Mkt 421 Week 3 Assignment

A company to maximize its benefit needs positioning itself. Positioning is “the act of designing a company’s offering and image,” which creates and implants a distinguishing place in the minds of the targeted customers (Kotler & Keller, 2012, p. 276). For a positioning to be successful, a company must identify its competitors. Competitors are the companies that fulfill the same desires of the customers. Closest competitors to a company are those that make the same offers as the company to attract the same clientele. A company should not ignore “latent” competitors because they satisfy the same consumers’ needs by offering new ways to attract customers.
In a competitive market, the key to defeating the competitors and gain an advantage over them is “relevant brand differentiation,” which means consumers should be able to find something unmatched about what market offers to them (Kotler & Keller, 2012, p. 294). Therefore, …show more content…
Straddle positioning aids to create a dual image of the product in the consumers’ mind. To represent a product by straddle positioning, marketers use the blend of PODs and POPs. An example of straddle positioning is Subway restaurants; Subway offers good-tasting and healthy sandwiches. Therefore, the straddle positioning allows the Subway to create a POD on health in compare to fast food restaurant such a Burger King and McDonald’s and a POP on taste. At the same time, in compare with health food restaurants, the straddle positioning allows Subway to create a POD on taste and a POP on health. Straddle positioning for a product will be successful when the product satisfies both PODs and POPs categories. Therefore, straddle positioning can bring huge success to a brand if it is applied correctly; however, if the product fails to fulfill its promises, the brand will not be considered as an authentic performer in either of the