Brand Positioning: Crucial Ingredients And How To Guide

What is Brand Positioning? Simply put, it is the process for identifying and differentiating your brand from your competitors in a meaningful way. It’s discovering and refining your distinctiveness, so you can clearly communicate that to the world. And if you fail at this, your customers won’t know whether to buy from you or your competitors.

Now let me ask you a serious question. What does Apple and Donald Trump have in common? 

And I’m not referring to that time when Mr President referred to Tim Cook as Tim … Apple. The thing they have in common is their ability to create a brand that truly resonates and deeply connects with their fans and followers.

What are the benefits of Brand Positioning?

Building engaging and memorable brands like that doesn’t happen by accident or synchronicity. A series of lucky coincidences don’t just build up to a brand that ends up captivating millions of fans. In fact what you witness in these two brand examples is the magic of a solid Brand Strategy at work.

We live in a world with more power for consumers than ever – able to curate the brands we deal with like never before. As consumers, we tend to pick and choose to deal only with those brands that resonate with us. We come back only to those brands that treat us like humans rather than a transaction. Ultimately we choose brands that inspire us for action or create a positive impact in our lives.

Great brands like Virgin, Apple, Jeep (and even Donald Trump) have built a following because they understand the ingredients necessary to create a lasting and memorable impression on their customers.

So when you are evaluating your current Brand Positioning, ask the following questions about your brand:

Are you clear on what your brand offers?

You need to make sure there is an alignment with all key stakeholders about what you think your brand offers, the process you use and most importantly, why you do what you do. I mean really get to the core of your mission and cause and why you started the business in the first place – besides the dollars of course! Defining these will give you additional clarity for your business so that you can move forward with confidence without double guessing your choices.

Are your actions reflective of your brand values?

Brand Values are your brand anchors that differentiate your brand from your competitors, show the world what you stand for, and give your customers something to relate to (something that goes beyond your logo or website). Your brand needs to live and breathe these through your behaviours, actions and interactions with your customers. Your values need to be: unique, relevant, meaningful, clear and defined and actionable.

It’s important to understand that a brand is not just a logo or a business name.

How does your brand answer you customers needs?

Your brand needs to align to the subconscious human needs your customers have, and show them how you can help them fulfil that need. When identifying the customer needs for a brand I personally refer to a Frankensteined version of a table that uses concepts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid and Manfred Max-Neef’s Fundamental Needs Model. When you align to the human needs, customers start seeing your business as a brand genuinely passionate about the customer. Positioning that doesn’t adapt to and predict your customer’s needs will struggle to stay relevant today.

Do you have a guide to make informed business decisions?

Your Brand Positioning should act as a strategic compass. The three ingredients above are so powerful, they can inform the creation of a clear Positioning Statement. This statement will become the guide you will use to measure and validate the relevance and success of any future branding activity. Your employees and leaders can use your Positioning Statement to guide their strategic decisions and make your brand more competitive and consistent in the process.

Final thoughts on Brand Positioning and Positioning Statement.

Brand Positioning then is perhaps the most crucial and fundamental component that can empower you to create a successful brand. It is a powerful tool for setting your business up to thrive and succeed. In order for you brand or business to lead the way and draw consumers in, you will need a compelling story and a solid Brand Positioning Statement. And it has to connect on a deep, intrinsic level. 

The Positioning Statement is a crucial compass for crafting a memorable and meaningful brand, because it enables you to validate any future branding activity. So when you start to create your logo, a website or even when hiring a new employee – ask yourself, ‘Does this support and build on my brand as defined by my Positioning Statement?’

For practical exercises you can implement with your team or partners to define your Brand Positioning and create your Positioning Statement, download our free Build Better Brands Guide, or reach out to studio@studeo.com.au for more information on our services.