There are few things quite as frustrating in a business environment as listening to an executive rattle off new company positioning seemingly every day, then watching as it infiltrates sales pitches, marketing collateral and internal messaging just in time for new positioning language to be filtered down from on high.
It’s a common mistake for many brands and their executives. It’s a clear indication that the foundational, business-critical process of brand positioning was poorly conducted, inadequately communicated or fundamentally hollow. When it happens, it rarely matters how good a brand’s products or services might be because messaging is changing too quickly for potential customers to get a grasp on a brand’s position — that is, what a brand does, why it does it, who it’s for and why it’s better or different than the competition.
A brand’s position, when correctly defined and expressed, becomes the framework for how it influences interactions with each of its stakeholders. It drives customer perception, incites action or engagement, adds weight to sales conversations, highlights differentiation and influences purchasing behavior. Sales and marketing teams will quickly go off-road if the brand lacks a compelling position and narrative, which everyone can agree is usually disastrous.
Every successful brand has a great story that is always reflected in how it talks about itself and interacts with customers, investors, the media and others. That’s not to say that the narrative is fabricated around a campfire like a nighttime ghost story. It’s carefully identified, crafted and refined for maximum impact while also retaining its authenticity and realness.
It begins with meticulous research to verify that a brand will stand out with its new position and narrative, that it’s differentiated from its competitors and that it will ultimately resonate with the groups or individuals with whom the brand wants to engage.
The best brands have both self- and situational awareness, two traits that great executives also possess. Company leadership has to be the first to embrace the importance of consistent brand positioning. As decision-makers, it’s their responsibility to communicate strengths, but also to become their own harshest critics — to admit to a brand’s flaws, show a desire to find a way to address them and, ultimately, turn a weakness into a strength.
Positioning is analogous to how we discuss weather and climate. It shouldn’t change day to day like the weather, but it’s not meant to remain static forever. Brands should regularly solicit feedback and input from each of their stakeholder groups: customers, employees, investors and others. They should also stay abreast of competitors and the contextual market forces that drive demand and change, without necessarily being influenced by them.
In building or evolving a brand’s position, there are a few key steps that simply can’t be skipped or circumnavigated without significant repercussions:
• Don’t be overly aspirational. Be as realistic as possible. If you’re too focused on what you want to be doing or where you want to go as a company, why would a customer want to do business with you now? It’s important to leave your positioning and narrative open to the future, but don’t sacrifice the present in the process. There won’t be a future if you do.
• Use data wherever you can. Anecdotal evidence is good. Data is better. Send customer surveys. Encourage feedback from sales. Solicit responses and criticism from employees. Run regular competitive analyses to review press strategy, value propositions, product and brand positioning, share of voice and anything else you can think of.
• Do positioning before branding. This is huge and, if done in reverse, can create severe disconnects between a brand and its audiences. Generally speaking, people are more attracted to branding than positioning. Branding has the catchy taglines, elegant logos, eye-catching color schemes and all the stuff that looks pretty. But branding without positioning is like a banana split without the banana, the key ingredient that defines what it really is. Branding’s goal is to get a customer to feel something. Positioning’s goal is to get a customer to know something. Many brands fall into the trap of focusing on branding first and then filling in the positioning later. Don’t do this; it’s like starting a journey to a destination you haven’t established yet.
• Don’t be everything to everybody. Some brands have a wide variety of customer segments that don’t always share the same problems or desires. Others have niche markets that do. For brands that fall under the former category, don’t make the mistake of trying to be everything to everybody. When you do, you’ll end up screaming into the void with no one actually listening. Your positioning statement should be specific to what sets you apart from the competition for your core stakeholder groups. Don’t try to appease everyone.
• Differentiate your brand in the market; then own your category. Tell the market and the people in it why you’re different and better; then prove it. Own your white space so that when people think of whatever you want your company to be known for, they think of you.
• Keep it concise. Your positioning language should quickly give the reader a holistic idea of what your company does without the corresponding marketing language or the latest industry buzzword. Be simple and to the point.
Positioning — albeit a bit challenging to nail at times — is the singular, most important factor in driving customer perception. It incites emotion, differentiates you from your competitors and, ultimately, sets you up for success as a brand. It’s a crucial first step in cementing the conceptual place you want to occupy in your target customer’s mind and remaining relevant thereon.
Take the time upfront to develop consistent positioning that clearly reflects what you want your company to be known for. This, in turn, allows you to own your space and be seen as an expert with something unique to offer.
