Traditionally, the people responsible for positioning brands have concentrated on points of difference—the benefits that set each brand apart from the competition. Maytag is distinguished by dependability, Tide by whitening power, BMW by superior handling. Such points of differentiation are, in many cases, what consumers remember about a brand. But points of differentiation alone are not enough to sustain a brand against competitors. Managers often pay too little attention to two other aspects of competitive positioning: understanding the frame of reference within which their brands work and addressing the features that brands have in common with competitors. There are always circumstances in which it’s necessary to “break even” with competing brands. Effective brand positioning requires not only careful consideration of a brand’s points of difference, but also of what we call its points of parity with other products.
A version of this article appeared in the September 2002 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to communicate with your customers—strategically. Start Course Read more on Marketing or related topics Sales and marketing and Brand managementKevin Lane Keller is the E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and the author of the best-selling textbook Strategic Brand Management.
Brian Sternthal is the Kraft Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Alice M. Tybout (amtybout@kellogg.northwestern.edu) is the Harold T. Martin Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. She is a coauthor of “Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand” (HBR September 2002).
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