If you’re scratching your head, asking yourself what the heck a brand positioning statement even is, keep reading. We’ve got you covered. In a nutshell, a brand positioning statement is your mission, condensed down into a sentence. Think of it as similar to a logline or the premise of a story, found in fiction and television. Except this one is about you and your business.
It starts as a single sentence that lays out:
- Your target market, or who you’re selling to.
- It verbalizes your brand or product as the perfect fit for the category of your business.
- It clarifies the point of difference between you and other brands.
- It solidifies why your brand is the only brand that can deliver on your “why” or reason that customers should believe in your company.
And that reason is centered around an attribute or feature of your product or service that is tangible.
A brand positioning statement isn’t really for your customers and their eyes, but more for you. It’s a strategic exercise designed to help you keep the big picture in mind behind the scenes, stay on brand, and keep your strategy on point.
Why You Need a Brand Positioning Statement
There are several reasons you should have one, not the least being that as a brand, it helps you connect with your target audience. It’s a tool used to help you nail your voice so that your brand resonates with your right people and remain relevant with your audience while still allowing you to take risks.
A brand positioning statement helps keep you clear on your direction and is a big asset in the conceptualization and execution of creative ideas. Your strategy stays front and center like a beacon and both inspires and justifies the creative tactics you come up with for your business.
It’s important to understand the market landscape in order to build a strategic campaign. You need to know your competition and their strategic positions as well. Once you are armed with that information, you can begin to understand your point of difference and start building your position around that.
Your point of difference will be used to inspire things your customers will see, such as your tagline and is used to help give your brand roots that are strong and strategic. So, how does one develop this mighty dragon of brand strategy? We’re glad you asked!
How to Develop Your Brand Positioning Statement
You will need to start this process from the ground up, regardless of whether you are repositioning your current brand, or creating a new one from scratch. Building your brand positioning statement from the ground up will help you position your brand properly in the minds of your target market, and it will help you drill down on what truly makes your product or service perfect for your clientele. And of course, what makes that clientele perfect for you as well.
You can build your brand positioning statement by implementing an old method that has been used by agencies since Proctor and Gamble originated it, back in the 1960s. The first step is to lay out all the tangible expressions of the attributes of your brand. You might call these features.
Then brainstorm all the benefits of those particular features that your target audience will resonate with most. Once you have identified those benefits, figure out what it is your target market values that lead them to make their buying decisions, and use each of these elements to build your brand positioning statement.
This process really doesn’t have to be all that hard, but it does take some thought and research. However, once you have developed your brand positioning statement, it will become the driving force that keeps your brand, products, and services, on message and relevant to your audience.
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