A Simple Definition Of Brand Positioning
Positioning is one of the fundamental elements of branding & marketing. Positioning is what makes a brand stand out and provides a unique value to its customers.
Where does a brand sit in the hearts and minds of customers?
A common question I hear from clients is, “What is Positioning and why does it matter?”
Positioning is what you do in the minds of your key audiences. Basically, it’s about taking advantage of your own strengths as well as filling in the weaknesses of your competitors to gain an advantage over them.
Let me explain you by an example:
McDonald’s
They are the world’s most widely known fast-food brand and compete with hundreds of other fast food outlets. One would think that they would position themselves as the quickest, cheapest, or most delicious tasting fast-food chain outlets.
The restaurant’s unique selling point is that it is a family-friendly restaurant instead of being what every fast food outlet is. It has children’s menu items, an accompanying toy with each child’s meal, and everything they do from their menus to outlet interiors is meant to attract children. Family-friendly establishments like this are designed to attract families.
Are you more likely to ask for a bandage or a Band-Aid when you scrape your knee?
Almost all successful companies share one thing in common: a strong brand positioning. As a result, their brands have become generic terms for all similar products. You start referring to electric cars by Tesla which is all due to the result of their strong brand positioning. You want a coke, you don’t want a Pepsi. You don’t ask for a burger, you ask for a Big Mac. You get my point.
What Is Positioning? (Technically)
A brand’s positioning is used to help a customer form an image of a company’s product or service. Positioning refers to how the brand’s offering is unique, how it offers a distinct benefit for customers. Through marketing, businesses communicate their market position to customers and influence their perception of their products. Marketing establishes a brand’s identity by influencing consumer perceptions about its position in the market in comparison with competitors’ offerings.
Positioning helps you determine where your business stands in the market and how it should be positioned to attract more customers.
If a product is poorly positioned, no matter how well it is marketed, it won’t reach its full potential. However, an excellent positioning strategy can be all that separates failure from profitability.
Developing a successful positioning strategy can help companies become authorities in their field. It can help them differentiate themselves from competitors for better brand recognition, or even create new markets by identifying unmet needs among consumers. It may be used to compete against established players who have been around longer as well as those who have an incredible distribution channel.
A successful brand positioning is one that creates a unique space for the product or service in the mind of the customer.
Wrong positioning can kill a brand, but how?
This can happen if the product is not appealing to the right audience or if it is targeted at the wrong audience.
Tata Nano is an example of a positioning strategy that turned out wrong. It was advertised as an affordable car for the working class. Who wants to drive a poor person’s car? Poor people certainly don’t — buying your first car should be an aspirational, joyous experience. And thus a stellar product was undone by unwise positioning & marketing.
About me:
I’m Harsh Makwana, a brand, and web designer from India.
To contact me, email: theharshmak@gmail.com
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