How to Define Your Brand Positioning Strategy

All successful brands are unique, but they all have one thing in common – they have been positioned in such a way that they are easily distinguished from rival brands. In simple terms, that is the working definition of a brand positioning strategy. It is an approach to branding which enables the product or service you’re selling to become easily recognised and to develop a committed following of returning customers. It’s about much more than an effective logo and tagline (though both of these things are important), since it relies on coherent messaging across all platforms and media. This messaging is used to set your business apart from the competition and make yours the brand a prospective customer is most likely to opt for. In this article, we’ll look at brand positioning and break down the process of building an effective strategy for your business.

Brand Positioning Defined

Brand positioning is the art of taking your product and placing it in the minds and thinking of customers. The very best brand positioning is powerful enough to ensure that a particular product becomes the natural first choice for a specific sector of the market. The aspects which can be used to create a clear impression in the minds of a consumer include pricing, packaging, advertising and distribution. The ultimate aim is to create an overarching vision of your brand which sets it apart and makes it desirable. The most successful brands are those which take the initiative in this way and pull together all aspects of their branding with a single unified aim – cutting through the wider noise of the marketplace and then leveraging this brand awareness to drive sales. Effective brand positioning will enable you to clearly communicate the values of your brand to customers and prospective customers. At its most basic, it involves persuading prospective customers to find out more about your product, and existing customers to remain loyal to your brand. The most basic foundation of any successful brand positioning is a detailed understanding of two things – your target audience and the precise offer of your brand. This understanding should then be used to highlight the competitive advantage you feel your brand enjoys and to highlight – perhaps indirectly – the failings of any direct rivals.

How to Position Your Brand

There are numerous options open to your brand in terms of positioning. The choice you make should be driven by what you see as your most positive selling points, and the potential weaknesses or blind spots of your competitors. Overarching options include the following:

• Price – This position involves promoting your brand as the most cost-conscious choice available to customers, through the use of slogans and marketing material emphasising the low price point over any other aspect of the brand. For this positioning to work on a wider basis over the longer term, your operations will need to maintain strict control over costs and take advantage of economies of scale.
• Quality – Rather than talking about the price point, brands which position themselves on the basis of high quality will emphasise the luxury status of their goods or services, as well as their longevity, quality and superior functionality. The customers attracted to this brand positioning are those who are prepared to pay more for a guarantee of excellence.
• Differentiation – Strategies which emphasise differentiation are those which call attention to the features of your brand which set it apart from rival brands. Marketing an innovative brand calls for an emphasis on the research and testing which has gone into developing the product or service. Information of this kind will help to reassure customers who value innovation but who might otherwise hesitate to risk interacting with a completely new product or approach.
• Targeting – This approach to positioning places the emphasis on targeted groups of consumers who have been identified as the ideal market for the brand. The marketing strategies employed, as well as the nature of the offering itself, will then be tweaked and adjusted to appeal directly to the chosen target audience. Getting this right will involve intensive market research, but offers the possibility of developing a strong bond with customers and driving long-term brand loyalty.
• Usage – A utilitarian approach to brand positioning which concentrates on highlighting the specific application of the brand. In simple terms, the branding will emphasise something the product does particularly well and therefore appeal to customers who are looking for that specific usage. A vacuum cleaner may well position itself on the basis of superior suction and filtering, for example, in order to appeal to customers who value efficient cleaning.
• Convenience – Some brand positioning relies on convincing customers that your brand is simply the most convenient option. This could be based on location, ease of use or – in the digital era – the fact that the product is supported across multiple platforms. Making your brand the most practical choice will appeal to customers who need the right solution at speed with the minimum of fuss.
• Lifestyle – Some brands prosper through the creation of narratives which link their products to a particular lifestyle or set of attitudes. This approach helps to build strong brand loyalty and can be seen being used by brands like Nike and Apple.
• Comparison – Some brands adopt a positioning strategy which is based on direct comparison with a competitor. The ‘Pepsi Challenge’ is a famous example of this approach to branding, creating content which directly positioned Pepsi as the superior choice on the basis of taste.

Making the Choice

The process of positioning your brand can be long and complex, and is so important that it should never be attempted without detailed analysis and planning. The easiest way to approach the process as a whole is to break it down into smaller and therefore more easily achievable steps. These steps will include the following:

• Carry out in-depth market research to ensure that you have a detailed understanding of your target market. This means getting to know what they currently think of your brand and of direct competitors, and what needs and preferences they are bringing to their purchase choices.
• Take a close look at the brand positioning strategies being employed by your competitors. As well as potentially providing inspiration, this analysis will make it possible to spot any market opportunities your rivals are failing to target, thus providing gaps which you could position your brand in.
• Take a step back from your brand and analyse it dispassionately to determine its unique value proposition, and how it can be set apart from rival brands in a manner which is likely to appeal to your target market.
• Decide on the tone of your branding and set out the basic principles in writing. A written definition of this kind will provide a firm foundation for consistent branding and a reference point whenever any new platforms are utilised, or marketing materials produced.
• Go into the same kind of forensic detail when segmenting your target market along lines such as behaviour, income, aspiration and solution-driven, in order to target your branding with maximum impact.
• Work on creating a brand proposition which conveys the USP of your brand and the unique selling points it offers.
• Having worked on positioning and a brand proposition, you should start to create targeted messaging which conveys what your brand is, the ethos of your business and why and how it differs from the competition. As well as being highly persuasive, the messaging needs to be consistent in order to create the clearest possible identity.
• The written messaging you work on needs to be supported by a strong visual identity. The colour scheme, logos, fonts, typeface and all other aspects of your visual identity should be chosen on the basis of resonating with the target audience and reinforcing your chosen brand positioning.
• Once it’s been crafted, all branding material needs to be presented consistently along every part of the average customer journey.
• Before launching branding, or rebranding, carry out market research and utilise customer feedback to optimise the strategy and ensure it delivers everything it is intended to.
• Create a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor the ongoing impact of your brand positioning across a set of carefully chosen metrics.