51. Which of the following is NOT true based on this perceptual map?
a. Paris and Rome are seen as places where there is lots to see and do, but they’re relatively expensive.
b. Nassau and Tampa are perceived as beach trips that are relatively affordable.
c. The first customer segment is very well-served.
d. The second customer segment is seeking more to do on their holiday and is not concerned about price.
52. If a company promotes broadly and heavily, it is probably looking to
a. create a niche market.
b. offer low prices.
c. move a lot of merchandise.
d. distribute through selective channels.
53. Which of the following combinations should be avoided?
a. low price and low quality
b. high price and high quality
c. heavy promotion and low (exclusive) availability
d. heavy promotion and high availability
54. If a brand has an exclusive image, it would make good sense to avoid
a. overly promoting it.
b. charging a premium price.
c. engaging in light promotion.
d. distributing it through selective channels.
55. A CEO is considering how he wants his company to be positioned. He has thought of it as the coolest brand
and the brand with the best value. Which of the following is true about his predicament?
a. He can’t position it as the coolest brand.
b. He can’t position it as the brand with the best value.
c. He can probably achieve either of these goals, but not both.
d. He can achieve both of these goals.
56. Which of the following positioning combinations makes the most sense?
a. low price, low quality, exclusive availability, heavy promotions
b. high price, low quality, exclusive availability, heavy promotions
c. low price, high quality, exclusive availability, light promotions
d. low price, low quality, widely available, heavy promotions
57. Which of the following is one of three basic corporate strategies for creating value and achieving market
stature?
a. operational excellence
b. development leadership
c. quality placement
d. customer innovation
58. Operational excellence refers to companies that
a. are good at production, delivery, price, and convenience.
b. pride themselves on quality and innovation.
c. are willing to tailor their products to particular customer needs.
d. are expensive but expected to pay off in long-term loyalty and enhanced customer lifetime value.
59. Product leadership refers to companies that
a. are good at production, delivery, price, and convenience.
b. are expensive but expected to pay off in long-term loyalty and enhanced customer lifetime value.
c. pride themselves on quality and innovation.
d. are willing to tailor their products to particular customer needs.
60. Customer intimacy refers to companies that
a. pride themselves on quality and innovation.
b. are willing to tailor their products to particular customer needs.
c. target and position themselves high in the market.
d. are good at production, delivery, price, and convenience.
61. Who originally described the three basic corporate strategies to creating value and achieving market stature?
a. Treacy and Wiersema
b. Tracy and Wiseman
c. Thompson and Walters
d. Tisdale and Winters
62. Which of these companies uses a strategy of operational excellence?
a. BMW
b. McDonald’s
c. IBM
d. Apple
63. Which of these companies uses a strategy of customer intimacy?
a. BMW
b. Apple
c. McDonald’s
d. Verizon
64. Which of these companies uses a product leadership strategy?
a. Apple
b. FedEx
c. Verizon
d. McDonald’s
65. If you want to sell unique wristbands to the 250 participants in a special boating event to raise funds for
research for a rare disease, which of the following strategies would you select?
a. high quality product, low price, heavy promo, exclusive channels
b. high quality product, high price, heavy promo, exclusive channels
c. high quality product, high price, light promo, exclusive channels
d. high quality product, high price, light promo, wide distribution
66. Your company manufactures several different basic appliances that are suitable for young adults
establishing their own homes for the first time. Which of the following strategies would you use?
a. high quality product, lower price, light promo, wide distribution
b. high quality product, lower price, heavy promo, exclusive channels
c. low quality product, lower price, heavy promo, wide distribution
d. low quality product, lower price, light promo, wide distribution
67. In his books on Competitive Strategy, __________ discusses generic strategies driven by keeping costs
down and prices competitive, leading by differentiation (e.g., excellence in quality or innovation), or when
appropriate, niche positioning.
a. Mark Patton
b. Mitchell Paul
c. Matthew Pilsner
d. Michael Porter
68. What do the letters of USP represent?
a. ultimate selling proposition
b. unique selling proposition
c. unique selling product
d. universal selling point
69. The USP concept captures the
a. product category.
b. target segment.
c. product’s position.
d. competition.
70. Jen is developing the positioning statement for a new line of sunglasses. In a meeting, the marketing team
tells Jen that she has succinctly and clearly expressed the competitive advantage of the new sunglasses brand.
The team approves of the way Jen wants to express the brand’s competitive advantage, and tells her to continue
her work on fully developing the positioning statement. Which element of crafting the positioning statement has
Jen’s team just approved?
a. positioning
b. target marketing
c. target segmenting
d. unique selling proposition
71. Joseph is having trouble writing a good positioning statement for the accounting software his company sells.
What could be causing Joseph’s problem?
a. His software is too expensive.
b. His software is like his competitors’ software.
c. His software can be sold online and in computer stores.
d. His software is unique.
72. Once a company has decided upon its positioning, either for the corporation as a whole, or for one of its
brands, it must be able to communicate __________ the parameters of that position to __________.
a. succinctly, a number of audiences
b. verbosely, a number of audiences
c. succinctly, one audience
d. verbosely, one audience
73. A positioning statement will __________ customers who are not addressed in the statement.
a. be used by
b. have no meaning to
c. encourage purchases by
d. be confusing to
74. When you are writing a positioning statement, if you don’t have real differences and cannot see a way to
create them, then you can create a difference based on
a. image.
b. the future.
c. opinion.
d. data.
75. When writing a positioning statement, it is a good idea to abstract from the level of the brand’s attributes to
the __________ benefits to the customer.
a. concrete
b. impractical
c. intangible
d. money-related
76. To write a positioning statement, you should answer all of the following questions EXCEPT:
a. Who are you trying to persuade?
b. Who are you competing with?
c. How are you better?
d. What are your weaknesses?
77. A positioning statement captures how you want to
a. be perceived.
b. manage your business.
c. describe your customers.
d. improve your product.
78. A positioning statement can be a foundation for
a. product descriptions.
b. communication with external audiences.
c. market research.
d. product development.
79. Who is the target segment for the Alphatronics positioning statement: “We at Alphatronics are the gym for
the serious body builder.”
a. serious body builders
b. employees at Alphatronics
c. anyone who reads the positioning statement
d. people who want to join a gym to lose a few pounds
80. The positioning statement can serve as an internal memorandum keeping all managers aligned as a basic
guiding principle in all their collective decisions, so as to enhance the likelihood of __________ in the results of
those decisions.
a. innovation
b. consistencies
c. success
d. employees’ support
81. What is positioning, and why is it probably the most important aspect of marketing?
82. Explain the concept of perceptual maps and why marketers find this tool valuable.
83. Explain this perceptual map.
84. Identify and describe the three basic corporate strategies for creating value and achieving market stature.
85. Consider price, quality, availability, and promotions. Which combinations of these make the most sense?
Why?
86. In terms of the positioning matrix, what types of companies tend not to make it?
87. What are the three questions that must be answered in order to write a positioning statement?
1. Who are you trying to persuade? (Who is your target segment?)
2. With whom are you competing? (Who are your competitors, what is your major product category, what
frames of reference will customers use in making choices?)
3. How are you better? (What is your uniqueness, your competitive advantage, your point of difference,
and do you have attributes or benefits that dominate competitors?)
88. Positioning statements vary widely. They can be straightforward or surprising. Give some examples of
different types of positioning statements from the real world.
89. Explain what a USP is and how it is used.
90. Why should positioning statements be succinct? How can this be achieved?
