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This paper aims to contribute to the literature on place marketing by focusing on the concept of strategic needs, i.e. the set of strategic priorities that a place could achieve in a medium- to long-term horizon to improve its development.

The research examines the strategic needs of four local territorial systems (LTSs), i.e. clusters of municipalities that share social, economic and spatial similarities, located in a southern Italian province, through an analysis of their competitive positioning over three temporal instants.

For each LTS, the analysis identified a number of development goals that local policymakers could pursue and the strategies most suitable to achieve the said goals.

This paper proposes a new methodological approach to set the development goals of local areas based on the simultaneous assessment of their attractiveness and competitive capacity.

Focuses on the importance of successful competitive positioning in the European consumer market. Presents a model for establishing a competitive position in the minds of consumers. Proposes that the model presented will help marketing executives achieve a better competition position in the European market by the successful use of components and elements which it has identified.

We investigate the dynamics of competitive repositioning of firms in the deregulated U.S. airline industry (1979–1995) in terms of a firm's target market, strategic posture, and resource endowment relative to other firms in the industry. We suggest that, despite strong inertia in competitive positions, the direction of repositioning responds to external and internal alignment considerations. For external alignment, we examined how firms changed their competitive positioning to mimic the positions of similar, successful firms, and to differentiate themselves when experiencing intense rivalry. For internal alignment, we examined how firms changed their position in each dimension to align with the other dimensions of positioning. This internal alignment led to convergent positioning moves for firms with similar resource endowments and strategic postures, and divergent moves for firms with similar target markets and strategic postures. The evidence suggests that repositioning moves in terms of target markets and resource endowments are more sensitive to external and internal alignment considerations, but that changes in strategic posture are subject to very high inertia and do not appear to respond well to alignment considerations.

Sets out an exploratory study to give an alternative viewpoint of manufacturing logistics.

Based on causal analysis, the relationship between competitive strategy and manufacturing logistics was explored. Variables, including both positioning and competitive dimensions, in the competitive strategy that interacted with manufacturing logistics were identified. The elements of manufacturing logistics for this study included master production scheduling, capacity requirements planning, material planning, purchasing, and inventory control. A weighted business performance index was used to segregate the sample firms into three groups: high‐, average‐, and low‐performing organizations. For each of the performance group, the causal relationships between strategic elements and the performance of manufacturing logistics were then analyzed.

The results showed a significant relationship between competitive strategy and manufacturing logistics system performance.

Not all the elements in manufacturing logistics may contribute to the logistics performance. The construct of manufacturing logistics depends on a particular set of strategic variables that the organization designs.

Extends the study of manufacturing logistics beyond its boundary through a broader strategic perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to study the positioning points of successful retail enterprises in China, and to try to conclude the general law for selecting the positioning points.

By analyzing the evaluation data of countrywide samples and the impact factors of customer satisfaction, the authors select some successful retail enterprises in China to be the study samples. On the base of that, the performance concerning positioning points of the samples are discussed.

The paper reaches five valuable conclusions: first, successful retail enterprises have definite positioning points; second, successful retail enterprises commonly have a main positioning point and a second best positioning point; third, successful retail enterprises could choose commodity, service, price or shopping environment as their positioning point; fourth, retail enterprises in the same retail format could have different positioning points; fifth, the non‐positioning points of successful retail enterprises are usually above the industry average level, while those of retail enterprises in successful tendency could hardly reach the industry average level.

The limitation of samples (only large‐scale supermarkets) might still make the practical applications on other retail formats limited. Meanwhile, the criteria for identifying the successful enterprises in this paper are mainly customer satisfaction and loyalty, without considering the financial performance.

The conclusions in this paper have great significance for Chinese retail enterprises to establish a unique competitive advantage.

The conclusion concerning positioning points of this paper might be the first to answer the key issues in Chinese retail enterprises' positioning strategies.

Examines the competitive position of countries in Southern Europe in attracting multinational corporations (MNCs) through direct foreign investments (DFIs). Articulates the primary factors considered by multinational corporations when setting up activities through foreign direct investments. Develops techniques that are based on the perceptions of MNCs to help policymakers make their nations more appealing for direct foreign investments. Utilizes positioning mapping techniques to map manager perceptions of various Southern European countries (i.e. France, Spain, Greece and Italy). Finds the competitive positioning of the four countries. Estimates the ideal mix for a combination of the two most important factors involved when MNCs evaluate a country. Provides mappings of countries to evaluate their position in terms of attractiveness for MNC activities as an independent evaluation, or as part of a competitive assessment. Discusses actions that may be taken by a specific country to position itself favorably for DFIs.

Presents an empirical stuRecently, banks have found themselves facing more aggressive competition, uncertainty and unlimited opportunities. No bank can offer all products/services and be the best/leading bank for all customers. They are forced to find a new basis for competition. A bank must examine its strengths and opportunities and take a competitive position in the competitive marketplace. Discusses some strategic issues related to bank positioning. A number of ways in which distinctive positions can be developed and maintained have been identified. A well‐integrated application of technology and staff through operations that respond to customer needs encourage customers to use a whole range of banking products/services rather than just a few. It also helps to build loyalty by creating deeper and fuller customer relationships. Surveys how a bank has been selected and perceived from the point of view of its customers in relation to its competitors in that marketplace. Reveals that in Sweden, there is no single leading bank in all financial areas, but there are a number of leaders: a leader in terms of deposit base, a leader in terms of loans outstanding base, a largest bank in terms of assets, and a niche leader bank. Shows that functional quality is a more important factor than traditional marketing activities. As expected, convenience of location, price and advertising had a minor impact on bank selection.

While there are many studies on the relationship between service quality and productivity/efficiency (prodeff), between service quality and image and between services and positioning, so far, no work in the literature has examined the triangular relationship between quality, prodeff and positioning. This article aims to develop theoretically and empirically an insight understanding of the strategic relationship between service quality, prodeff and positioning strategies. A case study shows that the choice of positioning strategy is not a simple one: it is not merely a question of quality and prodeff, but concerns the behavior of the entire organization. Some key quality, prodeff and positioning measurement areas identified from the literature and the case study are outlined in the paper. Finally, the paper argues that the quality of PRODSERV and prodeff strategies must be tied to broad business and positioning strategies and should be part of the organization’s mission/vision statements.

The purpose of this paper is to review state-of-the-art literature on product/brand positioning to re-examine the positioning concept and developing a more comprehensive definition from a theoretical viewpoint.

A systematic review of positioning was conducted. The review conformed to a rigorous set of core principles: it was systematic (organized according to a method designed to address the review questions), transparent (explicitly stated), reproducible and updatable and synthesized (summarized the evidence relating to the review question).

The literature review reveals that there is lack of coherent definition for positioning, and there is no mutual agreement among marketing scholars and practitioners about the exact meaning of the concept. Therefore, comprehensive definition of positioning encompassing the five underlying positioning perspectives (competition; empty slot/mind; consumers’ perception, differentiation and competitive advantage) is suggested.

This paper will be useful for academicians to analyze the current nature of academic research in this area and will provide an added advantage to managers to design and implement positioning strategies for their product/brands that will allow their organizations to gain competitive advantage. This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect its generalizability.

Position and positioning is of relevance in society in broad terms, e.g. in sports, politics and culture. Positioning strategy is discussed and implemented in different industries (business-to-business and consumer), for all kinds of brands (including, for instance, corporate brands) and for “brands” in the very widest sense (such as places or people).

This is the first systematic review of positioning that provides a detailed understanding of the current state of positioning research on a single platform and also draws a comprehensive positioning conceptualization.

The purpose of this paper is to present a consumer‐oriented model of the market offering (marketing mix) whereby business practitioners, as well as academic scholars and students, can better understand the parallel‐based logic of how the four elements of a market offering are closely related and interdependent at the initial stage of market entry.

A consumer research study is conducted to identify the key factors that influence consumer buying decisions of particular products in Europe and North America. The five key factors identified are: importance of the product, time and effort to be spent in buying, technical complexity of the product, need for services in the buying process, and rate of product change. In addition, a thorough analysis of the marketing mixes used for numerous major categories of products is conducted. Based upon this research study and product category analysis, a consumer‐oriented model is developed. This model can then be used in establishing the initial market offering and subsequent competitive differentiation.

A basic foundation exists regarding the parallel relationship between and among the four elements of a firm's market offering – product, terms of sale, distribution, and communication – and why a change in any one of the elements generates a logical change in the other three.

The paper has used this model both in business consulting practices, and as an academic‐based learning tool.

The paper focuses on this interdependent relationship and the normal “fit” between and among the four elements of a successful initial market offering (marketing mix).