Consider Microsoft.doc 1

8/6/2019 Consider Microsoft.doc 1

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Positioning a Brand in theMarketplace1 consider Microsoft, a company that wasstarted in a hotel room by a couple of collegedropouts with one compelling vision: a computer on every deskand in every home. It may have been a brazen idea 20 years ago,but it has guided Microsoft ever since, giving it uncontesteddominance in the desktop software market and making Bill Gatesa very rich man.

Microsoft today is hardly what you would call a simple company. Itemploys more than 20,500 people and designs and sells a vastarray of software programs in 60 countries; last year it nettedover $2 billion in income. But as much as it has grown, it hasnever lost sight of its original vision. Everything about Microsoft-its products, its marketing and, most important, its brandpositioning-is still driven by the idea of a computer on every deskand in every home.

Microsoft products are for ordinary computer users, not

technogeeks. The Microsoft brand enables people to leverage thepower of computing to work better, have fun and fulfill theiraspirations. Its advertising asks users, "Where do you want to gotoday?" The company is a giant, but a friendly giant, one that putsa high priority on being simple, contemporary, approachable, hipand even low-tech-as much as that attribute may seemcounterintuitive in the context of a technology business.

2 -- And then there is Ralph Lauren-thebrand and the man. Lauren's clothing is positioned as the choice "for people who care more about lookinggood than being fashionable." This is a gutsy position to take inthe designer's arena-and one that only recently succeeded inLauren being named designer of the year by the Council of


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Fashion Designers of America. The brand attributes are simple,clean, aspirational and upscale. As Fortune magazine has pointedout, "Lauren doesn't make his runway models look like hookersfrom space."

Back in the late 1960s, Ralph Lauren began his business withnothing more than a tie collection. His chance to create a bigname for himself came when Bloomingdale's agreed to carry hisline of neckties. But there was one condition: that he make themslightly narrower and remove his name from the label. Herefused.

Even at that early point in his career, Lauren understood theimportance of defining his brand and then protecting it. That

mind-set has stood him in excellent stead ever since. Every RalphLauren line extension-whether bed linens, towels, flatware, retailstores or even paint-has been managed with a sharp eye on theessence of his brand and its positioning. His success has followed,and his careful brand management was recently recognized bythe financial community when Mr. Lauren launched one of themost successful retail initial public offerings, generating $767million. Of course, Ralph Lauren is not a brand without a face. Onemust be particularly careful about managing a brand that bearshis or her own name. The success of Ralph Lauren reminds usthat an individual can be positioned as a brand. Look at MarthaStewart, or Richard Simmons, or Frank Perdue. Lately, many of the most successful and visible human "brands" have come fromthe world of sports. Even among people who can't tell a chip shotfrom a slam dunk, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan and TigerWoods all have instant name recognition.

3 Desh ka namak Tata Salt

unveils new brand positioningparadigm shift from the rational (right brain) advertising approachto the category, the Desh ka namak platform will see Tata Salttake an emotional (left brain) platform, which has the potential tobe a big category clutter-breaker.


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Unveiling the new positioning platform, Kapil Mehan, vicepresident, sales and marketing, Tata Chemicals, said, "Althoughadvertising for the salt category in India has traditionally focusedon detailing the functional properties of the various brands, Tata

Salt, as the category leader, is best equipped to take on thebroader and more fundamental emotional aspects associated withsalt.

"The new positioning juxtaposes the pungency of the productitself against the honesty and integrity of ordinary Indians,reinforcing the brands leadership position, both in themarketplace and in the minds of Indian consumers. All of whichreiterates the brands commitment to millions of Indians."

With the intrinsic equity and strength needed to shoulder such anemotional platform, Tata Salt has reaffirmed its leadershipposition by changing the category paradigm of health and taste.While Tata Salt has thus far been positioned on the rationalaspects of 'purity', its new positioning places this very propositionwithin the larger context of the consumers life, encompassingboth rational and emotional manifestations of purity.

4-- "Positioning" is dead, and McDonald's has just put up thetombstone. But what is really interestingfor branding is what is taking its place .McDonald's dispensed with its most prominent ingredient in orderto respect, and to please, its Indian customers. Many Indians eatno beef or pork, or any meat at all. According to Vikram Bakshi,managing director of McDonald's India North, it was necessary toadapt the company's offerings while keeping the core brandvalues consistent across cultures.

"The menu has evolved over the years as a result of constantinnovation and our customers' needs," says Bakshi. "Localcreations like McAloo Tikki Burger, Curry Pans, Wraps PizzaMcPuff, and McVeggie are established departures from what we


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had in our introductory restaurant offerings.

"Today 70 percent of our menu is Indianized', and the McAloo Tikki burger is our highest selling product. While the menu may

be different in some ways, the McDonald's experience around theworld is consistent, offering quality, great service, cleanliness,and value."

Since drive-through service is not common in India, scooters andbicycle delivery services extend the concept of a quick, hot mealon the go in a way that is quintessentially Indian yet consistentwith the global brand. It's still McDonalds, and Indians love it.

Think global. Be local.

McDonald's, the premier mass market branding giant, announcedthat it has abandoned positioning. Says Larry Light, McDonald'schief global marketing officer. McDonald's advocates "brand

journalism," or tailoring products and messages to both targetsand media. "Positioning" advocates are apoplectic at suchapostasy. "

5-- Parle Agro Ltd is betting onN-joi positioned as real fruit,real milk to f urther slic e open the virgin fruit-milkbeverage market. N-joi represents Parle Agros eventual ambitionto carve out a niche in the the domestic liquid-milk market,

In same way Parle planned tp position Milk Bikis to get a share of the glucose segment in Tamil Nadu, The southern marketscontinue to be the stronghold for the milk biscuit category, andMilk Bikis has been the dominant brand so far.


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OF

MARKETING

TOPIC : POSITIONING OF FIVE COMPANIES

SUBMITTED TO :

Mr.Manpreet Singh SUBMITTED BY:

Simmi Bala

Roll no.-39

MBA-G

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