Brand Positioning of Nando's

Running head: BRAND POSITIONING OF NANDO’S
Brand positioning of Nando’s
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1BRAND POSITIONING OF NANDO’S
Brand positioning refers to the way target customers of a particular sector would
prefer a specific company over others; in other words, brand positioning implies the factors
that provide a company competitive edge over brands in the same field (Maarit Jalkala and
Keränen 2014). Essentially, the purpose of brand positioning is to ensure that all the activities
pertaining to the brand are in accordance with a common goal and that this goal takes into
account the customer’s preferences to opt for the brand in question (Sirianni et al. 2013).
There are a few components of brand positioning which must be discussed in relation to a
particular company – its uniqueness or distinctiveness, which separates it from its
competitors, how appealing it is to its niche market, the originality and the appropriateness of
the product, the sustainability of the brand, the achievement of financial goals and its
adherence to dominant geographic markets (Singh, Kalafatis and Ledden 2014). The
following essay attempts to study the brand positioning of one of the most popular restaurants
with a global presence – Nando’s.
Nando’s was founded in Johannesburg in the year 1987 by two friends Robert Brozin
and Fernando Duarte; the vision behind the company was to provide exemplary quality of
chicken to the customers, coupled with exceptional customer service. The company aims to
be one of the best chains in the world, by providing the best peri peri chicken at affordable
rates. The company has proved its sustainability through consistency in terms of flavor and
value, and is spread out over thirty five countries with seven hundred restaurants, including
one in Singapore ("Nando's Singapore" 2018). Today, Nando’s is reputed as being one of the
fastest growing chains and the house of the flamed peri peri chicken. However, Nando’s did
not come this far or achieve the success it has achieved today overnight; there are several
competitors in the Singapore fast food market, including KFC and Hard Rock Café. In order
to understand why a certain segment of people would prefer Nando’s over other brands, one
needs to understand their marketing and branding strategies.

2BRAND POSITIONING OF NANDO’S
Nando’s prime objective is to devise a marketing and branding strategy that would
present it as a casual and unique dining restaurant, which promises an inimitable experience
at each of its outlets. The company is founded on the notion that a brand must be intrinsically
connected to the community it is catering to; for example, in Singapore, the marketing and
positioning strategy has been such that the brand image of the restaurant has an intimate
connection with the values and traditions of the local community. As a matter of fact, the
décor and the styling of the outlets are also in accordance with the surrounding communities.
Before understanding the branding strategy, it is important to have an idea of the
consumer profile, or the target market, so as to understand their buying preferences
(Solomon et al. 2014). One of the most important aspects of the branding strategy is to
understand the segmented market that each community has. It would do well to remember
that no two individuals can have the exact same tastes and interests. Thus, analysis of the
market and target audience would help Nando’s position their brand effectively (Urde and
Koch 2014). The Nando’s restaurant aims to sell its products to a males and females between
the ages of eighteen and thirty five. The Nando’s menu has dishes which have different price
rates, ranging from casual dining to even fast food rates. Thus, it would be safe to say that
Nando’s would have a branding strategy aimed at middle income groups; in other words,
the owners want to portray the restaurant as a place that would be appropriate for youngsters
or families looking to have a casual dinner with their loved ones. Also, all the dishes on the
Nando’s menu have been crafted with care and passion, so that it is the first name to come to
mind when locals in Singapore think of casual dining experiences. In addition, the dishes are
also claimed to be healthy, meaning that only nutritious items have been used in the
preparation of the dishes. This was done keeping in mind the fact that people in Singapore
tend to be conscious about the fast food they consume and would prefer to eat out at
restaurants that offer healthy food items.

3BRAND POSITIONING OF NANDO’S
(Figure: Brand positioning of Nando’s)
(Source: Author)
The above figure shows the brand positioning map of Nando’s. Nando’s is positioned
as offering great taste at affordable prices while Hard Rock Café and KFC, its chief
competitors, are positioned as offering great tastes at extremely high rates and moderate taste
and affordable rates respectively. There are seven main factors that have helped Nando’s
position itself as one of the top names in the fast food industry in Singapore. It is positioned
as the inventor of the flamed peri peri chicken (along with other innovative dishes involving
chicken); plus, it boasts of a Mozambique or Portuguese cuisine. Moreover, Nando’s presents
itself as an affordable brand where anyone, irrespective of their income statuses, can go and
have a gala time (Kumar and Steenkamp 2013).
One, Nando’s has a very strong online presence; keeping in mind their target
audience, it was imperative for the brand to increase their marketing and advertising
strategies online. Analysis shows that very few brands have been able to effectively utilize
social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter the way Nando’s has (Smit 2017). For
instance, the brand has over three million followers on the social media platform and data