The Concept of Positioning. What Is the Positioning Of: Fexdex, British Airways, Pepsi and Ethiopian Airways

As human beings, we all have perceptions of things around us. This is usually based of the information we have about everything. Most of the time, our passion and believes transforms into positioning of things in our minds. When I am hungry, I think 'Papaye' because their food is cheap, voluminous and tasty, for cloths I may think of Dorothy Perkins etc. all these perceptions and thoughts are a result of the information and the experiences I have hade with these institutions over time.

Positioning refers to 'how organisations want their consumers to see their product'. What message about the product or service is the company trying to put across

Positioning is a perceptual location. It's where your product or service fits into the marketplace. Effective positioning puts you first in line in the minds of potential customers. Positioning is a powerful tool that allows you to create an image. And image is the outward representation of being who you want to be, doing what you want to do, and having what you want to have. Before a company can decide to position itself, it needs to select a target market and decide how to position itself within the chosen segment.

Positioning strategy

Companies can decide to be leaders or followers in terms of positioning. Leaders in terms of positioning are companies who position themselves away from competitors. Offering a benefit which is superior depends much on the marketing mix strategy the organization adopts.

If an organization does not work on its positioning, it competitors would do it for them. For example, MTN airs an advert on Ghana Television stations where MTN is portrayed as the best and all the other stations are shown as GAVET which is an acronym (globacom, Airtel, Vodafon, Esspresso and Tigo) this acronym represent all the other networks in Ghana. MTN through these advertisements have managed to position itself in the minds of telecom customers as the best among all the telecom providers in Ghana. A company's position in the market place evolves from the defining characteristics of your product.

Different positioning strategies or themes are as follows

* Attribute positioning: The message highlights one or two of the attributes of the product.

* Benefit positioning: The message highlights one or two of the benefits to the customer.

* Use/application positioning: Claim the product as best for some application.

* User positioning: Claim the product as best for a group of users. - Children, women, working women etc.

* Competitor positioning: Claim that the product is better than a competitor.

* Product category positioning: Claim as the best in a product category Ex: Mutual fund ranks - Lipper.

* Quality/Price positioning: Claim best value for price, Is your product a luxury item, somewhere in the middle, or cheap, cheap, cheap. Total quality is a much used and abused phrase. But is your product well produced? What controls are in place to assure consistency? Do you back your quality claim with customer-friendly guarantees, warranties, and return policies?

* Service. Do you offer the added value of customer service and support? Is your product customized and personalized?

* Distribution. How do customers obtain your product? The channel or distribution is part of positioning.

* Packaging. Packaging makes a strong statement. Make sure it's delivering the message you intend.

Positioning is a competitive strategy. What's unique about a company's product or service should be used to the company's advantage. A company must identify its strongest strength and use it to position its product.

i) FEDEX

FEDEX started as a project proposal from Fredrick Smith when he thought of establishing a company for transfer of Fedral Reserve from one region to another which could save the government 3million dollars. Though this proposal was not accepted, smith had invested so much for the project, he had to divert his attention to offering other courier services. He was encouraged to establishment of Federal Express because of apparent delays in the delivery services, he therefore started by delivering air cargo within the United States of America.

The genesis of FEDEX has generated a culture of innovation. And this culture is used to the advantage of the company. The company from its history is know to have suffered some challenges but Smith's decision not to give in has also become another advantage. Because FEDEX is seen to have stood the test of time.

Smith had a philosophy that:"People first, then the superior service, and profit", And so there is no doubt that people will come, including staff in the first place.

It also support the success of excellent reputation, is a leader who knows what he wants, and he has fully prepared to pay the price to get what he wants, no matter how high, do not mean the price of material, but the price of moral effort and determination, Sacrifice and determination)

At the same time, Frederick Smith likes the risk is considered by some to madness, even after the success of Federal Express, in 1980, while everyone was obsessed with success, Smith was not satisfied with where it therefore devised Zapmail ""A system to transfer files via fax unique to the on time, and Federal Express, which cost $ 350 million loss in the mid-1980.

Fedex today delivers over five million parcels each day in over 215 countries. In addition, it is known for its strong business growth since it was founded in 1971 - dispatching just 186 packages on the first day of operations. Ex-FedEx executive turned consultant Madan Birla discusses both these aspects of delivery, giving us a broad overview of how FedEx achieved its enviable global position.

In terms of positioning FedEx is more than just a company. It is a global phenomenon that has been adopted into our everyday business communication in expressions like "I have fedexed it to you" and "I just received those fedexes". FedEx Delivers shows how they got to be a part of the language.

How fedex achieved their positioning globally

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