Positioning Statement and Motto

Amazon

In this assignment, you will create a Positioning Statement and Motto for one (1) of the following brands: Jeep Cherokee, Google, or Amazon.com.

Select only one (1) brand. Use the information listed, as well as your own research, to assess the brand by completing the provided template. At the end of the template, be sure to develop what you believe would be a new or better positioning statement and motto for the brand.

Amazon

Amazon’s Mission Statement

Amazon.com has had a clear focus and a solitary mission since it began. Founder Jeff Bezos has publicly referred to the Amazon.com mission statement as the guiding force behind his leadership decisions many times in the company’s 18-year history. It can be concluded that the success of Amazon.com as the top Internet retailing company in the world is due at least in part to their unwavering commitment to this mission and the daily execution of it. The mission and vision of Amazon.com is… “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Amazon’s 2001 Positioning Statement (when it almost exclusively sold books) For World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon.com is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books. Unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, and comprehensive selection.

Use the provided information, as well as your own research, to assess one (1) of the stated brands (Jeep Cherokee, Amazon, or Google) by completing the questions below. At the end of the worksheet, be sure to develop a new positioning statement and motto for the brand you selected. Submit the completed template in the Week 4 assignment submission link.

Name:

Professor’s Name:

Course Title:

Date:

Company/Brand Selected (Jeep Cherokee, Amazon, or Google):

1.  Target Customers/Users

Who are the target customers for the company/brand?

[Amazon’s target customers were to be thought to be individuals looking to purchase products online. Amazon’s target customer has been expanding since 1994. In 1994, Amazon’s target customer were customers looking to purchase books online. However, currently, as the company offers products and services in such areas as ecommerce, cloud services, technology, brick-and-mortar stores, and entertainment, the target customer is usually someone looking to purchase services in these segments.]

How could/does the company reach its customers/users? What methods and media might and/or does the company use to reach the customers/users?

[There is a number of channels Amazon uses to market itself and reach its target customers. First, Amazon relies on email marketing, personalized to each customer to reach its target to customers. Second, Amazon has a what is called ‘Associates program’, which lets third-party website managers to display ads featuring Amazon products. Amazon also effectively uses its special offerings such as Prime to attract more customers. Moreover, Amazon has yearly Prime Days, when its products such as Echo, and others are offered at steep discounts]

What would grab the customers/users’ attention? Define the customers/users according to their demographics and psychographic information (e.g., age, gender, income, education, lifestyle, values, etc). How do they want to be perceived?

[Costs and benefits grab Amazon’s customers attention the most. Customers look for efficiency and free and fast shipping when it comes to Amazon. Some users value great customer service Amazon offers. Benefits, as per Jeff Bezos, are the driving factor behind customers’ purchasing decisions. To ensure that Amazon remains a leader in e-commerce Amazon has varying appeals to customers of varying demographics

Demographics information can be broken down in relation to Amazon customers (Kotler and Keller, 2012):

• age
• profession
• gender
• household income
• education

While psychographic information refers to customers:

• Personality
• Attitudes
• Values
• Interests/hobbies
• Lifestyles
• Behavior

Just like other companies targeting customers, Amazon also heavily relies on demographics and psychographic information about its customers to effectively market its products.

To ensure that these different types of customers’ needs are met, Amazon offers an extensive range of products and services. For example, its Prime, $99 membership program targets those customers with higher household income. Different customers of Amazon mean varying perceptions desired by the very same customers. Prime has proved to be hugely popular among the wealthiest Americans, with Fortune reporting that 50 million Americans of having a Prime Membership.

What do these target customers’ value?

[Amazon customers tend to value fast, high-quality service at reasonable prices. As per the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos Our customers are loyal to us right up until the second somebody offers them a better service,” CEO Bezos says. “And I love that. it’s super-motivating for us’. Amazon’s is extensively focused on acquisition and innovation to ensure that the service it offers it the best possible for its customers. Differing demographic and psychographic information about customers explains why different customers value different factors. For example, an Amazon customer in the low-income threshold tends to value cost over anything else, while a customer with higher income tends to value sustainability.]

2.  Competitors

Who are the brand’s competitors?

[Amazon has intensively diversified its product offerings since its inception in 1994, when it solely focused on selling books. Currently, Amazon has products in categories ranging from e-commerce to IT, to physical brick-and-mortar stores, to entertainment and to cloud services. It competitors in these domains include, but not limited to: Walmart, Target, Costco (in physical brick- and mortar), Netflix, Time Warner Cable ( in entertainment) Apple, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce (in IT, and cloud services) and E bay (in e-commerce)]

What product category does the brand fit into?

[As outlined above, Amazon offers products in many segments as ranging from technology, entertainment, e-commerce, technology, and cloud services. Thus, it is hard to fit Amazon’s offerings into one category]

What frame of reference will customers use in making a choice to use/purchase this brand/service? What other brands/companies might customers compare this brand too?

[Customers of Amazon tend to use points of parity, and benefits while making purchase decisions. Customers tend to compare Amazon’s products in entertainment to that of Netflix, and its products e-commerce products to that of brick-and-mortar stores such as Walmart, and Target.]

3.  USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

How is this brand/company better than its competitors? What is the brand’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition?

[Unique Selling Proposition can best be defined as a statement which sets out how different a business, product or service is from the competition, attracting the target customers and helping them choose either your business, product or service (Gregory, 2016). There are a number of fundamental elements that compose Amazon’s Unique Selling Proposition.  These include, but not limited to; speed, convenience, and optionality. Speed is a core element in Amazon’s UPS. Amazon enables customers make purchases online with just a few clicks, obviating the need for customers to go to brick and mortar stores to make purchases.  With Amazon, customers can easily make purchases in as less as 30 seconds, effectively helping customers save time. Second, Amazon offers an extensive range of ancillary services and features which make Amazon the go-to online retailer for millions around the world. These include free shipping, which is faster than the shipping offered by the competitors, attracting more and more customers. Unlike with retailers, customers on Amazon can easily search for products and read reviews online. Free returns also constitute an essential part of Amazon’s USP. Third, when it comes to products themselves, no competitors can outperform Amazon on optionality. Amazon offers a bewilderingly wide range of products in any category.  Amazon’s marketing leverages these elements to communicate why they are the optimal online retailer to their target customers.

What is the brand’s uniqueness?

Amazon is unique from the competition largely because of its sustained innovations in so many areas the company operates in.  Prime, company’s membership program, which is hugely popular among millennial, and its latest foray into physical brick-andmortar industry with the acquisition of Whole Foods is a testament to how unique Amazon is amongst the competitors. Last, but not least company’s incursion into IT, an industry long dominated by giants such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft, with the introduction of Amazon Echo, AWS, and Alexa, gives credence to how unique the company is].

What is the competitive advantage of the brand? How is it different from other competing brands?

[Innovation in logistics (fast and free shipping) and in customer service coupled with Amazon’s number of warehouses and its successful forays into IT with AWS, ALEXA, and Echo are the fundamental elements that make up Amazon’s competitive advantage over the competition. Unlike Walmart, Target offers an extensive range of products which can be purchased easily. Amazon’s customer-centric approach to customer services is also key for its competitive advantage over other brands. Overall, costs, speed and convenience offers Amazon a competitive advantage over the competitors.]

Does the brand have any attributes or benefits that dominate competitors? [ According to Financial Times, Amazon accounts for a considerable 43% of online businesses in the USA alone, and its market share in countries such as UK and Germany is growing. In the cloud industry, Amazon’s AWS has a market share of around 30%, making it one of the three big players in the industry.  Given its considerable economic imprint and technology, Amazon remains the undisputed leader in e-commerce in the world.]

4.  Positioning Statement & Motto

Develop a new positioning statement and motto for the brand you selected.

Below is an example of BMW’s positioning statement and motto.

• BMW Positioning statement: The brand for discerning customers of sports cars (target customers) who want an exhilarating experience (USP).
• BMW Motto: BMW is the ultimate driving machine.

Amazon Positioning statement:

Amazon is a company that offers services and products in a wide range of categories such as entertainment, e-commerce, technology and cloud services for individuals and corporations alike. Leveraging its unique positioning and imprint, Amazon strives to become the go-to company for users and customers wanting these products and services.

Amazon’s Motto:  A truly multinational company that is truly customer centric.]

Reference list:

Gregory A. (2017). How to Write a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). [online] Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-write-a-unique-sellingproposition-usp-2951698 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Robischon N, (2017). Why Amazon Is The World’s Most Innovative Company Of 2017 | Fast Company. [online] Available at:

https://www.fastcompany.com/3067455/why-amazon-is-the-worlds-mostinnovative-company-of-2017 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Wabha P, (2017). Amazon Prime Is Gaining Steam, Posing Fresh Threat to Walmart, Target. [online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2015/12/03/amazon-prime-walmarttarget/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Kotler and Keller, (2012). Marketing Management, 12^th end, Prentice Hall