Product Positioning of Similar Products (Essay Sample)

Product Positioning Paper
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Product Positioning Paper
Product positioning is a critical component of a marketing plan. It implies a form of marketing that offers the benefits of a product to the target audience. This is achieved through intensive market research and focus groups on establishing a particular audience that should be targeted based on the response of the product. The following discussion explores the issue of product positioning for Apple Inc.
Product Positioning of Similar Products
Samsung is among the greatest competitors of Apple since it offers relatively similar products to the company in the market. The company positions its products using various strategies. Among them is multi-segment positioning, which focuses on more than one market at the same time (Dudovskiy, 2017). This is achieved through several packages of products. Samsung has different displays, functionalities, and screen resolutions that influence prices variation. This positioning aims to appeal to the needs of different consumers, depending on their financial capabilities.
Samsung uses imitative positioning, which is copying the functionalities, designs, and marketing strategies of Apple as its main competitor. Another evident positioning strategy for the company is an anticipatory position, which involves developing products like mobile image sensors that are currently not performing well in the market with an expectation that they will have a high turnover in the future. This product positioning of Samsung aims to cover the global smartphone market. The company pursues this agenda by manufacturing simple and cheap products.
Apple also positions its products using various strategies. Among them is presenting them as premium products, through a high pricing strategy. This positioning drives the demand for all its products. For example, the original iPhone traded at $499 or 599 depending on the storage of the device (Arvidson, n.d). The preceding versions of the iPhone 4 traded at an average price of $199, which translated to a huge discount to consumers. The positioning of the product presents them as not for every consumer in the market. It does not give consumers a wide range of choices. For example, iPhone 4S is only available on 16, 32, and 64 gigabytes, which is also the basis of price variation.
Apple's strategy of positioning its product as premium in the market is the most preferred for the client's product. The positioning creates customer loyalty by offering prices that are close to each other based on slight product differentiation. It appears attractive to most customers who want to buy more products from the same company. This strategy explains the reason why many customers own more than one Apple product, such as iMac, iPhone, and iPads.
Recommended Product Position Strategy
The recommended product position strategy for the client is the customer benefits strategy. This positioning focuses on the features of products and their benefits to the customers. For example, a particular model of a phone would be identified together with its storage capacity, camera pixel, battery life, and its price. A product may be listed with the features that competitors have ignored and include two or more characteristics (Arvidson, n.d). Physical characteristics are the most objective approaches that can be evaluated on some physical aspects, such as the color of the device and its material. Pseudo-physical characteristics indicate the physical features that are not easily determined or measured and can include the durability and efficiency of devices. The benefits imply advantages that promote the well being of consumers and can include quick charge and high camera resolution, among others. Although competitors may adopt these features, the product will have given a company more attention in the face of the public. This positioning strategy is recommended because it offers opportunities for a company to increase its market coverage. The company will have an easier time attracting and retaining customers because they get products that are equal to the value of their money. It is an ideal approach for tracking and addressing the ever-changing consumer demands since the products are driven by the need for addressing what consumers want. It can allow a company to be a leader in innovation and driving the market. This strategy offers a clear distinction of a company from competitors through the communication of product features.
Promotional Strategies on the Target Market
Promotional strategies facilitate marketers in determining the most effective communication approaches. They can include sales promotion, advertisements, publicity, and personal selling, among others. A promotional strategy aims to influence consumer behaviors and, therefore, markets need to understand the existing and potential customers (Shamount, 2016). They impact the cultural and social aspects of consumers of target markets, which push them to think differently since they have varied purchasing power, prejudice, and levels of intelligence. Promotional strategies can impact consumer buying behaviors such as product brand, brand switching purchase time, and quantity of pur