Positioning a brand

Today’s firms are confronted with the difficulty of maintaining credible brand differentiation in the face of imitation and homogenization of offerings (Hatch and Schultz, 2001) within overcrowded and fragmented markets (Fuchs and Diamantopoulos, 2010). As a result, firms can no longer pursue strategies based solely on operational efficiencies (Porter, 1996, 2001) and on stable and predictable customer markets (Zahay and Griffin, 2010). Rather, even with the strongest of brands, firms are challenged to generate sufficient competitive advantages in order to remain competitive and superior among their rivals (Clancy and Trout, 2002; Porter, 2008). To achieve such competitive superiority, Matthyssens, Vandenbempt and Weyns (2009) posit that in addition to a firm’s appealing offering(s), the firm must possess a distinct and difficultto-imitate position in the minds of consumers/customers (i.e. reflecting favourable perceptions) which complements its offering(s) (i.e. product(s), service(s) or brands). Consequently, the firm enters the domain of positioning - the act of designing the firm’s offering(s) and brand image to occupy a distinct place in the minds of the target market (Kotler, 2003).