On This Page: Effective Brand Positioning | Positioning Process | Next Steps
Brand Positioning is one of those statements that can have different meanings and be quite confusing. For our purpose, brand positioning is is the identification of a core target market for a brand, product or service and how it should be perceived in that market.
Effective Brand Positioning
In order to be effective, the positioning of a brand, product or service must satisfy three distinct variables:
- it must be unique
- it must be something no one else is doing (differentation)
- it must be something the market wants (verifiable value)
If these three criteria are met, then the brand has a good position and communication can start which emphasizes these merits. Special caution must be exercised to ensure that what is being offered as unique is not generic or too broad like "good customer service" which in theory should be the goal of any business. This phenomena is referred to as "me too" brand positioning and is in contradiction with the requirement of differentation.
Positioning Process
The brand positioning process involves these core concepts:
- Identifying your brand's direct competition.
- Use a S.W.O.T. analysis to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats posed by the competiton.
- Review current brand position if it has been in the marketplace prior. (how did we get here?)
- Develop a positioning concept that identifies and utlizes the above information.
Brand positioning is the root of overall marketing strategy and the positioning concept in the final step must be solid before moving to the next steps.
Next Steps
Once the brand position concept is solidified, then further strategy and communication with the identified core target market can get under way with:
