Bud Light is a superior light beer because it has the Budweiser heritage. This simple statement reflects the two elements that are typically included in developing a brand position. One element is the category in which the brand holds membership. For Bud Light, this is the fact that it is a member of the light beer category. The other element is the advantage that the brand holds over other category members. Here the brand's heritage as the king of beers is presented as the brand's advantage. Presumably, this point of difference is one that consumers find important. The statement of a brand's category membership and its point of difference are the fundamental elements in competition-based positioning.

It should be recognized that there could be more than four levels and that these might be worth assessing. For example, we could add a fifth level to the hierarchy under Bud Light that indicated whether the brand form was bottle or draft. In most cases, however, only two levels of the hierarchy, the brand and the category in which it has membership or frame of reference (Bud and light beer) will suffice for analytic purposes.

At each level in the hierarchy, an object might be associated with attributes, people, and occasions. Attributes are physical characteristics of a product such as its color, size, and flavor. People and occasions together are regarded as image. Most advertising is some combination of attributes and image, though for some categories the advertising is predominantly attribute based (computers), whereas for other categories advertising is predominantly image based (fragrances).

Attributes and image imply some benefit. A benefit is an abstract concept such as convenience, pleasure, or fun. The rationale for a benefit is the fact that it has some attributes, and/or that certain people use it on particular occasions. In the Bud Light example, the attributes might be the brand's carbonation, the people might be young adults and the occasions might be after work.

In some instances, the benefit is supported by an irrelevant attribute as a means of persuasion. For example, Natural Silk Shampoo claims that it puts silk in every bottle. This attribute is irrelevant to the silkiness of hair. Irrelevant attributes are persuasive because they suggest that there is a reason to believe the benefit. (Carpenter, Glazer and Nakamoto, Journal of Marketing Research, August, 1994).

A debate sometimes arises about whether a product feature is an attribute or a benefit. For example, taste might be considered an attribute that affects the benefit enjoyment. Or, taste might be viewed as a benefit, where its attributes are the amount of sweetener and the amount of carbonation. From a strategic perspective, the important task is to assess the antecedents and consequences of a feature and to decide whether the antecedent, feature or consequence (or some combination of these characteristics) should be highlighted. It matters less whether the feature is termed an attribute or a benefit.

For highly established products and services, category membership is not a focal issue. Consumers know that Coca-Cola is a leading brand of soft drink and that Kellogg's Corn Flakes is a leading brand of cereal. Category membership for leading business-to-business brands is also obvious to the purchaser. However, there are many situations where it is important to inform consumers of a brand's category membership. Perhaps the most obvious situation is the introduction of new products, where the category membership is not apparent. When all-natural cereals were introduced, the issue was whether to position them as healthy cereals that tasted better than other cereals in the healthy category or great tasting cereals that were superior to others in the category because they were all-natural.

There are also situations where consumers know a brand's category membership. But because consumers may not be convinced that the brand is a good member of the category, advertising that announces category membership is warranted. For example, consumers may be aware that Dell produces computers. But they may not be certain whether Dell computers are in a class with say IBM or Compaq. In this instance, it might be useful to reinforce category membership.

There are a variety of ways to convey a brand's category membership. Benefits are frequently used to announce category membership. This is done to ensure consumers that a brand will deliver on the fundamental reason for using a category. Thus, industrial motors might claim to have power, and analgesics might announce their efficacy. These benefits are not presented in a manner that imply brand superiority, but merely that the brands possess these properties. Benefits that imply category membership are common to most, if not all brands, and thus they are sometimes referred to as points of parity.

Attributes and image can be used to provide rationales that give message recipients permission to believe that a brand has the benefit that implies membership in a category. A cake mix might attain membership in the cake category by claiming the benefit of great taste and support this benefit claim by identifying attributes in the form of the high quality ingredients that are included in the product (attributes) or by showing users delighting in its consumption (image).

Attributes and image might also be used in their own right to claim membership. An electronic device might be positioned as a computer by emphasizing that it has memory, a monitor, a keyboard, and can be used for electronic mail. Alternatively, describing the people who use the electronic device and the relevant occasions of use informs the consumer about the brands against which an advertised product is intended to compete. In beer advertising, varying the age of the drinker and the place in which consumption occurs influences whether the brand is viewed as competing in the super-premium, premium, or price category. When image is used to create membership, a brand attribute is often used to create a point of difference. Thus, 7UP is positioned as a soft drink by its occasions of use. It is distinguished from other soft drinks by the fact that it is colorless in appearance and it has a tart taste, both of which imply the benefit superior thirst quenching.

Exemplars are also used to specify a brand's category membership. Subaru advertising compared the brand to Volvo, not because they compete for the same customers, but because this approach represents an efficient way to say that Subaru is a member of the safe car category. Similarly, Wheaties introduced a pre-sweet cereal by telling consumers that if they liked Frosted Flakes, they should try Wheaties Honey Gold. The idea was not to compete with Frosted Flakes, but to tell consumers in an efficient way that Wheaties Honey Gold is a member of the adult pre-sweet cereal category. And when Tommy Hilfiger was an unknown designer, advertising announced his membership as a great American designer by associating him with Geoffrey Beene, Stanley Blacker, Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis.

The preferred approach to positioning is to inform consumers of a brand's membership before stating its point of difference in relation to other category members. Presumably, consumers need to know what a product is and what function it serves before they can assess whether it dominates the brands against which it competes. For new products, separate campaigns are generally needed to inform consumers of membership and to educate them about a brand's point of difference. For brands with limited resources, this implies the development of a campaign that establishes category membership prior to one that states a point of difference. Brands with greater resources can develop concurrent campaigns where one features membership and the other the point of difference. What typically does not work for new brands is an effort to inform consumers of membership and point of difference in the same campaign.

A sound positioning strategy requires the specification not only of the category in which a brand holds membership, but also how a brand dominates other members of its category. A starting point in developing a point of difference is to examine product features broadly construed to include the various elements of the marketing mix that might distinguish a brand from its competitors.

Benefit Selection. To identify potential benefits that might serve as points of difference, it is useful to identify accepted consumer beliefs. What are consumers' beliefs about the category that might be used to promote a benefit? For example, the (false) belief that honey is nutritionally superior to sugar led General Mills to produce Honey Nut Cheerios. When a brand cannot dominate competitors on a factor that reflects an accepted consumer belief, an effort is made to teach consumers beliefs that imply the brand's benefit. Illustrative of such market driving strategy is the campaign by Listerine that convinced consumers that its bad taste was what made it effective.

The strongest positions are ones in which a brand has a clear point of difference on a benefit that prompts category use. Large brands are generally promoted using these benefits. Thus, advertising for Tide detergent stresses superior cleaning power and Microsoft claims the most advanced software. Category leaders often follow this strategy even when they do not have superiority in relation to competition. They use their superior ad budget to outshout competition and thus claim the benefit that drives the category for themselves.

Smaller brands typically attempt to establish a niche as their point of difference. This is achieved by using the category benefit to establish category membership and by selecting some benefit other than the focal one for the category to establish brand dominance. IBM presents its cutting-edge technology as its point of difference, whereas WinBook positions its brand as a technologically advanced product at a low price. For many years, Jif was positioned as the best-tasting peanut butter, whereas Skippy was positioned as the great-tasting brand with the greatest nutritional value.

Number of Benefits. In developing a brand position, it is important to limit the number of benefits that are presented, particularly when broadcast media are used to transmit the message. Conveying a benefit often requires an elaborate demonstration that not only depicts the benefit but also provides consumers a reason to believe the benefit. This reason to believe usually takes the form of a physical characteristic. Thus, the amount of information required to convince people of the benefit generally precludes identifying more than a single benefit in broadcast advertising. If it is important to convey more than a single benefit, this can be done in a pool of ads, each of which features a single benefit. Alternatively, several benefits can be conveyed when the message is to be transmitted in print, because the processing of this information is audience-paced.

Summary

Competition-based positioning can be represented by the following positioning triangle. Membership in the category is developed by highlighting the benefits that a brand shares with other members of the category or by relating the brand to a category exemplar. Providing a rationale for believing a benefit gives consumers a reason to believe a membership claim. This rationale typically takes the form of some physical characteristic. Once a brand has achieved membership in the category, its advantage over other category members is presented in terms of benefits that represent points of difference. Again a rationale might be provided to enhance the likelihood that consumers will believe the brand's point of difference.