Leader, Challenger, Follower, Nicher

Product or Brand positioning is what comes to mind when your target market thinks about your product/brand compared to your competitor’s products/brands.

Having a competitive advantage is necessary for a firm to compete in the market. But what is more important is whether the competitive advantage is sustainable. A company must identify its position relative to the competition in the market. By knowing if it is a leader, challenger, follower or nicher, it can adopt appropriate strategies to compete.

Product positioning is a crucial ingredient in the buying process and should never be left to chance. It’s your opportunity to influence the market’s perception of your products.
Failure to proactively address product positioning is unlikely to end well. With or without your input, customers will position your product—probably based on information from your competitors, which will not flatter you.

Genre of Market Position

• Leader: Largest share
• Challenger: Medium share, to challenge the leader
• Follower: No offensive posture against the leader
• Nicher: Small market size, segmentation other firms cannot think of

Matrix of Market Position/Managerial Resources

– Quantitative managerial resources: number of sales force, input financial power, production
capacity, etc.
– Qualitative managerial resources: corporate/brand image, marketing power, technological power,
leadership of top management, etc.

Book recommendation: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind