Brand Positioning

Is it possible to influence how people feel about your brand? Yes, actually. With brand positioning.

Wait a minute. The first question should actually be: “How do people feel about your brand right now?” Do you even know?

If you do know, and you’d like to change or strengthen that feeling, you need brand positioning. If you don’t know but you’d like to… same solution.

Brand positioning is about influencing consumers’ perception of your brand in order to achieve a competitive advantage: make your marketing more effective, attract more customers, and, ultimately, grow your business.

Scrutinising the public image of your brand is not easy. It’s a bit like trying to examine the back of your own head. Exactly what brand positioning involves depends on your company.

You start by examining how your brand is currently positioned and look at your competitors and analyse their positioning too. This helps you to spot what’s unique about your brand. Then develop a strong positioning idea. A brand positioning statement summarising your new approach will likely follow (more on that later).

Finally, you can use these insights to inform a whole range of positioning strategies, including marketing campaigns, and the design of your brand. Perhaps you want customers to think of your brand as premium, reliable or good value. The desired association differs from brand to brand, but the goal is the same: for your brand to occupy a favourable place in your target customer’s mind.

Positioning happens in a customer’s mind whether you want it to or not. But rather than letting people make their own assumptions, I recommend a proactive approach. The aim is to influence positioning in a way that’s good for your business.

Brand positioning involves looking at each strand of your business, including brand hierarchy and sub-brands. You need to talk to people to find out as much as you can about the current position of your brand. Then do the same with your direct competitors. Short of visiting them in person. Explore your market as a whole, looking for trends and sector norms. Establish if there are any patterns, and if so, why.

For example, if most competitor brands are blue, I suggest you adopt a different colour scheme. If your tone of voice is dry and formal, an engaging and lively tone could work better.

All this work will then be condensed into a punchy brand positioning statement. One or two sentences that communicate your brand’s uniqueness in your sector, as well as the main benefit(s) you offer your target customers.

Positioning statements are sometimes confused with slogans. The main difference is that your positioning statement is for internal use, while your slogan is seen by customers. They are connected: a slogan can come out of the brand positioning process. A slogan is one of the tools you can use to influence public perception of your brand.

To successfully stake your claim to a comfy spot in your target customer’s mind, you need to evaluate, and potentially improve, your brand’s positioning.

At Orange Memo, we have the experience and expertise needed to help your brand take up its rightful place in consumers’ minds.

Once created, the brand positioning strategy itself needs to be analyzed. You wouldn’t ask passengers to board a new plane without testing it first, would you? Orange Memo will guide you through this stage of the process. Some of the key qualities we look for, and aim to instill, in a positioning strategy are distinctiveness, memorability, and simplicity.

Brand positioning services:

• Competitor research
• Audits & analysis
• Brand positioning evaluation
• Brand manifesto building
• Brand guide creation
• Visual & verbal identity
• Brand hierarchy
• Brand strategy

Is brand positioning on your agenda?

What are you going to do with all this wonderful insight? Well, putting your beefed-up positioning to work involves applying it thoroughly. You need to ask yourself: Does every customer-facing part of my business communicate my brand positioning as well as it can?

Making sure everything you do reflects your brand positioning takes guts. If you want consumers to fall for you, you have to stand for something. Not all businesses have the stomach for such a disciplined approach. Which is exactly why yours should.

Don’t let your brand be anonymous…

Let’s talk…

Whether your brand requires a refresh or invention, Orange Memo has the nous to help. Drop us a line and let’s start a conversation…