What is Brand Positioning?
Brand positioning is a strategic marketing and communications concept. It describes how a brand should be perceived in the minds of consumers. Brand positioning aims to present your company as different from its competitors. It also helps you gain the sympathies of your stakeholder groups.
A brand is the stakeholders’ perception of your company.
It is what they tell each other about you.
The brand positioning process helps you understand your business and customers. It enables you to focus on what’s important to your business. To make better decisions. Using a brand positioning strategy also helps you make better products or provide better services. A well-positioned brand acts as an anchor to company-internal and -external stakeholder groups. It shapes all your doing. So chose wisely and concisely!
What makes brand positioning successful?
Ideally, your brand’s positioning can be described in two very short yet highly complicated sentences. They both require that you have gone through the brand positioning process thoroughly.
The first one is Marketing’s most powerful idea.
It is rooted in the idea of belonging, of unity, of tribes.
People like us do things like this.
This statement by Seth Godin summarises beautifully how a complex system like a brand can be broken down to a basic idea.
The second is called an “Onlyness-statement”. Marty Neumaier, an acclaimed author and practitioner of marketing, uses this to position their clientele’s brands. It goes like this:
Our brand (Name) is the only (Company Type) that does/is (unique differentiating factor or combination of factors)
If you can answer both of these questions, great!
Time to test your statements. You should publish them in a place where your target audience can scrutinise them. Before you do that that you (and your team) should however check them against these criteria:
Credibility
Can you fulfil the promised position? Is it believable that your brand can take that space in its context?
Uniqueness
Are you differentiated enough?
Which competitor is closest to your position?
Is there a chance to be the first to enter a new position?
Relevance
Do you solve real problems for real people? Can people relate to your brand and its promise?
Focus
If you are for everyone you are for no one – is your positioning sharp and focused enough?
Continuity
Is this positioning in line with what came before? Is there red tape to follow along in time and space?
I hope this helped you position your brand better.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out!
