1.1.3

• Market postioning

  Focuses on the perception consumers have about the quality, value for money and image of a product when comparing it to its competitors
• Firms will position their products to shape consumers perceptions

  • Benefits of product (volvo renowned for safety
  • USP
  • attributes of product (M&Ms - 'melt in mouth no in hands')
  • Origin of product (scottish oats)
  • Classification of production (organic, certified)
• Market mapping is used by business to identify where to postition their product in a market compared to its competitors. It can help the busineee identify a gap in the market
• Use of market map:

  Each axis represents two polar features eg,

  • Mass vs niche
  • High quality vs low quality
  • Modern vs traditional
  • Funtion vs aesthetic
• Benefits of market maps

  • Identify gap in market - reduce risks - supports decisions
  • Flexible - use attributes which are relevant to your business
  • Supports market segmentation
• Drawbacks of market map

  • Subjective = opinion based - impact decision making
  • Time consuming - requires research
  • Makes the market too simplistic - only using two attributes - difficult to decide which attributes to use
• Saturated market


  A market where there is competition - businesses offering similar products
• How to stand out

  • Increase advertising
  • USP - something you have that competitors dont - competitive advantage
  • Lower prices
  • Customer service - quality
  • Branding
  • Reliability
  • Reputation
  • Adding value - justifying a high price - when a business provides ' extra' features to its customers that go beyond standard expectations
• Product differentiation

  How business makes its products different to competition.
• MOPS analysis

  Market

  Objectives

  Product

  Situation
• market

  who are the customers?

  who are the primary competitors?

  what is the size/growth of the market?
• objectives

  what are the business' goals?

  financial and non financial goals
• product

  what is the business selling?

  how does it add value?

  what is its USP?
• situation

  what is the business' situation?

  PESTLE factors that impacts its situation

  SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats