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CRAFTING THE BRAND POSITIONING | CHAPTER 10 283

Finally, if there are many competitors in different categories or subcategories, it may be useful to
either develop the positioning at the categorical level for all relevant categories (“quick-serve
restaurants” or “supermarket take-home coffee” for Starbucks) or with an exemplar from each
category (McDonald’s or NESCAFÉ for Starbucks).

STRADDLE POSITIONING Occasionally, a company will be able to straddle two frames
of reference with one set of points-of-difference and points-of-parity. In these cases, the points-
of-difference for one category become points-of-parity for the other and vice versa. Subway
restaurants are positioned as offering healthy, good-tasting sandwiches. This positioning allows
the brand to create a POP on taste and a POD on health with respect to quick-serve restaurants
such as McDonald’s and Burger King and, at the same time, a POP on health and a POD on
taste with respect to health food restaurants and cafés. Straddle positions allow brands to
expand their market coverage and potential customer base. Another example of a straddle
positioning is BMW.

BMW When BMW first made a strong competitive push into the U.S. market in the
BMW early 1980s, it positioned the brand as the only automobile that offered both luxury and

performance. At that time, consumers saw U.S. luxury cars as lacking performance, and
U.S. performance cars as lacking luxury. By relying on the design of its cars, its German
heritage, and other aspects of a well-conceived marketing program, BMW was able to si-
multaneously achieve: (1) a point-of-difference on luxury and a point-of-parity on performance with
respect to U.S. performance cars like the Chevy Corvette, and (2) a point-of-difference on perform-
ance and a point-of-parity on luxury with respect to U.S. luxury cars like Cadillac. The clever slogan
“The Ultimate Driving Machine” effectively captured the newly created umbrella category—luxury per-
formance cars.

Although a straddle positioning is often attractive as a means of reconciling potentially conflict-
ing consumer goals and creating a “best of both worlds” solution, it also carries an extra burden. If
the points-of-parity and points-of-difference with respect to both categories are not credible, the
brand may not be viewed as a legitimate player in either category. Many early PDAs that unsuccess-
fully tried to straddle categories ranging from pagers to laptop computers provide a vivid illustra-
tion of this risk.

Choosing POPs and PODs

Marketers typically focus on brand benefits in choosing the points-of-parity and points-of-difference
that make up their brand positioning. Brand attributes generally play more of a supporting role by
providing “reasons to believe” or “proof points” as to why a brand can credibly claim it offers certain
benefits. Marketers of Dove soap, for example, will talk about how its attribute of one-quarter
cleansing cream uniquely creates the benefit of softer skin. Consumers are usually more interested in
benefits and what exactly they will get from a product. Multiple attributes may support a certain
benefit, and they may change over time.
For choosing specific benefits as POPs and PODs to position a brand, perceptual maps may be
useful. Perceptual maps are visual representations of consumer perceptions and preferences. They
provide quantitative portrayals of market situations and the way consumers view different prod-
ucts, services, and brands along various dimensions. By overlaying consumer preferences with
brand perceptions, marketers can reveal “holes” or “openings” that suggest unmet consumer needs
and marketing opportunities.
For example, Figure 10.1(a) shows a hypothetical perceptual map for a beverage
category. The four brands—A, B, C, and D—vary in terms of how consumers view their taste
profile (light versus strong) and personality and imagery (contemporary versus modern).
Also displayed on the map are ideal point “configurations” for three market segments (1, 2,
and 3). The ideal points represent each segment’s most preferred (“ideal”) combination of
taste and imagery.