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Repositioning Strategies: Adapting Brands to Changing Customer Needs

May 30, 2023 | 0 comments

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May 30, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

According to Kumar & Meenakshi (2011), customers evolve and their aspiration and needs change, which leads to them wanting services and products which are totally different from the ones they have been purchasing. For the brands to continue being relevant to its customers, they have to reposition themselves. Brands that have repositioned retain their key propositions, but also significantly change reflecting the changing aspirations and needs of their customers. Brands wants to continue remaining young, and therefore, they keep on reinventing themselves to be able to serve the ever-changing needs of their target customers. Over the years many famous brands have been repositioned to reflect changes in customer preferences (UMN, 2018). The paper will discuss product brands by providing examples of brands that recently have repositioned themselves and how they have accomplished this task.

 

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There exist four repositioning strategies which brands can use:

1. A major modification of a product by the parent brand

Maggi brand has always been regarded as an instant food and therefore and healthy. The mothers usually served it only after being pestered endlessly by their children. The brand repositioned itself by introducing noodles that are made of whole wheat, therefore, repositioning itself on the healthy platform. Similarly, Honda repositioned itself as a company that is environmentally friendly by introducing hybrid cars

2. Introducing a breakthrough product Under a new sub-brand

Titan watches brand has been docile. The brand launched Titan octane to convey a sporty and youthful image to its target market. The new brand tried capturing the energy and spirit of sports. This repositioning strategy was successful since Titan was a very powerful brand and it could sustain and support multiple sub-brands (Kumar & Meenakshi (2011)

3. A new owner imprinting his personality on the brand

According to Kumar & Meenakshi (2011), an owner is not just an investor, but I master at his or her own craft. Therefore, when such an individual relates to a brand, he also lends his or her personality to the brand. When Vijay Mallya bought Air Deccan, he imprinted it with some flamboyance that was associated with him. Although the brand may not substantially change, the perception of the customers about the brand changes.

4. Observation Exercise

In this exercise, I have identified dog training services to shop for from the following websites: petsmart.com and petco.com.

Generally, the two websites are accessible because they were ranking on the first page when I searched for the keywords “dog training services,” “dog grooming.” both two websites have a blue theme with hanging bars and a drop-down menu listing all the categories, making them well-organized. Moreover, they have an e-commerce layout, they are up to date, they are user friendly, and are very interactive. I believe the appearances of both websites influence my perception of the services because of the blue color which makes them look corporate. The website looks busy from their layout and the listing of the categories which inclines me to look past the home page for the other services and the products they were selling.

Petco has bigger fonts compared to PetSmart which has small fonts. Moreover, both sides are also easy to navigate around and to look for information. Both websites use attractive pictures too. I tried to order dog training services which I found very easy. However, PetSmart had an elaborate and well laid-out dog training program compared to Petco. They had individual classes that were further categorized into therapy dog training, puppy training, beginner training, intermediate training, advanced training, and many more. Moreover, which package had prices listed beside it as well as an easy checkout. Petco only had a few categories ranging from level one to party complete package. They had no buttons for adding to cart or for checking out with no elaboration on how to order for their services. However, they had a live chat system for contacting customer service while PetSmart lacked a chat system or email or phone number. In summary, I would choose PetSmart for dog training services from the way they have explained their services, easy checkout system, the white one is a sitting head of state the president of the republic, and the user-friendly nature of their website.

References

Arun Kumar., & Meenakshi, N. (2011). Marketing management. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

UMN. (2018). 14.3 Customer Satisfaction | Principles of Marketing. Open.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved 12 April 2018, from https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/chapter/14-3-customer-satisfaction/

Petco. (2018). Petco.

PetSmart. (2018). Dog Training: Puppy and Adult Dog Training Classes | PetSmart. Petsmart.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018, from https://www.petsmart.com/pet-services/training/#page_name=flyout&link_section=&link_name=training_classes&template_type=services

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