How do I position a product?

After a product has traveled from the concept stage to design, modifications and then testing the marketer is left to find a correct market position for the finished product.While many think that this happens by happenstance or accident it is a process that is carefully coordinated and mapped out.Only after having the crucial information about the relevance of any given product can a marketer make a correct decision in positioning a product.If this information for whatever reason is not correctly obtained or is simply unavailable the marketer faces a nearly impossible task to find a correct and effective position for the product or service.Without this correct and effective position it may become almost impossible for a product or service to obtain a profitable position in the chosen market.The information about positioning a product or service is obtained through market analysis that models customer information and possible markets.This analysis focuses most heavily on three basic questions:

1. Who are the customers that purchase our products and services (and what are they like)?Are they young or old?What is the primary race or ethnicity?Does one gender primarily use this product?Do they have the same profession or hobby that leads them to use this product?

2. What features, benefits and values do they desire?Does the consumer value price over any other quality?Are they looking for a product that is easy to use or will simply fill a specific need? Is this product considered an impulse purchase or do consumers plan financially to make this purchase?
3. How does this product or service perform relative to the competition?How does this product or service relate to the competition in terms of price, performance and ease of use?Will the product or service be as easily available as the competition?

These questions remain the same no matter what the product or service.If they are asked in an effective manner they remain an efficient tool for segmenting the potential customer from the overall market.Then with further analysis a differentiation can be made in the positioning of the product or service.This continues to be a fluid process though since the competitive environment of the market, the mindset of the customer and the decision process of the potential customer can all change.This happens as the market develops and the product moves along its given life cycle.As the marketer see the changes in an ever evolving and competitive market he or she may need new and more sophisticated marketing information.This information allows the marketer to continually place the product or service in the most favorable position to maximize revenue.

This can truly be an overwhelming challenge in positioning a product or service since modeling a customer base and their wants is based on knowing a large and diverse pool of potential customers.A wealth of knowledge can be learned in truly identifying the potential customers since it is only at this level the purchasing decision is made.Traditional research methods have involved profiling the customer. The most used methods have generally involved preparing volumes of cross-tabulations that compare groups of customers defined as high-moderate-lite and non users defining each group byusing purchase frequency or purchase amount (dollar or volume) with standard demographic variables.While this methodology is simple, relatively inexpensive and produces inches of paper in a nice binder that can be placed on the manager's desk and touted as completed, this may not give the marketer a clear picture or understanding of the customer he wants to attract. It is one thing to paint a picture of the customer and quite another to understand what the customer is thinking.By knowing who the customer is and what he or she wants than the correct market positioning can be achieved and the product placed for maximum profit.