Repositioning: Marketing Strategy for Brand Success

Repositioning entails making significant changes in your products and brand to change its perception in the market. However, brands face several challenges as they try to bring about a change. It is important to understand the concept thoroughly to implement it efficiently. In this article, we have explained brand repositioning at length. As you go through this piece of writing, you shall learn how it works, its importance, why you should opt for it, how brands benefit from it, how it differs from rebranding, and more.

Understanding Repositioning in Marketing Strategy

Repositioning, as stated above, is a strategy used to change how people perceive your brand. If done the right way, brand/product repositioning can prove to be an effective marketing strategy. This is because it helps bring about an exciting change in your brand encouraging your prospects to try it. The process can be quite challenging, particularly for brands that are popular among the masses. There is a lot that goes into repositioning. Brands must study the market thoroughly to learn their competitors’ strategies and consumers buying behaviour to develop an effective repositioning strategy. There are mainly three repositioning techniques, including stealth positioning, reverse positioning, and breakaway positioning. As a business owner, you must understand each of these and assess which is best suited for your business to benefit optimally. Here is a quick look at these techniques:

1. Stealth Positioning – This strategy includes hiding the actual nature of your brand/product by grouping it in a different category. This is usually done while launching a new product that may otherwise not receive a good response.
2. Breakaway Positioning – This involves introducing a whole new category. This strategic approach is followed to increase the demand for a new product and enable it to emerge successfully amid competition.
3. Reverse Positioning – This marketing tactic involves replacing the old and mundane features of a product with new and exciting ones. This helps draw attention to the product. People look forward to trying them because of their novelty.

Illustrating Repositioning in Action

You must understand your goal to reposition a brand or product successfully. Why do you want to reposition your brand? To connect better with online buyers, get an edge over your competition, introduce a new product successfully, or re-establish your position in the market? The ultimate aim remains the same: to boost sales and increase revenue. However, by understanding your goal, you can strategise better and implement the most suitable repositioning technique. Some of the tactics brands put into practice for marketing repositioning is altering one or more of the following:

• Marketing campaigns
• Product price
• Customer engagement techniques
• Logo design
• Tagline
• Colour scheme
• Product category
• Product features

Reasons to Opt for Repositioning

Here is a quick look at the key reasons why brands consider brand repositioning:

1. Gain Competitive Edge

Alterations in your competitors’ products, prices, or marketing strategies can directly impact your sales. Repositioning strategically can help you gain an edge over your competitors. It can help improve your performance in the market.

2. Combat Market Volatility

The market witnesses constant changes. It may face a recession, see a shift towards adopting sustainable practices, or witness other changes owing to a change in regulations. It is important to reposition your brand occassionally to keep up with market volatility. Many companies, for instance, are repositioning their brand by adopting eco-friendly practices.

3. Changing Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is constantly evolving. You should opt for repositioning to meet the changing demands of your consumers. Many companies have done so as a response to customer feedback.

4. Connect with New Audience

You may even require repositioning your brand to connect with a new audience. Many companies, for instance, have repositioned their brand in the recent past to strengthen their online reputation and connect better with online users.

5. Combat Negative Publicity

This marketing strategy can also combat the bad reputation created by the media. Changing public perception about the brand becomes crucial during such times. Repositioning can work as an excellent tool to reinstate one’s position in the market.

Significance and Benefits of Brand Repositioning

More brands are choosing brand repositioning despite requiring substantial effort and financial investment. This is because the benefits it offers outweigh the incurred costs. Brand/product repositioning is beneficial as it helps infuse a new life into your products, urging your prospects to try them. It renews focus on the target audience and gives an edge over the competition. As stated above, it is the key to survive in a volatile market. By using this marketing strategy tactfully, you can even overcome negative publicity, connect better with your target audience, and strengthen your position in the market. It is known to enhance brand performance. 

Distinguishing Between Brand Repositioning and Rebranding

Brand repositioning is often confused with rebranding, even though they are different. Here is how they differ from each other:

Repositioning is done to change the way your target audience perceives your brand. It may involve introducing a new product, changing the features of existing products, coming up with a new tagline, or modifying your brand message. The aim is to refresh your image in the market, restore your customers’ interest in your product, and attract a new customer base.

Rebranding is done to change a brand’s identity completely. This often involves choosing a new name for the brand, designing a new logo, or changing the colour scheme. It is done to build a new identity. The aim behind rebranding is mainly to combat unwanted reputation that may have built over time. It enables business owners to start afresh and create goodwill in the market.  

Indicators Your Brand Could Benefit from Repositioning

Repositioning is not a simple process. It involves a lot of time, effort, and money. Thus, it is important to determine whether your brand truly requires it to thrive in the market before you begin the process. You shall be able to gain clarity by answering the following questions:

• Are your sales figures declining?
• Do you want to target a new or different audience?
• Has a change in your competitors’ strategy impacted your performance?
• Are you finding it hard to connect with your target audience?
• Have you upgraded your product or service?
• Are your current marketing strategies not yielding the desired results?

Examples of Effective Brand Repositioning

Many brands have benefited from repositioning. Here are some real-life examples to help you understand how effective this strategy can be:

1. Taco Bell

As Taco Bell witnessed a dip in its sales due to fierce market competition, it decided to change how consumers perceived it. The fast-food brand repositioned itself by emerging as a lifestyle brand. In addition to its delectable food items, it started promoting the experience it offered. Among the many changes it inculcated, it experimented with its menu. Special breakfast options were included. The interior design of its outlets was revamped, and the logo was redesigned to make it more appealing to the youth.

2. Starbucks

Starbucks saw a rapid decline in popularity with the emergence of food joints with comparatively affordable items on their menu. As a result, several of its outlets were shut down in 2008, and it incurred major losses. That is when the brand decided to reinvent itself by marketing repositioning. This involved floating a huge marketing campaign, “Coffee Values and Values.” It emphasised the quality of products they offered to ascertain that the amount they were charging was genuine. Some of its ads read: 

• “Starbucks or nothing. Because compromise leaves a really bad aftertaste.”
• “If your coffee isn’t perfect, we’ll make it over. If it’s still not perfect, you must not be in a Starbucks.”

3. Spotify

To beat the pandemic blues that had cut down on the revenue it generated from advertisements, Spotify decided to leverage brand repositioning. As a part of this marketing strategy, it began hosting podcasts that received a good response and helped generate profit. Additionally, the brand started offering its users curated playlists, increasing its popularity among music lovers.

Conclusion

Brand repositioning is all about reinventing your brand by making small changes. It can be adding exciting new features to a product, changing your brand’s tagline, incorporating eco-friendly practices, and/or changing how you engage with your target audience, among other things. The idea is to change your brand’s perception in the market to fetch more attention and generate greater profit. Several brands around the world have tried repositioning and benefitted from it. You could be next! Nevertheless, before you go for it, make sure whether your brand truly requires this change!