

Hollensen, S. (2010), Marketing Management: A Relationship Approaches, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, New York, NY.

Holmes, J.H. (1973), “Profitable product positioning”, MSU Business Topics, Vol. 21, pp. 27-32.

Holmes, J.H. (1974), “Profitable positioning for retailers”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 332-339.

Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A. and Piercy, N.F. (1998), Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, London.

Hooley, G., Nigel, F.P. and Nicoulaud, B. (2012), Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, Prentice Hall/Financial Times, London.

Houston, F.S. and Hanieski, J.F. (1976), “Pooled marketing and positioning”, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 38-39.

Husted, S.W. and Varble, D.L. (1999), Principles of Modern Marketing, Alyyn and Bacon Publishing, Boston.

Iyer, P., Davarib, A., Zolfagharianc, M. and Paswand, A. (2018), “Market orientation, positioning strategy and brand performance”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 81 No. 1, pp. 16-29.

Jain, S.C. (1990), Marketing Planning and Strategy, 3rd ed., South Western Publishing, Cincinnati, OH.

Jalkala, A.M. and Keranen, J. (2014), “Brand positioning strategies for industrial firms providing customer solutions”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 253-264.

Javalgi, R.G., Benoy, J.W. and Gombeski, W.R. (1995), “Positioning your service to target key buying influences: the case of referring physicians and hospitals”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 42-52.

Jewell, R.D. (2007), “Establishing effective repositioning communications in a competitive marketplace”, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 231-241.

Jobber, D. (1995), Principles and Practice of Marketing, McGraw-Hill Book Company, London.

Johansson, J.K. and Thorelli, H.B. (1985), “International product positioning”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 57-75.

Kalafatis, S.P., Tsogas, M. and Blankson, C. (2000), “Positioning strategies in business markets”, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 416-437.

Kalra, A. and Goodstein, R.C. (1998), “The impact of advertising positioning strategies on consumer price sensitivity”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 210-224.

Kapferer, J. (2012), The New Strategic Brand Management: Advanced Insights and Strategic Thinking, 5th ed., Kogan Page, London.

Kapferer, J.-N. (2004), The New Strategic Brand Management, 3rd ed., Kogan Page, London.

Kardon, B.E. (1992), “Consumer schizophrenia: extremism in the marketplace”, Planning Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 18-22.

Kaul, A. and Rao, V.R. (1995), “Research for product positioning and design decisions: an integrative review”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 293-320.

Kazmi, A. (2007), “Knowledge management for strategic management: nothing more, nothing less”, Pranjana: The Journal of Management Awareness, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 31-40.

Keegan, W.J. (1995), Global Marketing Management, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Keller, K.L. (2003), Strategic Brand Management, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Keller, K.L. (2009), “Building strong brands in a modern marketing communications environment”, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 15 Nos 2/3, pp. 139-155.

Kerin, R., Hartley, S. and Rudelius, W. (2010), Marketing, McGraw Hill, New York, NY.

Kim, C. and Mauborgne, R. (2000), “Knowing a winning business idea when you see one”, Harvard Business Review, pp. 129-138.

Kinnear, T.C., Bernhardt, K.L. and Krentler, K.A. (1995), Principles of Marketing, 4th ed., Harper Collins College Publishers, New York, NY.

Knox, S. (2004), “Positioning and branding your organization”, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 105-115.

Kohli, C.S. and Leuthesser, L. (1993), “Product positioning: a comparison of perceptual mapping techniques”, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 10-19.

Kotler, P. (2003), Marketing Management, 11th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (1996), Marketing: An Introduction, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall International, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Kotler, P., Keller, K.L. and Bliemel, F. (2005), Marketing Management, Pearson Stadium, Munchen.

Kotler, P. and Anderson, A.R. (1996), Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Kroeber-Riel, W. and Esch, F.R. (2000), Strategy and Technology of Advertising, Kohlhammer, Stutgart, Berlin, Koln.

Lakshmi, K., Santhana, K., Jasim, K., Prabhakar. and Jahira, P. (2017), “Brand positioning of ayurvedic medicine in Indian milieu”, International Journal of Business Excellence, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 16-37.

Lamb, C.W. and Cravens, D.W. (1990), “Services marketing: reaching the customer and creating satisfaction”, Business, pp. 13-19.

Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F. and McDaniel, C. (2004), Principles of Marketing, South-Western Publishing, Cincinnati, OH.

Lamb, C., McDaniel, C., Shearer, J., Kapoor, H., Hair, J., Boivin, M. and Appleby, R. (2010), Marketing Management, 10th ed., South-Western CENGAGE Learning, Mason, OH, pp. 45-46.

Lautman, M.R. (1993), “The ABCs of positioning”, Marketing Research, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 12-18.

Lee, C.-W. and Liao, C.-S. (2009), “The effects of consumer preferences and perceptions of Chinese tea beverages on brand positioning strategies”, British Food Journal, Vol. 111 No. 1, pp. 80-96.

Lendrevie, J., Lévy, J. and Lindon, D. (2003), Mercator: Theory and Practice of the Marketing, Dalloz, Paris.

Lilien, G.L. and Rangaswamy, A. (2003), Marketing Engineering: Computer-Assisted Marketing Analysis and Planning, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Lodish, L.M. (1986), The Advertising and Promotion Challenge: Vaguely Right or Precisely Wrong?, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J. and Bracken, C.C. (2004), “A call for standardization in content analysis reliability”, Human Communication Research, Vol. 30, pp. 434-437.

Loudon, D.L. and Della, A.J. B. (1993), Consumer Behavior: Concepts and Applications, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

Lovelock, C.H. (1984), Services Marketing, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Lovelock, E., Patterson, P.G. and Wirtz, J. (2014), Services Marketing, 6th ed., Pearson, London.

MacInnis, D.J. (2011), “A framework for conceptual contributions in marketing”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 75 No. 4, pp. 136-154.

Maggard, J.P. (1976), “Positioning revisited”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 63-66.

Margulies, W.P. (1977), “Make the most of your corporate identity”, Harvard Business Review, pp. 66-74.

Marsden, P. (2002), “Brand positioning: meme’s the word”, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 307-312.

Masterson, R. and Pickton, D. (2004), Marketing: An Introduction, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Mazanec, J.A. (1995), “Positioning analysis with self-organizing maps: an exploratory study on luxury hotels”, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 36 No. 6, pp. 80-95.

McIntyre, D.R. (1975), “Multinational positioning strategy”, Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 106-110.

Muhlbacher, H., Dreher, A. and Ritter, G.A. (1994), “MIPS – managing industrial positioning strategies”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 287-297.

Myers, J.H. (1996), Segmentation and Positioning for Strategic Marketing Decisions, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL.

Nash, E.L. (1982), Direct Marketing. Strategy, Planning, Execution, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY.

Oglivy, D. (1983), Confessions of an Advertising Man, Ballantine Books, New York, NY.

Oliver, G. (1995), Marketing Today, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead.

O’Shaughnessy, J. (1995), Competitive Marketing: A Strategic Approach, 3rd ed., Routledge, London.

Palmer, A. (1994), Principles of Services Marketing, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Maidenhead.

Pandaa, S., Paswana, K. and Mishrab, S. (2018), “Impact of positioning strategies on franchise fee structure”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 81 No. 1, pp. 30-39.

Park, C.W. and Zaitman, G. (1987), Marketing Management, Dryden Press, Chicago IL.

Park, C.W., Jaworski, B.J. and MacInnis, D.J. (1986), “Strategic brand concept image management”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 135-145.

Percy, L. and Elliot, R. (2007), Strategic Brand Management, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Perreault, D.W., Jr and McCarthy, E.J. (1996), Essentials of Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach, 10th ed., McGraw- Hill Irwin, Boston, pp. 72-75.

Pham, M.T. and Muthukrishnan, A.V. (2002), “Search and alignment in judgment revision: implications for brand positioning”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 18-30.

Pike, S. and Page, S. (2014), “Destination marketing organizations and destination marketing: a narrative analysis of the literature”, Tourism Management, Vol. 41, pp. 1-26.

Patti, C.H. and Frazer, C.F. (1988), Advertising: A Decision Making Approach, Dryden Press, Chicago.

Pollay, R.W. (1985), “The subsidizing sizzle: a descriptive history of print advertising, 1900-1980”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50, pp. 135-145.

Porter, M.E. (1996), “What is strategy?”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74 No. 6, pp. 61-78.

Punj, G. and Moon, J. (2002), “Positioning options for achieving Brand association: a psychological categorization framework”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 55 No. 4, pp. 275-283.

Quelch, J.A. (1991), “Product policy”, in Dolan, R.J. (Ed.), Strategic Marketing Management, Harvard Business School Publications, Boston, MA.

Ramaswamy, V.S. and Namakumari (2002), Marketing Management, 3rd ed., Macmillan, New Delhi.

Rao, V.R. and Steckel, J.H. (1998), Analysis for Strategic Marketing, Addison- Wesley, Reading, MA.

Reidenbach, R.E. and Pitts, R.E. (1986), “Not all CEOs are created equal as advertising spokespersons: evaluating the effective CEO spokesperson”, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 30-46.

Richarme, M. (2007), “Positioning–marketing’s fifth ‘P”, ,

Ries, A. and Trout, J. (1969), “Positioning is a game people play in today’s me-too market place”, Industrial Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 51-55.

Ries, A. and Trout, J. (1972), The Positioning Era Cometh”, Reprint of a Three-Part Series in Advertising Age, Crain Publications, Chicago.

Ries, A. and Trout, J. (1981), Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, McGraw Hill, New York, NY.

Ries, A. and Trout, J. (1986), Marketing Warfare, Plume Books, New York, NY.

Riezebos, R. and van der Grinten, J. (2012), Positioning the Brand: An inside-out Approach, Routledge.

Rigger, W. (1995), “Positioning in theory and practice, towards a research agenda”, 24th EMAC Conference Proceedings, 1 (May), ESSEC France, pp. 991-1009.

Romaniuk, J. (2001), “Brand positioning in financial services: a longitudinal test to find the best Brand position”, Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 111-121.

Roscoe, A.D. and Lee, J.K. (1991), “Positioning PCN”, Cellular Business, , pp. 42-46.

Rossiter, J.R. and Bellman, S. (2005), Marketing Communications: Theory and Applications, Pearson Prentice Hall, Frenchs Forest.

Rothschild, M.L. (1987), Advertising – from Fundamentals to Strategies, Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, Toronto.

Runyon, K.E. (1982), The Practice of Marketing, Merril Publishing Company, Columbus, OH.

Sarel, D. (1980), “Product positioning – a reassessment”, in Lam, C. and Dunne, P. (Eds), Theoretical Developments in Marketing, American Marketing Association, Chicago.

Schiffman, G.L. and Kanuk, L.L. (2007), Consumer Behavior, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Schouten, J.W. and McAlexander, J.H. (1989), “Positioning services for competitive advantage: the case of duds ‘n suds source”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 3 No. 2.

Sengupta, S. (1990), Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing, New Delhi.

Sengupta, S. (2005), Brand Positioning, McGraw Hill, New Delhi.

Shimp, A.T. (2010), Integrated Marketing Communication in Advertising and Promotion, 8th ed., Cengage Learning, South Western.

Shostack, G.L. (1987), “Service positioning through structural change”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 34-43.

Simkin, L.P., Doyle, P. and Saunders, J. (1985), “How retailers put site location techniques into operation: an assessment of major multiples’ practice”, Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 21-26.

Smith, R.E. and Lusch, R.F. (1976), “How advertising can position a brand”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 16, pp. 37-43.

Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., Askeegard, S. and Hogg, M. K. (2006), Consumer Behaviour a European Perspective, 3rd ed., Pearson Education, London.

Soundararaj, J.J. and Rengamani, J. (2002), “The inevitability of ‘positioning’ in the present marketing scenario”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32, pp. 3-5.

Stanton, W.J. (1974), Fundamentals of Marketing, McGraw-Hill, Tokyo, Kogakusha.

Sujan, M. and Bettman, J.R. (1989), “The effects of brand positioning strategies on consumers’ brand and category perceptions: some insights from schema research”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 26, pp. 454-467.

Suzuki, Y. (2000), “The effect of airline positioning on profit”, Transportation Journal, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 44-54.

Tranfield, D., Denyer, D. and Smart, P. (2003), “Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 207-222.

Trommsdorf, V. and Paulssen, M. (2005), “Measurement and design of Brand positioning”, Modern Brand Management, Vol. 43, pp. 1363-1379.

Trommsdorf, V. (2002), Consumer Behavior, 4th ed., Stuttgart.

Trout, J. and Rivkin (1996), The New Positioning, the Latest on the World’s 1 Business Strategy, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

Tudor and Negricea (2012), “Brand positioning − a marketing resource and an effective tool for small and medium enterprises”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, Vol. 8, pp. 1-9.

Tybout, A.M. and Sternthal, B. (2010), “Developing a compelling brand positioning”, in Management, T.M., Tybout, A.M. and Calder, B.J. (Eds), Kellogg on Marketing, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 73-91.

Uggla, H. (2006), Positioning: Theory, Trend and Startup, Liber AB, Malmo.

Urban, G.L. and Hauser, J.R. (1993), Design and Marketing of New Products, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, NJ.

Urde, M. and Koch, C. (2014), “Market and brand-oriented schools of positioning”, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 478-490.

Walker, O.C., Boyd, H.W. and Larreche, J.C. (1996), Marketing Strategy: Planning and Implementation, Irwin, Chicago, IL.

Wells, W.D. and Prensky, D. (1996), Consumer Behavior, John Wiley, New York, NY.

Wilson, L. and Fenwick, C.I. (1978), “A product positioning model: problems and possibilities”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 13-18.

Wilson, R. and Giligan, C. (2005), Strategic Marketing Management: Planning, Implementation and Control, 3rd ed., Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam.

Wind, Y. (1980), “Going to market: new twist for some old tricks”, , Vol. 4, pp. 34-39.

Wind, Y. (1982), Product Policy, Concepts, Methods and Strategy, Addison-Wesley Publishing, Reading, MA.

Witell, L., Snyder, H., Gustafsson, A., Fombelle, P. and Kristensson, P. (2016), “Defining service innovation: a review and synthesis”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 69 No. 8, pp. 2863-2872.

Wright, M. (1997), “When strength means death”, Brand Strategy, Vol. 107, pp. 3-5.

Xie, Z. (2005), “Centrality measures in textmining: prediction of noun phrases that appear in abstracts”, Proceedings of the ACL student research workshop, Association for Computational Linguistics, Stroudsburg, PA, pp. 103-108.

Yip, G.S. (1997), “Patterns and determinants of global marketing”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 13 Nos 1/3, pp. 153-164.

Zikmund, W. and D’Amico, M. (1989), Marketing, 3rd ed., John Wiley, New York, NY.

Zineldin, M. (1996), “Bank strategic positioning and some determinants of bank selection”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 12-22.