This paper discusses the topic of brand repositioning in a car industry. The methods through which a brand can be repositioned have been discussed which will be decided according to the desires and preferences of the customer.
Brand repositioning can be defined in two different ways. They are as under:
Brand repositioning can be done in order to change the perception of a consumer with respect to a particular brand.
The trend of brand positioning can also be adopted to increase the demand or appeal of a brand.
Many marketers think about changing their brands due to a number of reasons. This may include competition pressures from the rivals, innovative channels, and the changing customer’s needs and desires. It is vital for the customers to adopt and work on the achievable strategies rather than the aspiration strategies. The following three steps need to be kept in mind during the process of brand repositioning.
Relevance to the Customers Frame of Reference Should be Ensured
- The brand’s frame of reference should be completely kept in mind so that they are in collaboration with the customer’s frame of reference.
- The combination of the attitude of the customers’ situation in different situations should be viewed so that it can be determined the conditions in which the brand attains the most insight from the customers.
Customer’s Permission for the Positioning Should Be Secured
- Taking permission from the customer gives them a sense of responsibility as well as authority and they feel important. All these factors contribute to an insight about the customer’s mind.
- Brand’s sentimental benefits must be leveraged so that the customer’s perception about the old brand may be changed and carried to the intended brand.
Deliverance of the Brand’s Novel Promise
- The pathway of the signal’s performance must be identified. This will convince the customers for the new brand.
- Product/service programs must be conducted so that continuous performance on these signals can be determined.
- The negative signals by the customers should be tracked and later assessed. This step should be taken before launching the new product.
- An interim position must be set up in order to establish the credibility of the brand. (Kapferer, 2008)
How Brand in the Car Industry Can Be Repositioned
There are several ways and strategies through which a brand can be repositioned in the car industry.
First of all, the automobile or any other product should be launched in a market that is well established.
Secondly, the progress of a promotional program or campaign must be tracked in order to assess the perceptions of the customers who are to be targeted. The method of perceptual mapping is often observed in the car industry. It assists the marketers in analyzing whether a particular company’s car is up to the standard or not. The intensity of dots on the graph represents the models that are in competition and also gives a view about the chances of opposition that the car might face. Cars that are high up on the graph obviously have a higher price than the ones that are ranked below it. For instance, after having a look at the map, General Motors might decide that Chevrolet’s division may move down in terms of practicality and more towards the right direction in terms of youthfulness. After looking at the map, one more problem that is observed is that there is a very close proximity between the Buick and the division of Oldsmobile. This demonstrates that the two divisions are concentrating with competing with each other rather than putting up a competition with other car industries. This proves that by adopting and using a mapping system, one can easily determine the situation of a particular car industry so that the repositioning strategies can be designed according to it.
Repositioning can be done for the existing as well as for new customers. Repositioning a brand among the existing customers can be done by introducing alternative uses for a particular product. The main purpose of repositioning a brand among existing customers is to increase a product’s life by introducing new characters in it. This is done so that the product can survive amidst the growing competition. General Motors introduced new looks in cars and new technologies so as to attract and make their customers at a faster pace. (Clifton, 2004)
Reinvest in the current product is also a key to reposition a particular brand. For instance, the French car industrialist and manufacturer, Renault invested $176 billion in the Seville plant in order to manufacture a brand new MT1 gearbox. This plant is expected to become the Europe’s largest automobile plants.
Another aspect to brand repositioning is to position it among the new customers. This is done by introducing new features of the product to the new customers in a completely new package. I this process, the customers who were not previously inclined towards it are focused and targeted. Extreme care needs to be taken while doing so. Ford decided to launch a new Bridgen plant in Wales. This was a single European base plant and it produced i6 petrol engines. This was considered to be an efficient innovation in the automobile industry. And it proved to be a major coup in the car industry.
Most automobile industries strive to serve a larger market in order to achieve better results and in order to attain maximum profits. However each country faces different situations. For instance Germany, which is considered to be the largest and most dynamic manufacturers of the car industry, concludes that it is most successful due to the fact that it serves a larger market. Audi for example, has now started manufacturing in the state of Hungary. Hence the place of manufacturing automobiles may be changed in order to attract and target new customers. (Jabber, 2007)
Conclusion
This paper reviews the different strategies which can be adopted in order to reposition a product effectively and efficiently. It is very important to bring new developments in an existing product so as to lure the customers and also to bring about innovation in the products. The car industry has been particularly discussed.
References
Clifton. R. (2004) Brands and Branding. Bloomberg Press.
Jobber. D. (2007) Principles and Practices of Marketing. Mc Graw Hill.
Kapferer. N. J. (2008) The New Strategic Brand Management. Kogan Page Publishers.