The Competitive Position of the Company: The Contradictions of Essence and New Approaches

This paper analyses some key definitions and ideas of brand positioning among scientists for the recent 40 years. There are a lot of contradictions in the meaning of this concept that complicates the development of the firms’ full-scope positioning strategy and creates confusions in scientific studies. The paper attempts to describe the importance of a complex approach to competitive positioning of the enterprise which relies not only on marketing positioning of its products or itself but also on positioning relative to competitors and current (or possible) employees. It is also shown that behavioral factors (including cultural variations) should be considered in the positioning strategy. The article proposes a comprehensive approach to the classification of positioning strategies based on the systematization of criteria for creating excellent characteristics of a product, brand, and enterprise. The paper concludes with several suggestions on the modern view of the competitive positioning concept, where the subject of competitive positioning was not only the product but also the enterprise that produces it. As a result of this research, it is proposed to join competitors and employees of the company to the objects of competitive positioning, which would result in the emergence of the concept of behavioral competitive positioning