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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
I. Introduction to Integrated
Marketing
Communications
Exhibit 2-19 The Jolly Green Giant is
a cultural symbol
2. The Role of IMC in the
Marketing Process
Repositioning One final positioning strategy involves altering or changing a product’s
or brand’s position. Repositioning a product usually occurs because of declining
or stagnant sales or because of anticipated opportunities in other market positions.
Repositioning is often difficult to accomplish because of entrenched perceptions about
and attitudes toward the product or brand. Many companies’ attempts to change their
positions have met with little or no success. For example, Kmart (the store) and
Aurora (the Oldsmobile) have both attempted to reposition themselves to a level of
higher quality, appealing to younger and more well-to-do customers. Both have met
with limited success. (Kmart is in bankruptcy and the Oldsmobile line will be discontinued).
Nutri-Grain Bars—originally positioned as a convenience snack (“Good food
to go”)—have been repositioned as a breakfast substitute (“Respect yourself in the
morning”). Buick has repositioned in an attempt to reach a younger market (using
Tiger Woods, in his twenties, as a spokesperson), while La-Z-Boy is attempting to
move away from its blue-collar image and to a more affluent one. Sears has changed
its positioning so often in recent years that consumers may not know exactly what
image the company is trying to convey.
One extremely successful effort at repositioning was employed by Rolling Stone
magazine. In an attempt to change advertisers’ image of the type of person who reads
Rolling Stone, the company embarked on an extensive advertising campaign directed
at potential advertisers. The ad shown in Exhibit 2-20 is just one example of how this
strategy was successfully implemented.
IMC Perspective 2-1 describes how Jet Blue has been successful in its positioning
efforts in a very competitive market.
Determining the Positioning Strategy Having explored the alternative
positioning strategies available, the marketer must determine which strategy is best
suited for the firm or product and begin developing the positioning platform. As you
remember from the promotional planning process in Chapter 1, the input into this
stage will be derived from the situation analysis—specifically, the marketing research
conducted therein. Essentially, the development of a positioning platform can be broken
into a six-step process: 14
1. Identifying competitors. This process requires broad thinking. Competitors may
not be just those products and/or brands that fall into our product class or with which
we compete directly. For example, a red wine competes with other red wines of various
positions. It may also compete with white, sparkling, and nonalcoholic wines.
Wine coolers provide an alternative, as do beer and other alcoholic drinks. Other
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Exhibit 2-20 This ad is one of a series used in the successful
campaign to reposition Rolling Stone magazine
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Chapter Two The Role of IMC in the Marketing Process