Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? The goal of every business is to maximize profits. (Some of us share those profits with the people we work with, but the subject of corporate greed is another blog post.)
There are dozens of things that stand in the way of a company’s growth. Let’s focus on one we can control with a bit of hard work, research, and honest appraisal — brand positioning.
Developing impactful brand positioning strategies emphasizes a company’s strengths, polishes its brand image, and offers rocket fuel to the sales team. To be sure, the greatest benefit of a brand positioning project is the clarity it brings to the entire organization. Sales pitches are better, advertising is more effective, and communications give potential customers the information they need to go from interested to buyer.
What is a Brand Positioning Strategy?
A brand positioning statement is the flag a business plants to signify its identity, the benefits it offers, and the value it brings to its customers. It’s the most important thing to help a company stand out from the competition, and, we’ll argue, without a clearly defined and actionable brand positioning statement, a company is sure to be stuck in middling growth.
We don’t want that, do we? No, we don’t.
Brand positioning strategies are when an agency takes that well-defined brand positioning statement, which includes things like target market and target customer definitions, value proposition, differentiated value definitions, and competitive analysis, and establishes a framework for marketing, advertising, communications, and social media efforts.
Plus, when a brand positioning strategy is combined with marketing strategies built for target customers, companies see exponential growth in brand awareness and brand loyalty as customers create associations between need and solution.
Let’s explore the definition of a brand positioning statement, how it is defined, and how it is brought to life.
Big Question First: Why is brand positioning important?
Unless you’ve developed the first-ever lavender-scented jell that simultaneously grows hair, burns fat, boosts libido, and fixes the ozone layer (are we still worried about that?), your company will have competition for your product or service. Sorry for the harsh reality, but no matter how amazing you think your product or service is, dozens of other companies say the same thing.
You don’t think so? Nike goes against Adidas, Under Armor, and New Balance. Coca-Cola fights Pepsi, RC Cola, and Shasta. Our beloved Taylor Swift battles for cultural dominance over Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan.
What industry leaders have in common is that they’ve uncovered that brand positioning is the surest path to profitability and relevance because it signals to potential customers that the company’s product or service will satisfy all of their wants and needs.
If we look at Coca-Cola (and who doesn’t love an ice-cold Coke?), brand positioning helps distinguish it from dozens of competitors around the world, boosting the company’s brand awareness and communicating its unique value proposition to its customers. The company’s clearly defined brand identity, value proposition, unified marketing strategies, and effective brand positioning boost its bottom line, increase market share, and create a competitive advantage against fellow soda companies.
Also, an actionable brand positioning statement is the foundation for sales, marketing, and communications efforts that will drive connection, inspire trust, and fuel loyalty. When a company (or a brand positioning agency) takes the time to create a brand positioning statement and a brand positioning strategy, every outbound marketing effort works in unison and helps deliver a unique value proposition to potential customers. A successful brand positioning project articulates the value that a brand presents to its customer, highlighting its brand promise.
So, why does a business need positioning? Because it is the runway for every business’s success.
What types of businesses need a brand positioning statement?
Any company in a competitive market, which is 99.999999999999% of businesses today, needs a positioning statement.
Does a mom-and-pop coffee shop need to dedicate precious time and money to developing a positioning statement with sales, marketing, and communications strategies attached? Probably not. If you own a small business selling a product or service, it’s a safe bet you can create your positioning statement. But you better know what makes you stand out from that other cafe down the street, not to mention Starbucks, Peet’s, and Philz.
Start-ups need to tackle a brand positioning strategy and brand positioning statements as soon as its product/service is ready to go to market to give the sales and marketing teams points of differentiation and value as they go out to the marketplace. Point of warning — it’s 97.5769% possible that a start-up’s go-to-market positioning will evolve over the first couple of years in business as your offering grows to meet new customer needs.
Any small fish, big pond businesses had better find a way to fight for a sliver of the industry that starts by understanding who they are, what their customers are after, and how they offer value. Developing a brand positioning strategy helps customers discover your brand and helps customers to create associations that you are a solution to their challenge.
The simple truth is that all businesses and brands need to establish their brand identity while conveying their value proposition and the value their brand brings to their target customer to prosper in these busy times.
You get the idea.
I get the idea. Can you give me some examples of brand positioning?
Heck, yeah. Hold on one second.
You’re gonna tell me how to create a brand positioning statement, aren’t you? Yep. Here is how to create a brand positioning statement in 9 steps.
Let’s not get too highfalutin about it. It’s easy to wax poetic and tell you that a successful, actionable brand positioning and brand positioning strategy project blends science, art, research, and conversation. It’s harder to bring clarity and simplicity to a brand positioning strategy and how to create a brand positioning statement.
Certain steps are needed to uncover a brand positioning strategy, brand positioning statement, unique value proposition, and actionable plan to reinforce your brand’s differentiating qualities.
Let’s get into it:
1. Pick the Players — Identify executives from sales, product, customer service/success, marketing, and accounting who can offer well-rounded perspectives on your customers, products, and plans.
2. Define the Competition — Look at direct competitors and companies selling a product or service in adjacent markets that can move into your space with minimal friction.
3. List your Unique Attributes — This shouldn’t be too hard. What do you do? What are your product’s features or company’s capabilities? What makes you great? Boom. Make a list.
4. Uncover your Differentiated Value — Take the list from Step 3 and ask yourself two questions: What does it do for customers? Why does it matter? Companies need to be ruthless and drill down until they find the brand’s differentiating qualities that make them different and uncover the value their brand brings to target customers.
5. Look for Ideal Customers — Demographics and firmographics are good starting points, but avoid generic definitions of your ideal customers and look for those who care about your differentiated values and unique value proposition enough to buy.
6. Clarify your Marketplace — While most companies nail this in the early days, it’s a good idea to confirm your target market is correct and investigate adjacent opportunities to make sure you’re on top of your target customers. Plus, this would be a good time to verify your service category answers what’s needed in the target market.
7. Codify the Findings — Draft a document or presentation to act as a roadmap for everyone who works in your company that articulates the value proposition and offers guidance on brand identity, brand positions, and how you can attract your target audience. By defining brand positions and value proposition, a company’s sales and marketing strategies are united.
8. Test the Hypothesis — One of the best ways to validate the new brand positioning is to have a salesperson test it on a new potential client, confirming that the company articulates the value of its services (or products) cleanly and clearly and that its core values are on display.
9. Refine and Roll — Based on feedback from your sales team and other stakeholders, refine the positioning statement and roll it out to your marketing and communications teams. This is where brand positioning strategy and brand positioning is a marketing strategy designed to raise brand awareness and customer loyalty. Plus, advertising agencies can develop creative ads that appear in the places your target customers live.
NOTE: For this to be successful, the entire C-suite must invest the time and engage with the process. We can’t emphasize this point enough. Plus, we always love engaging any person in the company who engages with customers for the raw information. After all, those are most often the people that your customers trust.
Got it. Can we get back to the examples?
Right right.
Don Draper. That’s the name people of a certain age think about when they’re dreaming up a tagline, advertising campaign, or brand positioning statement. After all, our friend in the black suit and skinny tie came up with the “It’s Toasted” positioning statement in the pilot episode of “Mad Men” in three minutes after asking four questions to the execs looking to uncover the brand’s unique value. In that scene, Lucky Strike’s brand positioning is important because it needed a competitive advantage over a slew of other brands.
It typically isn’t that easy. But you asked for brand positioning examples. There are oodles of marketing blogs (not to mention our AI friends/overlords) out there covering this topic and talking about mega-companies like Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, and Starbucks. Heck, even McDonald’s brand positioning or Dove’s brand positioning is interesting. But…
Snoresville.
Let’s talk about music and musicians. (And, yes, this is our Loudermilk moment.)
Public Enemy
In 1985, PE was an upstart hip-hop collective fighting for attention in New York City. Competition, including Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, and the legend Grandmaster Flash, was fierce. Led by Chuck D and Flavor Flav, Public Enemy’s unique attributes were its fiery political messages, deep bass and drum musical tracks, stagecraft, and willingness to take on the status quo. The group found an eager audience looking for a champion who would give voice to their anger and disappointment. Their first few releases built their brand (testing the hypothesis), and then the group hit stardom with 1990’s “Fear of a Black Planet” and the Grammy-nominated “Fight the Power.”
Learnings = Public Enemy understood the competition, defined its unique attributes, found a willing audience, and refined its singular positioning with each release.
Taylor Swift
A 17-year-old Taylor Swift may have hoped for the success that’s rushed toward her at warp speed since 2006, but it’s hard to imagine it was something she built a strategy around and launched. That said, she created a singularly authentic voice and gave her audience what they needed: a compassionate, hopeful, romantic, and, yes, heartbroken brand. (We don’t mean to say it’s an act. Please understand that.) Over the years, she adapted as her audience grew up, writing about more adult themes and expanding her musical palette.
Learnings = Taylor Swift developed a musical career that was and is authentically her, playing music that was comfortable to her and writing lyrics that mirrored her life and experiences. Intentional or not, she identified an audience, refined what makes her unique, and continued to evolve as her market changed. Taylor’s version shows that positioning can, and often should, evolve.
Metallica
Thrash metal is not for everyone. Duh. What makes Metallica an interesting mini-case study in terms of positioning is that the band spun from the dirtiest clubs playing the messiest blend of rock and roll (we’re fans, just FYI) into the biggest rock and roll outfits in the world. Their master capability? Playing fast and loud. What does that enable? Headbanging and release. What’s the marketplace? Once upon a time, it was angry young (mostly white) men. Now, it’s a broader spectrum of music fans of all ages.
Learnings = Metallica pressure tested its positioning hypothesis — thrash metal made for angry young men — with 1991’s eponymous black album. The reviews from thrash-era fans were not positive, to say the least. The band didn’t buckle, pushing forward with cleaner rock and roll, albeit with a classic Metallica edge. This is a great lesson for any brand — build the position and brand, look to grow and evolve, and stay true to yourself.
We can do this all day and give you dozens of examples of brand positioning, but let’s get on with it.
Can I create a brand positioning statement on my own?
Sure, you can create your own positioning statement.
But, do yourself and your future self a favor and avoid a MadLib-type positioning statement like this: We are a ____________ that does ____________, unlike ____________, ____________, and ____________.
Any generic positioning statement may do more harm than good because it can diminish your company’s uniqueness. Remember, positioning works when it’s clearly defined and unique.
Take the outline from above and answer the questions as fully as possible. Look for the cleanest way to express the value that a brand presents to its customer. Finding a third party to lead the work may be helpful since they can stay emotionally unattached to the final result.
Now Let’s Put that Brand Positioning to Work
Okay, you’ve put in the hard work and created a brand positioning framework. Deep breath. But don’t sit still. Your competitors are out there chasing your customers.
So, let’s get back to work and attack that target market and target customers with marketing, advertising, content, and social media that communicates your company’s brand position and refers to the unique value proposition of your company.
Plus, let’s equip sales reps with current brand positioning messaging and visual assets for their presentations to potential customers. Let’s remember that those salespeople are ultimately the ones who tell us if the positioning works and if we’re putting the company in a strong brand position.
Marketing — our new brand position enables us to create messaging and visuals that will engage, convince, and convert potential customers because it answers their greatest challenges. Of course, a marketing strategy is always important.
Advertising — brand strategy and our new positioning statement help us develop creative ads that appear in the places where are customers are with messaging that drives interest
Content — now that we know our differentiated value proposition and understand our customers’ challenges, we can produce the content that moves our customers from consideration to conversion
Social Media — let’s use the power of social media to communicate our brand position to the target market, whether they know about us or not
Sales Collateral — sales decks, brochures, videos, testimonials, sales sheets, and more are tools that salespeople need to express the company’s brand position and solutions.
Businesses that leverage these tactics see their sales skyrocketed ultimately strengthening their company’s position in the marketplace and growing its profitability.
How Long Does a Brand Positioning Project Take?
Fair question. Our experience shows that building a brand positioning strategy, brand positioning framework, and brand positioning statement takes between 6 and 8 weeks of intensive work. Typically, brand positioning statements come with intensive work between the agency and the client. Often, other positioning strategies are uncovered, and marketing tactics are launched during the process.
The ultimate goal is to grow the bottom line with effectively leveraged brand positioning, so our recommendation is to give the time, energy, and knowledge to offer the greatest benefit.
Anything else?
What makes brand positioning important is the perception of your company’s promise so that your business continues to grow. We’re here to help. Set a meeting or drop a line if you find yourself stuck.
