Using the tool, managers can determine a desired market position, make resource allocation and brand strategy decisions, track performance against competitors over time, and evaluate strategy on the basis of results.
In this article, we present a new approach called the centrality-distinctiveness (C-D) map, which to our knowledge is the first tool that allows companies to directly connect a brand’s position on a perceptual map with business outcomes such as sales and price. To assess performance, they have used a different set of strategic tools that map or measure brands on yardsticks such as market share, growth rate, and profitability. Traditionally, companies have analyzed brand positioning and business performance separately: To locate gaps in the market and gauge how people feel about their brands, marketers have used perceptual positioning maps, which typically represent consumers’ perceptions of brands or products on opposing dimensions, such as budget versus premium or spicy versus mild. And yet, marketers have lacked the tools needed to get this balance right. Striking the right balance between centrality and distinctiveness is critical, because a company’s choices influence not just how the brand will be perceived, but how much of it will be sold and at what price-and, ultimately, how profitable it will be. Distinctive brands, such as Tesla in cars and Dos Equis in beer, stand out from the crowd and avoid direct competition with widely popular central brands. These brands shape category dynamics, including consumer preferences, pricing, and the pace and direction of innovation. They’re the first ones to come to mind, and they serve as reference points for comparison. Central brands, such as Coca-Cola in soft drinks and McDonald’s in fast food, are those that are most representative of their type. Marketers have always had to juggle two seemingly contradictory goals: making their brands distinctive and making them central in their category.
In-depth examples of the car and beer markets demonstrate the value of this tool for managers of brands in any category. It also captures financial performance along a given metric, such as sales volume or price. It shows brands’ relative position in the marketplace according to perceived “centrality” (how representative a brand is of its category) and “distinctiveness” (how well it stands out from other brands). The C-D map links perception and performance in a new way. Other marketing tools measure brands on yardsticks such as market share, growth rate, and profitability but fail to take consumer perceptions into consideration. But their business value is limited because they fail to link a brand’s position to market performance metrics. In-depth examples of the car and beer markets demonstrate the value of this tool to managers of brands in any category.Ĭompanies have long used perceptual maps to understand how consumers feel about their brands relative to competitors’ and to develop brand positions. Using the tool, marketers can determine a brand’s current and desired position, predict its marketplace performance, and devise and track marketing strategy and execution. Bagga present a new type of map that links a brand’s position to competitors according to its perceived “centrality” (how representative it is of the company) and “distinctiveness” (how much it stands out from other brands) with its business performance along a given metric. In this article, Ivey Business School’s Niraj Dawar and Charan K. But the business value of these maps is limited because they fail to link a brand’s market position to business performance metrics such as pricing and sales. Companies have long used perceptual mapping to understand how consumers feel about their brands relative to competitors’, to find gaps in the marketplace, and to develop brand positions.
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