Relevance of Positioning and Repositioning - Doc

MARKETING PROBLEMS
FACING A BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Relevance of positioning and repositioning for marketers.........................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Positioning Map of Burberry......................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
Methods of repositioning............................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Burberry Company was established in the year 1856 and was the first company to introduce
trench coat. In this report, a study has been conducted on the various positioning and
repositioning strategies that the company can adopt in order to change their current targeted
market and the importance and benefits of adopting such strategies. This report also emphasizes
upon different repositioning methods that the companies like Burberry can use in order to
formulate appropriate policies.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Relevance of positioning and repositioning for marketers.
Brand Positioning can be defined as a market process demonstrating the method in which the
marketers of a company can differentiate themselves from their competitors and target the niche
market trying to fulfil it. Marketing communication is a very influential technique which the
brands can use so as to improve their marketing techniques. There are two main approaches for
positioning namely functional approach and expressive. Under functional, focus is on
emphasizing a products features, benefits etc. and under expressive one, satisfaction of
customers, targeted users, preserving culture etc. is important (Pedersen, Gwozdz and Hvass,
2018).
Repositioning of a brand on the other hand refers to implementation of changes in the status of a
brand so that it can compete with the existing brands in the industry. Here, better i.e. improved
products are launched in the new targeted customer base. Burberry intends to reposition itself in
the premium market segment by minimizing their sales to retailers and whole sellers on the
lower end.
Benefits for Burberry :- Burberry intends to develop a better marketing channels like digital
marketing so that it can communicate the brands qualities in a more efficient manner and since
they are targeting new market segments, they should properly analyse the competitive
environment. Repositioning will help the company in redefining their scope and presence and
thus enhancing their sales and quality. Since the company intends to upscale their operations and
target premium sector competing with luxury brands, Burberry should reduce the easy
availability of their products in the market by controlling the supply to whole sellers and retailers
established in the lower income segment (Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin, 2015). The company
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knows that bags have been experiencing a high range of growth and hence by developing
products in this range and leather gods, the company can position itself very strongly. When all
these factors are carefully accommodated in the new marketing strategy developed by Burberry
and the targeting is done effectively exploiting digital means, Burberry can establish themselves
really well.
Challenges for Burberry :- While positioning and repositioning themselves, Burberry is bound
to experience many challenges. The main obstacle is that the company will loose its present sales
because repositioning involves removal of products from one market and this may become turn
out to be a failure. Further, targeting the premium segment signifies that the company will need
to change their earlier strategies and perceptions and build new ones which are more
competitive. The firm has a strong base of customers within the age limit of 20 to 24 years and
they do not want to loose them so they must be precise when launching new prices and
marketing strategies for the same should be formulated and an appropriate marketing mix should
be developed (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018.).
TASK 2
Positioning Map of Burberry.
Positioning Map is a visual representation technique which helps in determining the current
position of brand in the market place and other companies in the same industries. It uses quality
and price dimensions to categorize the brands and depicts the new position.
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Illustration 1: Positioning Map
Source: Position/perception maps, 2018
The above figure is used to represent position of Burberry with respect to their competitors and
also depict the shift that the company experienced after it repositioned itself. When Burberry
enters the premium market segment it is bound to face a tougher competition as the brands with
whom it will compete are Gucci, Michael Kors, Dior etc. Burberry has already implemented
some strategies which are helping them in gaining competitive advantage like improving the
ambience of store, introducing novelty in its products, showcasing limited editions sporting
capsule collections etc. which has helped the brand in purporting a vibe of premium luxury brand
in their stores (Liu, Perry and Gadzinski, 2019).
TASK 3
Methods of repositioning.
Repositioning can be carried out successfully only when a company has a fully developed
method of implementing the repositioning strategies. Companies similar to Burberry can adopt
Psychological Reasoning as a repositioning method. This strategy focuses on changing the
perspective that consumers have about a particular brand related to the key offerings i.e.
attributes of the product. Under this, emphasis is on alignment of the communication strategies
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and the offering of a brand with the targeted customer's taste, personality, lifestyle, interests and
value system. This will help in integrating the desires of customers with the product that the
brands intend to sell to them. This will appeal to all the customers and help in increasing the
brand value of the company.
There is one more method of repositioning a brand and that is total repositioning under which
while changing the targeted market segment with a new one, the brand also intends to change the
product also i.e. they change the product offered by them in this new market segment. This helps
the company in practising a focused marketing over the newly targeted market segment (Yang,
Song and Tong, 2017). Exploiting the artificial intelligence and digital marketing methods are
some on the best means in the present marketing environment for the company to position
themselves and garner attention of the targeted market segment. Instagram, Facebook are such
social media platforms whose roles in marketing is increasing at a rapid scale.
It is very important the the repositioning strategy of any company is very strong and complete a
there are a huge number of resources, time , energy that is utilised in its formation and a lot is at
stake when a company goes for repositioning itself.
CONCLUSION
This report concluded that by adopting appropriate repositioning strategies brands like Burberry
can increase their brand value and capture the newly targeted market segment successfully. The
positioning map has been created to display that how after repositioning themselves, the
competitors of Burberry changed and their value increased.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Yang, S., Song, Y. and Tong, S., 2017. Sustainable retailing in the fashion industry: A systematic
literature review. Sustainability. 9(7). p.1266.
Liu, S., Perry, P. and Gadzinski, G., 2019. The implications of digital marketing on WeChat for
luxury fashion brands in China. Journal of Brand Management. 26(4). pp.395-409.
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Hassan, S., Nadzim, S.Z.A. and Shiratuddin, N., 2015. Strategic use of social media for small
business based on the AIDA model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 172.
pp.262-269.
Pedersen, E.R.G., Gwozdz, W. and Hvass, K.K., 2018. Exploring the relationship between
business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and organisational values within
the fashion industry. Journal of Business Ethics. 149(2). pp.267-284.
Online
Position/perception maps. 2018. [ONLINE] Available
through :<http://www.sanandres.esc.edu.ar/secondary/Marketing/page_63.htm>
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