1. Monosegment positioning. As the name suggests, monosegment positioning involves developing a product-and-marketing program tailored to the preferences of a single market segment. Successful implementation of this strategy would give the brand an obvious advantage within the target segment, but would not generate many sales from customers in other segments. This strategy is best used with mass-marketing.

2. Multisegment positioning. This consists of positioning a product so as to attract consumers from different segments. This is an attractive strategy since it provides higher economies of scale, requires smaller investments, and avoids dispersion of managerial attention. It is particularly appropriate when individual segments are small, as is generally the case in the early stages of the product's life cycle.

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3. Standby positioning. It may not be in the best economic interest of a firm to switch from a multisegment positioning strategy to a monosegment strategy (assuming the use of several brands, each positioned to serve the needs of only one segment) even if it increases total market share. In such a case, the firm may decide to implement a monosegment positioning strategy only when forced to do so, In order to minimize response time, the firm prepares a standby plan specifying the product(s) and their attributes as well as details of the marketing program(s) that would be used to position the new product.

4. Imitative positioning. This is essentially the same as a head-on strategy where a new brand targets a position similar to that of an existing successful brand. It may be an appropriate strategy if the imitative firm has a distinctive advantage beyond positioning, such as better access to channels of distribution, a more effective salesforce, or substantially more money to spend on promotion, including price deals.

5. Anticipatory positioning. A firm may position a new brand in anticipation of the evolution of a segment's needs. This is particularly appropriate when the new brand is not expected to have a fast acceptance, and market share will build as the needs of consumers become more and more aligned with the benefits being offered. At its best, this strategy enables a firm to preempt a market position that may have a substantial long-term potential. At its worst, it may cause the firm to face a difficult economic situation for an extended period if the needs of a segment do not evolve as expected.

6. Adaptive positioning. This consists of periodically repositioning a brand to follow the evolution of the segment's needs.

7. Defensive positioning. When a firm occupies a strong position in a market segment with a single brand, it is vulnerable to imitative positioning strategies. The firm may preempt competitive strategies by introducing an additional brand in a similar position for the same segment. This will reduce immediate profitability, but it may allow the firm to better protect itself against competitors in the long term. For example, Procter & Gamble has seven brands of laundry detergents, such as Tide and Bold, several of which occupy similar positions in consumers' minds.

Source:
John Mullins, Orville Walker, Jr.,Harper Boyd, Jean-Claude Larreche, Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

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