An essential part of the marketing process is understanding Positioning and it's influence on consumers

In marketing, Positioning is the technique by which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product, brand, or organisation. It is the 'place' a product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market. Positioning is something that is done in the minds of the target market. A product's position is how potential buyers see the product. Positioning is expressed relative to the position of competitors. The term was coined in 1969 by Jack Trout in his paper, ""Positioning" is a game people play in today’s me-too market place" in the publication, Industrial Marketing. Traditionally, [marketing] has been a term applied to the process or act of bringing together buyers and sellers. ... This article is about the concept in marketing. ... A target market is the market segment which a particular product is marketed to. ...

Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market.

De-positioning involves attempting to change the identity of competing products, relative to the identity of your own product, in the collective minds of the target market.