After the lecture on Brand Positioning, I happened to stumble upon an article on one of my favourite business magazines, Entrepreneur, that further explained the idea of brand positioning and how it can relate to oneself and their own selling points. Brand positioning involves figuring out how the brand fits in a person’s mind. In essence, how they feel about you or your product — not just what is brought to the table. Personally, I have lots of experience in leadership, teamwork, and working under pressure. I am also a perfectionist, and I believe in professionalism and being well-rounded. But all that does not capture what I will do for my peers, bosses, or others.

Source: http://original-ventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/apples-close-up_crop_iStock_000012524067Medium1.jpg

A better way to present myself would be as a “versatile, get-it-done” kind of worker. I can have a large variety of skills, and if I don’t have the know-how, I can learn it quickly, and do it all with a professional attitude and output. I can work with anyone, whether I need to take the initiative or do what I’m told.

That would be my elevator pitch. That’s how I would position the brand of myself.

The social-media giant, Twitter, released its IPO filing to the public, as it plans to begin trading publicly under the ticker TWTR.

Source: https://www.twitter.com

The IPO revealed information about Twitter’s 2012 financial statements, with numbers including a 198 percent increase in revenue to about $317 million, and a net loss decrease of 38 percent to $79 million. Investors now begin their analysis as to whether they should purchase Twitter shares, although pricing nor number of shares has been released. The public offering forces the company to begin releasing its financial information, which includes Income Statements and Balance Sheets. With this IPO, Twitter now has the opportunity to expand and grow if investors deem it to be worthy of obtaining shares. Twitter will also be able to offer employee stock ownership to attract talent and increase productivity. The company will also be subject to a lot more scrutiny from the public and from the Securities and Exchange Commission to avoid fraudulent behaviour. Also, previous stakeholders can now turn their equity into liquid stock or cash and become very wealthy. The IPO opens many financial doors, and puts Twitter in a position to expand and grow.

The typical thought that comes after the mentioning of the words “no-name brand” is likely to be associated with cheap, low quality products, for those who cannot afford otherwise. As a part of Porter’s Five Forces generic categories, they’d be listed as a Cost Leadership brand. But recently, Target has come out with two store-branded lines of food that have become increasingly competitive with the larger national brands. Both of which are considerably healthy and high-end, yet affordable. Target has been able to change the perception of the “no-name brand” and has relocated their products into the Focus Strategy category.

Source: http://globalfinance.zenfs.com/images/US_AHTTP_AP_FINANCIALTIMES/93077669156c1713340f6a70670096f7_original.jpg

The brands are specific to foods that are organic and are without GMO’s, allowing them to target a consumer market which is concerned with what they’re eating, but doesn’t want to break the bank to eat naturally. Their points of parity are having 40% of Simply Balanced’s foods being organic, and the majority of them being GMO-free. The main difference and selling point is that they are cheaper. The down-side, however, is that these products will only be sold by Target, since they are strictly a Target brand. Profits will be lower, but consumers will definitely be attracted.