You can assess your brand positioning if you wish to stand out in the minds of your consumers or customers. Optimal brand positioning can give a business a competitive edge. Marketing professionals who want their campaigns to be successful should learn more about brand positioning and some of the different positioning models.
In this post, we define a brand positioning model, go over the value of brand positioning, and look at five distinct models to take into account.
Companies can use a brand positioning model as a framework to make it simple for staff members and customers to comprehend a brand. The idea of a brand in the eyes of its consumers and what distinguishes it from rivals are referred to as brand positioning. Customers use it to recognize the brand, and it is expressed through the business’s voice and tone, visual identity, and social media interactions.
The fundamental elements of a company’s brand positioning are its basic virtues and values. For tactical and strategic actions to make a company’s goods and services stand out from the competition, brand positioning provides direction.
There are several reasons brand positioning is a key element for a company’s success, including that it:
- Communicates value: Successful brand positioning shows a product’s or service’s value, which helps to increase customer desire and persuade the client to buy it.
- Expresses brand association: Brand positioning forms a brand association in the minds of consumers, so your product or service is what they think about first.
- Increases customer loyalty: Effective brand positioning helps to enforce product credibility, which helps to increase consumer preference and promote customer loyalty.
- Distinguishing the brand from competitors: A distinctive brand position shows how a company’s products are better or different from similar products on the market. Brand positioning can emphasize how a company’s product can solve problems or meet customers’ needs.
- Simplifies purchase decisions: Brand positioning can help to make purchase decisions easier for consumers as it answers questions they may have and makes it easier for them to trust the brand.
- Boosts messaging: A brand positioning strategy helps a company improve its messaging and communicate details of its products and services more easily.
5 Brand Positioning Models
When selecting the most appropriate positioning for the company, it’s helpful to consider various options. Here are five brand positioning models to consider:
1. Infrastructure-led positioning
A company can choose to position its brand around its infrastructure. Factors such as location and time can provide a powerful platform for brand positioning. This may mean the brand has a global reach, accepting credit cards at more locations or providing emergency car services. An infrastructure-led brand position reflects leadership in innovation or scale.
2. Product or service-led positioning
A company may decide to position its brand around its particular customer value proposition. This is one of the most straightforward and traditional approaches to branding. It features a brand’s unique selling proposition (USP). This refers to a company’s most distinct and relevant product or service that entices customers. An example of this model may be consistently providing innovative and market-leading technology, while another may provide the lowest-cost alternatives.
3. Process-led positioning
A process-led brand positioning entails having a unique process that makes the brand distinct from the competition. While the company may offer a similar product or service as its competitors, the way the company delivers it sets it apart and gives it a competitive advantage. An example of this is to provide products with international next-day delivery.
4. Values-led positioning
A values-led brand positioning highlights a company’s unique values and ethics. This approach can be an especially helpful differentiator for brands in the services or professional services industry. Though a company may provide similar services, its approach, values and the people it attracts may set it apart.
5. Purpose-led positioning
A purpose-led brand positioning strategy centres around why a company does what it does instead of the how and what. A brand with a strong purpose may strive to help the overall society, which can also have long-term benefits for the company. Purpose-driven brand actions also help customers know what the company stands for. For example, a brand’s purpose may be to create products using only sustainable materials to benefit the environment.
How to Choose a Brand Positioning Strategy
The practice of positioning a brand is beneficial and aids in consumer validation. This aids in brand value communication and may ultimately boost business earnings. It is advantageous to approach brand positioning with a blend of rational and emotional components because brand preference is often the result of emotional and rational decision-making. These four steps will assist you in selecting a brand position:
1. Determine the current market position
The first step to choosing a brand position is to determine the company’s current position in the market. This helps to give you a clearer idea of how large the company will be before it can control the desired market space.
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Analyzing your current place in the market can be useful later when evaluating the brand’s place compared to its competitors. You can do this by researching your target audience to out how they view the brand and what consumers think sets your products and services apart from your competitors. This may help you determine whether it’s necessary to modify your marketing communications and messaging so they better reflect how your customers really view the brand.
2. Research the company’s main competitors
Next, you can conduct research into the market to identify who the brand’s major competitors are. This enables you to better understand what sets the company apart. Consider how the company’s product or service differs from competitors and what your competitors are doing to capture customers’ attention.
Analyze each of your main competitors to understand their brand positioning, evaluate what they do well and determine what you can do to outperform them. For example, their brand may communicate the uses of their product line more effectively, which can increase sales as customers can more easily see the reason for purchasing that product specifically.
3. Define what sets the company apart
Once you’ve identified the main competitors and their position in the market, you can then determine how to use this to your advantage. You can ask yourself why your brand is better than those with similar products. How does it better address customers’ needs? Why does a customer buy your products instead of those of a competitor? For instance, your products may fill a gap in the market and cater to a specific consumer need that competitors don’t address.
4. Create a positioning statement
Once you have a clear idea about how the company differs from its competitors, you can create a positioning statement. A brand positioning statement is typically two sentences that a company creates to provide a clear idea of who they are, what its brand is and how it endeavors to make the lives of customers easier and evidence of how this works in practice. The primary goal of this is to provide customers with something they can identify with and inspire them to buy the company’s own products rather than those of a competitor.
What Are The 6 Positioning Strategies For Your Marketing Plan?
A positioning strategy in marketing emphasizes the distinctive qualities that set a brand apart from its rivals. It describes how a brand wants to be seen by consumers in comparison to other brands. Reaching your target audience can be made easier by learning more about positioning tactics.
Positioning is a marketing tactic, often known as product positioning, used to sell your good or service to consumers in comparison to rival brands. The idea is to provide your brand with one distinctive quality that consumers will associate it with. Effective positioning strategies take into account the brand’s advantages and disadvantages, client needs, and claims made by rivals. Product positioning enables a business or brand to highlight niches in which it can outperform the competition.
There are numerous ways to apply positioning tactics. Although there frequently needs to be a central one, you can combine multiple to reach a wider audience and communicate with your customers in various ways. the following seven categories of positioning strategies:
1. Product characteristics or consumer benefits
In using this strategy for positioning, the focus is on quality. It addresses the brand’s durability, dependability or reliability and style. An example of positioning based on characteristics is when toothpaste companies refer to the product as “refreshing” or “cavity-fighting.” A slogan like “stronger than steel” communicates strength and reliability in a market where similar products exist but are differentiated through consistent product characteristics.
2. Pricing
This positioning strategy focuses on the relationship between price and quality and the consumer’s perception of the value of a product. In comparing jacket prices, a buyer might assume that a jacket higher in price is higher in quality. Conversely, a lower-priced product will position for affordability. Designer jeans boast quality because of cost, while department store jeans are accessible to all.
3. Use or application
When a brand reaches a larger market or changes the purpose of the brand or product, positioning may be based on its use or function. For example, a company that advertises its hot tea during colder seasons begins to promote an iced version during the summer to alter its brand’s use to reach a larger market through modifying applications. Tape or adhesives often used for home repairs can reposition the brand for decorative or craft projects. Widening the reach accesses a different type of customer.
4. Product process
This is when a brand is associated with a specific user or class. Endorsements by famous personalities or product influencers are examples. The athleticism exhibited by basketball players who wear specific sneaker brands is expected to be associated with the brand in consumers’ minds. In purchasing that brand, the expectation is that all who wear it will be as athletic. Another example is a shampoo, once specifically marketed only for babies, might change the application to people with sensitive hair or scalps. Repositioning based on the application will help a brand expand by sharing the market.
5. Product class
This consists of positioning two related products in the same product class simultaneously, resulting in an increased customer base. By positioning dried milk as both a breakfast substitute and a protein shake, the appeal is doubled to two different customer needs.
6. Cultural symbols
The objective of positioning based on a cultural symbol is to identify something like a symbol significant to people that hasn’t been used by competitors and harness it to associate your brand with that symbol. Airlines have done this with cultural symbols to associate with royal treatment.
7. Competitors (relation to)
Using competitors as a frame of reference to differentiate a brand is another type of positioning. Positioning your brand against competitors is an obvious challenge on quality and asserts that your brand is superior with a competitive edge. For example, one chicken-based fast food restaurant boasts a bovine mascot who encourages customers to eat chicken, aware that most other fast-food chains market beef burgers.
Positioning in relation to or against competitors inferentially acknowledges similarities but focuses on the differences, thus spotlighting your brand over the others.
How do You Write a Brand Positioning Statement?
A brand positioning statement is a succinct and powerful proclamation that corresponds to the needs of your target audience and sets you apart from your rivals. Determine your target market, emphasize your distinctive differentiator, illustrate your value proposition, and build your proof points while writing a brand positioning statement. Then, include all of these components in a brief sentence.
An effective brand positioning statement can be made using the following basic formula:
- Target Audience: Who is your target customer?
- Differentiation: What makes your brand unique? What’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
- Value Proposition: What value does your brand provide to the target audience?
- Proof Point: What evidence supports your differentiation and value proposition?
Combining these elements, we get the positioning formula:
“For [Target Audience], [Brand Name] is the only [Your Market] that [Differentiation] because [Proof Point].”
This statement succinctly communicates the essence of your brand, offering a clear picture of who you are, who you serve, and what sets you apart in your industry. It should guide your marketing efforts and ensure consistency across all communication channels.
