What Does Brand Positioning Mean?
Brand positioning is the unique value that a brand represents and occupies in the mind of its consumers. It is a strategy businesses use to market their product in a way that makes them preferred over their competition. It conveys not just what your business or product does but how it does it.
Brand positioning looks to intentionally shape brand position as opposed to leaving it to fall where it may. It allows you to
- Differentiate your brand from the competition.
- Control and cultivate brand perception.
- Explain your pricing when it seems higher than the competition.
- Leave a lasting impression.
- Have a ‘north star’ that guides your marketing.
Brand positioning is more than developing a logo, slogan or other basic tools of marketing. It looks to control the broader view customers have of the brand. Well-thought-out and executed brand positioning can provide a pivotal business advantage to the extent that consumers associate a type of product to a particular brand. Do your research, stay authentic and be adaptable.
To effectively position their brand, businesses should seek to be:
- Unique
- Significant
- Relevant
- Consistent
- Credible
- Sustainable
In a marketplace where there is not much difference in form and function between different brands, brand positioning can provide an important competitive edge.
Businesses should avoid the following common positioning errors:
- Under positioning — Customers have a blurred, unclear view of the brand.
- Over positioning — Customers have an overly limited view of the brand
- Confused positioning — Customers have a confused view of the brand.
- Double positioning — Customers reject the brand’s claims.
