Perceptual Maps and Competition: How to Understand and Improve Your Position in the Market

Perceptual maps are essential for understanding how customers perceive your brand in comparison to your competitors. Surprisingly, few companies use this method to make decisions about their market efforts. Perceptual maps provide insight into how customers view brands, any places where no competitor is competing, and how far away you are from being the best. The process of creating a perceptual map is relatively simple and involves collecting data from customers and plotting the data in a graph. Two-dimensional maps can also be created for features or a combination of features and benefits. It is important to be aware of the limitations of this approach and to seek help if needed.

Once you have the map, you can do gap analysis to determine which benefits you want to excel at and what you need to do to get there. It is essential to focus on the benefits and communicate them clearly in the market in order to change customer perceptions. Perceptual maps are essential for understanding the market and breaking out of a commodity market.

Resources are available to help with perceptual mapping and understanding competitors' positioning. It is essential to be aware of the limitations of this approach and to seek help if needed in order to make the most of this method.