Frog Blog

Strategic Marketing 1 of 3: Concept Positioning

Concept Positioning

Concept Positioning, sometimes called market positioning, is critical to creating separation from your competition. It is the reason someone will think of your restaurant or bar instead of a competitor of a similar style. Concept Positioning blends various skills in the branding toolkit. This blog will tie in previous branding tactics and help lay a foundation for moving your business or concept to the forefront of consumer choices.

Moving to the front of consumers restaurant choices can be difficult and in some ways counter-intuitive. Many owners may shoot for their business to be synonymous with a restaurant category. An example is Yokohama Steakhouse, a fictional high-end Japanese steakhouse. The owner wants consumers to think Yokohama Steakhouse first and plug his brand name into a category. Traditionally, it’s believed that brand first, category second is the road to success. The trouble with the brand first, category second strategy is loss of brand identity.

This lesson can be found in many cities. Burritos have become a great alternative to burgers. When you want a fast, great tasting burrito, Chipotle, dominates that category. Serving organic, high quality products in a simple fashion is what defines Chipotle. Ads from Chipotle feature the burrito wrapped in foil. These ads say burrito first followed by telling you where you can find one. Chipotle, chose category first, brand second and rose to the top of the category in the face of deep pocketed competitors. If your brand is the category leader, you can avoid the pitfall of lulling consumers into becoming apathetic about brand choices.

Category first, brand second has the potential to make your concept the category leader. You want consumers to decide on your brand after they pick a category. If you want good tequila, Patron is near the front of tequila categories. The Japanese steakhouse owner would want Yokohama Steakhouse to be the first name thought of in the Japanese steakhouse category. The consumers thought process many times moves toward category first. A person usually craves a steak before they choose a steakhouse. In order to keep your concept at the top of whatever category your business occupies, meeting customer expectations is key. If the consumers’ expectations aren't in line with their actual experience, then confusion enters into the consumers mind and they typically will not return. This happens when the value of the experience is lower than their initial expectation.

Perception of your concept can become reality for your brand. If the consumer perceives your brand as clean, fun and satisfying, that is the reality they will paint for their friends and co-workers. Conversely, a single misstep such as smudged windows, a cold steak-when great atmosphere and food were expected can tarnish your concept.

After your concept position is solidified, you need to get people in the door. We will address effective strategies for this in the next two blogs. Once you have people in the door it is important to remember that you have to meet or exceed their expectations of your concept.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us and stay tuned to for our next Frog Blog.

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