Indiantelevision.com Team

(29 May 2008 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: If a channel wants to be promoted uniquely and correctly as a brand, it needs to get its positioning absolutely right, stated Roberto Amoroso of Sky TV while addressing the Promax/BDA India 2008 conference today.

While branding is the "added value" that determine a brand's
positioning in the market place, positioning is how the brand appears in relation to its other competitors in the market, Amoroso explained.

Though the channel offerings that television has today count to hundreds, when it comes to the choosing of the favourite channel brands, consumers select from a very narrow "preferred menu."

"Every viewer has a specific channel preference and he does not like to visit certain channels at all. So here peeps in the most vital question…why is a particular channel preferred above the other channels? The answer is simple…it's the positioning that the channel's brand has created in the market place," said the creative director.

Amoroso explained this statement further by citing the different positioning that BBC and NBC have created for themselves in the market.

"While BBC has always been positioning itself as a channel for the mass with 'great traditional backing and quality programming', contender NBC's focus is more youth centric. And this difference in their positioning is the core element that has pulled in a loyal set of viewers for each of the two channels," explored Amoroso.

Viewers increasingly decide not on the basis of the product but rely on channel brands.

"Building a functional brand or making your brand functional isn't easy and many aspects have to be considered. Particularly, the marketplace, the product availability and the space you want to 'own' in the mind of the viewer. Getting this right is only the first step - the critical phase comes when you have to implement your strategy with promos and on-air graphics," he elaborated.

The correct implementation of these applied strategies and on-air graphics requires a vivid understanding of the positioning of the brand.

"If you do not have a good understanding of your brand's positioning in the market place, no matter how techno-sound and graphically brilliant your promo is, it really won't work," confirmed the creative director.

Finally, Roberto suggested those "five key points" that he thinks all creatives need to follow in order to get the brand positioning right.

He said:

• Positioning is not about the product but the place you own in the people's mind. You have to capture your space within that grey matter that is carrying so much of junk.

• To position your channel brand correctly, you need to understand your competitors positioning strategies first. You cannot position yourself on the same ground.

• You have to understand that a good promo will not help, only a right promo will. Only techno-gimmick will not help you position your brand rightly.

• You need to promote the brand not the product. Products are only tools to build a better brand, and

• Be consistent with your communication. Every time you cannot build a different brand positioning.