Targeting and Positioning: Selecting Segments and Crafting Your Brand Image

Once a market has been divided into distinct segments, a brand faces its most consequential decisions: Which segments should we go after? and How do we want those consumers to perceive us? These two questions sit at the heart of targeting and positioning – the stages that transform raw market data into focused, high-impact brand strategy. Getting these steps right separates brands that resonate from those that blend into the noise.

Evaluating and selecting target segments
Strategies for targeting multiple segments
Differentiating your product or service
Using a positioning map and value proposition
Crafting a positioning statement
Case study: Maggi’s positioning as a quick meal solution
Case study: Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” campaign
Why targeting and positioning work together

Evaluating and selecting target segments

Not every market segment is worth pursuing. After segmentation, the next task is to weigh each segment’s attractiveness before committing resources. According to marketing scholar Mark Anthony Camilleri, the overall aim of targeting is to identify high-yield segments – typically the most profitable groups or those with strong growth potential. A segment is genuinely attractive only when it is measurable, accessible, substantial, and actionable.

Philip Kotler’s widely cited framework recommends evaluating three key dimensions: segment size and growth, structural attractiveness (including competitive intensity and barriers to entry), and company objectives and resources. A segment might look large on paper, but if it is already saturated with powerful rivals or misaligned with the brand’s core strengths, it is not worth targeting.

Consider an electronics brand evaluating two segments – working professionals aged 30-45 and tech-savvy youth aged 18-25. If market data shows the youth segment is growing faster, exhibits higher smartphone upgrade frequency, and aligns with the brand’s innovative positioning, it becomes the rational primary target. The evaluation is not just about size; it’s about fit.

Strategies for targeting multiple segments

There are three broad market coverage choices a company can pursue: undifferentiated marketing, which treats the entire market as one; differentiated marketing, which develops separate offerings for multiple segments; and concentrated (niche) marketing, which focuses all resources on a single segment.

Undifferentiated marketing works best for products with near-universal appeal, such as basic staples. Concentrated marketing suits brands like Rolls-Royce, which exclusively targets the luxury automobile segment, dominating a smaller but highly profitable space. Differentiated marketing, on the other hand, allows a business to capture multiple revenue streams by tailoring its offer to each segment.

Maruti Suzuki is a textbook example of differentiated marketing in India. The brand doesn’t chase a single customer type – it covers the market from the highly budget-conscious buyer (Alto, Wagon R) to the aspirational premium buyer (Baleno, Grand Vitara). Each model has its own messaging, price point, and distribution focus, allowing Maruti to hold dominant market share across income brackets simultaneously.

The choice of targeting strategy ultimately depends on the company’s resources, product characteristics, and the degree of variation in consumer preferences across segments. Attempting differentiated marketing without sufficient resources often leads to diluted messaging and wasted budgets.

Differentiating your product or service

Once a target segment is chosen, the brand must define how it wants to stand apart. This is where product differentiation becomes critical. Differentiation involves identifying unique selling propositions – whether based on product features, service quality, brand personality, or the categories of users associated with the product.

Differentiation can operate at several levels. Attribute-based differentiation highlights specific product features (e.g., camera quality for a smartphone). Benefit-based differentiation emphasises the outcome for the consumer (e.g., “saves time,” “gives confidence”). User-based differentiation links the product to a specific type of person or lifestyle (e.g., “for the active professional”).

Patanjali is a strong Indian example of benefit- and attribute-based differentiation. By positioning its entire product range as natural and ayurvedic, Patanjali carved a distinct space against FMCG giants using synthetic formulations. Its differentiation was not just about ingredients – it triggered an emotional and cultural connection with consumers seeking alternatives rooted in traditional wellness. That combination of product attribute and brand identity made its positioning defensible.

Effective differentiation must be meaningful, distinctive, and credible – it has to matter to the target consumer, be genuinely different from what competitors offer, and be something the brand can consistently deliver.

Using a positioning map and value proposition

A positioning map (also called a perceptual map) is one of the most practical tools in a marketer’s arsenal. It is a two-axis visual chart that plots brands against each other based on attributes that matter to consumers – typically dimensions like price versus quality, or innovation versus tradition. According to Harvard Business School Professor Jill Avery, perceptual maps “provide a visual representation of the competitive landscape” that identifies which rivals share similar characteristics and where gaps in the market exist.

The real value of the map is strategic: it reveals uncrowded spaces where a brand can position itself without directly competing against dominant players. If a cluster of brands occupies the “high price, high quality” quadrant and another cluster fills “low price, low quality,” a brand might find opportunity in “mid-price, high quality” – the exact territory OnePlus seized in the Indian smartphone market.

OnePlus launched with a clear value proposition: flagship-level specifications at a price point well below Apple and Samsung’s premium tier. It targeted tech-savvy, value-conscious consumers who refused to compromise on performance but were unwilling to pay top-dollar prices. A strong value proposition like OnePlus’s connects the brand’s capabilities directly to the target consumer’s specific pain points – in this case, the frustration of choosing between affordability and performance.

The value proposition is, at its core, the answer to one question: Why should this consumer choose us over everyone else? As Harvard Business School explains, a well-crafted value proposition identifies the target market, the need being met, and the unique way the brand fulfils it. It forms the foundation of every messaging decision the brand makes.

Crafting a positioning statement

A positioning statement is the internal compass that guides all external communication. It is not a tagline or advertisement – it is a structured declaration that keeps marketing, product, and sales teams aligned. A positioning statement defines a brand’s place in the market and guides consistent messaging, differentiation, and strategic alignment.

A classic positioning statement follows this structure: For [target market], our brand is the only one among all [competitive set] that [unique value claim] because [reasons to believe]. This formula forces marketers to be precise about who they serve, what they offer, and why consumers should believe them – eliminating vague, feel-good language that doesn’t translate into consumer action.

Effective brand positioning uses emotional messaging alongside rational benefits – it shapes not just what consumers think about a brand, but how they feel about it. When both dimensions align, brand loyalty follows.

Case study: Maggi’s positioning as a quick meal solution

Few positioning stories in India are as clear-cut as Maggi’s. When Nestlé introduced Maggi noodles to the Indian market in 1983, it didn’t just launch a food product – it introduced an entirely new consumption occasion: the quick, easy, hot snack. The “2-minute noodles” tagline was a positioning masterstroke. It didn’t claim to be the most nutritious meal or the most luxurious – it claimed to be the fastest.

By anchoring itself firmly to the idea of convenience, Maggi targeted students, working professionals, and time-pressed mothers – audiences whose primary pain point was a satisfying meal with minimal effort. Its competitors in the noodles and snack category couldn’t easily replicate that specific positioning without sounding derivative. The “2-minute” promise became synonymous with the brand itself, not just a product feature.

Maggi’s resilience after its controversial 2015 product recall and successful relaunch further illustrates the power of strong positioning. When a brand has built a sufficiently distinct and emotionally resonant position in consumers’ minds, it can survive setbacks that would destroy lesser-positioned competitors. Maggi came back because consumers had a real relationship with what it stood for.

Case study: Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” campaign

Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” (Wake Up) campaign, launched in 2007, is one of the most studied examples of purpose-driven brand positioning in Indian marketing history. At a time when most tea brands competed purely on taste, freshness, or price, Tata Tea chose a radically different positioning axis: social awakening.

The campaign transformed a commodity tea brand into a cultural movement by connecting the act of drinking tea – which already implies waking up – with the idea of waking up to one’s civic responsibilities. The insight was elegant: tea physically wakes you up, Tata Tea wants to wake you up mentally.

The campaign addressed voter apathy, corruption, and gender inequality across successive phases, with each edition picking up the pulse of that particular moment in India. To back the campaign with action, Tata Tea launched jaagore.com, a platform that helped first-time voters register, locate polling booths, and connect with civic organisations.

Tata Tea started the trend of looking beyond the obvious – positioning tea not merely as a physical rejuvenator but as a medium for self-actualisation and civic consciousness. This is what separated Jaago Re from conventional cause marketing. The campaign struck a chord with the youth by weaving together the themes of awakening, enlightenment, and civic duty across more than a decade of consistent communication.

The strategic lesson is significant. Tata Tea elevated its communication to the self-actualisation level only after it had already secured market leadership on functional grounds. Positioning on a social cause works best when a brand has earned consumer trust through consistent product quality first – the cause then amplifies an existing relationship rather than compensating for a weak product. The Jaago Re campaign did not just build brand equity; it shaped how an entire generation of consumers thought about civic responsibility in India.

Why targeting and positioning work together

Targeting and positioning are interdependent: how you position your product directly depends on the specific audience you choose to target. A product positioned for tech-savvy youth will use entirely different language, channels, and proof points than the same product positioned for enterprise buyers. Defining the target segment without building a distinct position leaves the brand invisible; building a position without clearly defining the target audience makes it unfocused.

The strongest brands treat targeting and positioning as a continuous loop rather than a one-time decision. Market dynamics shift, consumer preferences evolve, and competitive landscapes change. Businesses should commit to regularly evaluating and refining their STP strategies to stay relevant. Maggi adjusted its product formulation and communication after its relaunch. Tata Tea refreshed the Jaago Re theme with each election cycle and social movement. Both brands demonstrate that a strong positioning foundation doesn’t mean rigidity – it means having a clear identity from which purposeful evolution becomes possible.

What do you think? If you were to build a positioning map for a category you buy from regularly – say, smartphones or packaged food – where do you think the biggest gaps in the market exist, and which segment do you believe is most underserved? And looking at purpose-driven campaigns like Tata Tea’s Jaago Re, do you think brands have a genuine responsibility to address social issues, or does mixing commerce with cause risk coming across as opportunistic?

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References

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Table of Contents

Evaluating and selecting target segments 🔗

Strategies for targeting multiple segments 🔗

Differentiating your product or service 🔗

Using a positioning map and value proposition 🔗

Crafting a positioning statement 🔗

Case study: Maggi’s positioning as a quick meal solution 🔗

Case study: Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” campaign 🔗

Why targeting and positioning work together 🔗