Based on customer survey data, positioning analysis represents products along relevant dimensions from the customers’ points of view, and creates a simple-to-read mapping of the competitive landscape, highlighting unique positioning, value propositions, competitive threats, market opportunities, and me-too products.
Positioning Analysis software incorporates several mapping techniques that enable firms to develop differentiation and positioning strategies for their products. By using this tool, managers can visualize the competitive structure of their markets as perceived by their customers. Typically, data for mapping are customer perceptions of existing products (and new concepts) along various attributes, customer preferences for products, or measures of behavioral response of customers toward the products (e.g., current market shares of the products).
Positioning Analysis uses perceptual mapping and preference mapping techniques. Perceptual-mapping helps firms to understand how customers view their product(s) relative to competitive products. The preference map introduces preference vectors or ideal points for each respondent on to a perceptual map. The ideal point represents the location of the (hypothetical) product that most appeals to a specific respondent. The preference vector indicates the direction in which a respondent’s preference increases. In other words, a respondent’s “ideal” product lies as far up the preference vector as possible. The preference map starts out with a perceptual map giving the locations of the product alternatives. In the second step, it introduces for each respondent either an ideal brand or a preference vector.
Positioning Analysis also helps firms to answer such questions as:
When two dimensions are not enough to capture the full complexity of the competitive landscape, Enginius will display a third dimension. That 3D, interactive map can be rotated, zoomed, and easily manipulated to easily visualize the positioning map.
To be successfully positioned in the market place, it is not enough for a brand to be associated with a distinctive feature or characteristic; that characteristic needs to be valued and conducive to customer preferences and sales as well. When available, Enginius will map customer preferences directly on top of the perceptual data, to easily identify market opportunities and promising niche markets.
Customers’ preferences can be all over the place. Enginius will allow you to segment customer preferences, and directly map them in different colors. It can even automatically suggest the optimal number of segments to summarize your data. And if you want to use your own segment solution and labels, Enginius will let you specify it as well.
