Branding and reputation of the company matter more than anything in the world! From small businesses to corporations, virtually any entity can benefit from a brand
If you haven’t developed a brand mentality, you are missing out on a strikingly great opportunity to connect with the target audience.
To capture customers’ attention, companies have realised that it is essential to create and implement a strong branding strategy.
What is brand positioning and why is it important?
Brand positioning includes promoting the business’ image strategically and core concepts that resonate with the target market.
- It reflects what the brand has to offer
- It shows how business can benefit the customers
- It helps to differentiate the business from the competition.
Brand positioning helps to ascertain how a brand can warrant public interest. One significant point of clarification: Brand positioning and awareness are not the same.
Brand positioning targets to influence the perspectives and build a strong mental connection with customers, whereas brand awareness involves only consumer’s recognition of the brand. To achieve the business goals.
Brand positioning through content marketing
Content marketing plays a crucial role in brand positioning as meaningful and targeted content creates an impression of the brand in the minds of customers.
Effective brand positioning includes everything to the extent to which a brand is perceived as favourable, different and credible in the consumer’s mind.
Brand positioning statements vs Taglines
Brand positioning statements are usually confused with the company slogans and taglines. Positioning statements are for internal use. The statements guide the marketing and operating decisions of the business. The brand positioning statement affects the customer’s perception of the brand.
A tagline is an external statement used for marketing. It only reflects the values associated with the brand.
Types of brand positioning strategy
Once you decide how to position the brand in the marketplace, you have lots of options to consider. It depends on the market served, competitors’ offering but above all, you need to tailor a branding strategy that gives you a competitive advantage directly or indirectly.
1. Customer service positioning strategy
We usually opt for a brand for their customer service. Companies that have prompt and customer friendly services can differentiate themselves. The most significant aspect of this branding strategy is that good customer service can justify a higher price point. Apple’s product may be high-end, but their customer service is very prompt. These service interactions make an unhappy customer a promoter of the product.
2. Quality based positioning strategy
Companies implement this strategy if they like to emphasize the quality served. The quality of the product can be depicted through craftsmanship and sustainable practices that reflect values and trading practices involved in the making of the products. The quality of the product
3. Differentiation strategy
A differentiation marketing strategy relies on the uniqueness of the product or innovative qualities in comparison to the traditional options. If you implement this strategy, consumers who are constantly looking for innovative products will be attracted to your brand.
One potential limitation is that the public may find it hard to use a product that does not have a history of use. However, tech-savvy customers will be interested to know how new technology and products work.
How to create a successful brand positioning strategy
Creating a brand positioning strategy involves diving deep into the core values of the brand and what it strives to achieve.
1. Determine the current brand positioning
Ascertain if the marketing strategy is just for another item or for something distinctive. Your current brand positioning gives significant insights on where you would like to take your brand.
Consider your target customer and identify who they are. Understand their core features and relate them with the vision of the brand. Identify what makes your brand stand out from the rest of the market.
Identify the competitors
After you analyse your offering, it is important to ascertain the competition by conducting a competitor analysis. Why? It will help you to determine strategies that can set your brand aside from the competition with a winning brand positioning strategy.
- Conduct market research: Ask your sales team to ascertain competitors and perform quick market research to measure the progress of these companies.
- Customer Feedback: Ask your customers the products and businesses they like and the corresponding reason for that.
- Use Social Media: Platforms like Quora can help you identify competitors in your niche.
Ascertain your brand’s uniqueness
A unique brand is all about creating a difference and what works best in your business. Start by identifying what ‘effective’ really means with your product, brand or offering.
This aspect is what will make your brand unique and is a perfect point for an effective brand positioning strategy. Take note of unique offerings as you compare and dive in to identify what better can you do than the rest.
Create a brand positioning statement
It is a one or two-line declaration that communicates the unique value of the brand to your customers. Few things to consider while making a brand positioning statement:
- Who is your target customer?
- What is your product category?
- What is the benefit or utility of your product?
- What is the proof of such a benefit?
Evaluate the effectiveness of the brand positioning strategy
Take time to position your brand that appeals to the target customer. Once the brand positioning statement is created, put it to the test and see how the customers take the new brand positioning.
Adjusting and navigating through feedback is essential to determine whether or not your brand positioning will have a significant impact.
How can we help you?
It takes a lot of brainstorming and deep-diving into the brand to create a strong positioning statement. Even though these strategies can be done on your own, leaving it in the hands of marketing professionals will help you get fresh insights, backed by data that can help you create a win-win brand positioning strategy. Vowels help GCC, Dubai-based brands in creating a strong brand positioning that will continue to benefit throughout the lifetime!
