An ice cream brand that is well-known for its premium quality and who continues to deliver exceptional products has to be Magnum, but this perception did not happen overnight either. For any brand to maintain a good standing reputation in the mind of the consumer, a lot of focus and consistency is required. Magnum is just one brand that truly understands the importance, differentiation and positioning plays when competing in a saturated market. Let’s take a deeper look at how Magnum has applied these two principles to their own strategy and why they are of utmost importance when building a brand.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIFFERENTIATION AND POSITIONING
According to the Association for Qualitative Research (AQR), brand positioning can be defined as “how a brand is different from its competitors and where, or how, it sits in a particular market”.
Differentiation refers to the disparity between the product offering of a brand to that of its competition. If a brand is not seen as being different from others and looks identical to its competition, the main purchasing factor for consumers will be price. In other words, there will be little consumer loyalty if price is the main determining factor.
For any brand to gain and maintain long-term success it needs to ensure it understands who their target customer is, what the product or service benefit is and why the customer should believe in the brand.