Perceptual Maps Explained: The Simple Tool Big Brands Use to Find the Perfect Market Fit

gabrielakvisionfac
Oct 6
3 min read

Updated: Oct 28

When it comes to positioning your brand in the marketplace, the key element is consumer perception. Have you ever wondered how big brands know exactly where they stand in the minds of their customers? The secret often lies in a marketing tool called a perceptual map. This simple but powerful marketing tool helps to visualize the brand's position through the eyes of the audience. A well-created perceptual map reveals not only where the brand stands but also where it goes in the future.

Person holding papers with graphs and charts, phone in other hand. Sitting on a dark sofa, wearing jeans. Focus on analyzing documents.

What is a perceptual map?

A perceptual map is a marketing tool showing how customers perceive brands or products on the market. The map is visualised in the form of a diagram or graph, where there are two key elements: axes and brands or products. The axes represent attributes that are relevant to a market segment in a specific industry, for example, price vs. quality in retail or services, design vs. innovations.

But why do they matter? The main goal of a perceptual map is to identify gaps or clusters in the market. It is very common for brands to use a perceptual map to analyze market and competitive positioning. They are used mainly by marketing and advertising teams to evaluate current strategies, identify competitors, and also to find out how to improve their product or service positioning, or even to spot a gap in the market. They help to understand consumer perceptions.

How to create a perceptual map

Now we know what a perceptual map is and why it matters for brands. So how can anyone create a one? In three easy steps, we will show you how you can build one on your own.

Step: Pick your parameters

The first step everyone needs to begin with is choosing their parameters. What parameters would your customer consider when choosing your product? Would it be price, quality, design, practicality, material, or innovations?

Let’s imagine that we have a new Airline. What parameters would customers look at when choosing an airline? Definitely the price of the flight ticket and service quality.

Step: Define your competitors

In the second step, you have to identify your competitors, other brands that compete with you. Aim for at least 10 other brands so the results are more accurate.

In our example of a new airline, we will define our competitors as the most known airlines: WizzAir, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Vueling, Emirates, Delta Air, Singapore Airlines, SmartWings

Step: Place your competitor

When having identified your competitors, you now have to place them on your map based on your chosen parameters. Draw your perceptual map with two axes, in our case: X-axes - price, Y-axes - service quality. Now you will have four quadrants:

High price - low quality service
Low price - low quality service
High price - high-quality service
Low price - high quality service

In those four quadrants, we need to place our competitors:

For example, we know that Ryanair and Wizz Air have cheap flight tickets but also very low-quality service, so we would place them in the second quadrant. Vueling and SmartWings have slightly better services but are still on budget, so we would place them in the middle. Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Delta Air are expensive but have good quality service, so we would put them in the third quadrant.

Airline chart with axes: price (low to high) and service quality (low to high). Airlines positioned accordingly. Gradient blue-green background.

Tools and templates for building a perceptual map

If you are new to creating perceptual maps, it is easier to start with some tools that are easy to use. Tools such as Canva, Google Sheets, or Microsoft Excel are perfect for beginners. They allow you to quickly visualize data and create a map without any professional skills. If you are working in a team, tools as Miro or Mural are great options for collaboration. They let you brainstorm, edit, and adjust the

map together in real time. For more professional marketers or agencies that are doing advanced analysis, suitable tools such as Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey. They allow companies to use real customer data about the perception of brands.

Conclusion

Perceptual maps are more than just graphs; they are a marketing tool showing how a brand is viewed by customers and where it stands against competition. By precisely choosing parameters, defining your competitors, and then placing them into the map, brands can identify opportunities, analyse and refine strategies to improve their market fit. Whether using tools like Canva or Excel or even more professional apps such as Qualtrics, perceptual mapping is a practical and useful approach for any brand looking to understand their perception on the market.