“Products” have been enjoying “Branding” and “Positioning” as a critical marketing tool to establish “stall” and “recall” in the minds of consumers. Companies like Uniliver, Mercedez, Coke, Pepsi, Bata, Maruti, Reckitt Coleman, Tata, Dabur, Patanjali etc. have been using umpteen resources to make their products sell.

Actually, positioning is the means by which a brand or company presents its features and benefits to prospective customers. It is a means of establishing identity, one that sets a business apart from competitors. “Product” oriented companies have been doing this from ages…but gradually times changed and we started noticing that even “service” oriented companies joining the bandwagon. And why not?

Those in the service industry like hospitality and aviation have positioned themselves uniquely to rise above the competition. In the recent times, organisations like Make My Trip, Swiggy, Zomato, Policy Bazaar, Clear Trip, Urban Clap and many more have been aggressively branding, positioning and marketing their services. They are no less than any product, they believe their services are their products. Their energies, resources, planning and strategies are focussed on creating a “brand” of their services so that customers choose them over others.

As services are intangible, explicit positioning strategy is valuable in helping prospective customers to get a mental fix on a product. We have noticed that their strategy has been working well.

We would admit that be it a product or service, people make decisions based on their perceptions of reality rather than on reality. Hence, companies base positioning primarily on the communication elements of the marketing mix, advertising, promotions and public relations which creates an image, hence a special distinction in the customers’ mind.

Though marketing and positioning of services are a different ball game altogether as no product is in question here, only services, which have a room for apprehension. Hence, before treating your services as a product, it is important that you communicate with target audience about your quality, availability, trust, excellence… which are important for them to know. As we know, Uniliver sells “Surf” as a product and “Swiggy” sells services!

It is paramount in the times and life of products and services both, that their positioning ensures their messages resonate with target consumers and make them reach out to them.