Consumer goals related to the category can also be used to develop a brand’s position. Similar to brand essence, the development of category essence entails the association of the brand to other objects that collectively represent a consumer goal.
A process called “laddering” is often used to uncover the essence of a brand.
The selection of a brand’s points of difference begins with its competitive strengths and insight about consumers’ motivations for using the category and/or brand.
Categories serve as the foundation for the competition-based approach to positioning because they imply the goal that a consumer achieves by using a brand.
Competition-based positioning entails choosing a category and a point of difference. The category provides a frame of reference by identifying other brands that might be used to achieve the same goal as the focal brand. The point of difference then specifies the way in which the brand is superior to other brands within that frame.
