My Simple Brand Positioning Statement Template for Startups
“Brand strategy” is important for startups, but the concept can feel abstract for many founders. My favorite way of making brand strategy actionable is to boil it down to a positioning statement.
A positioning statement distills all the research, insight, and context of a strategy into a a single sentence that becomes the foundation for your design and copy.
Of all the things you could say, what should you say?
You probably know what to say. This is your vision, mission, what makes your product special and effective.
A positioning statement helps you determine how to say it most effectively.
The statement incorporates several elements of a brand strategy (this structure is based on the Brand Strategy Canvas, a tool I created with friends at Archer Malmo):
- Audience — Who are they and what is their most important psychographic need or desire as it relates to the brand’s category?
- Brand Description — What is the simplest description of the product? Or, what is the broader, more strategic frame of reference?
- Benefit — What is the unique, primary benefit or point of difference of the product?
- Proof — What are the factual, meaningful and provable reasons to believe the primary benefit or point of difference?
- Payoff — What is the ultimate emotional payoff for the customer or user? Does it answer the need in the audience description?
- Brand Essence—What is the core idea or defining concept of the brand? Is it tangible or attitudinal? (Unique, succinct, pithy, and ideally 2–4 words)
Once you’ve given some thought to each of those areas, you’re ready to write your statement. Here’s the structure:
For [audience], brand is [description] that [benefit] because [proof] so that [payoff].
Here’s an example using Zappo’s, a brand we’re all familiar with:
For frequent online shoppers with high expectations, Zappos is the digital shopping service that delivers category-defining customer service because we hire and train for an empathetic culture, provide an optimal web experience and offer a vast selection with fast, free shipping & returns so that every customer is wowed.
Brand essence: Deliver Wow.
You can see how there are tons of potential directions for each phrase in the statement. Should we highlight prices, or customer service? What proof points are most important? What are the most essential aspects of our target audience?
In the example, “frequent online shoppers with high expectations” represents a specific choice to highlight the frequency of online shopping (a habit) and the expectations (an expectation) of the audience.
How different would the positioning statement look if it were: “For budget conscious families demanding high quality at a low price…”?
That single shift would massively transform the strategic direction.
That’s the power of a positioning statement. It provides the framework for discussing and deciding about the essential aspects of your identity.
Have you made deliberate choices about your brand, or are you allowing others to make the choices for you?
As you consider your audience, your competition, and your current brand, how much thought have you dedicated to making the decisions that impact your messaging, your design, your go-to-market, and most every other aspect of your company?
Your positioning statement doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can iterate as you mature. The important thing is to have the discussion with your team, then begin weaving your positioning into your execution. In that way, you can be sure you are directing the conversation about your brand, and arming your advocates with the story you want told in the market.
Enjoy this kind of thing? Give me a follow on Twitter.
Still need help? Checkout my startup branding services.
