It’s impossible to create a useful marketing campaign for a product or service until you know the art of brand positioning. Alright, brand positioning is not complex. Do you think like that? On a serious note, it’s quite simple to understand.
Well, your target consumers have a lot to consider. You, as a brand, have to make a place in their minds and stay there so that, even unconsciously, they remember your product with their goals. Simply, you sow a seed of your brand in their minds and plant a big tree that shows your brand belongs to them, and no one can sweep it out. This is what strong brand positioning is.
Let’s understand it with an example. When you think about convenient and reliable ways to travel, consider Uber. You are likely to remember it rather than going outside and looking for a typical taxi. Isn’t it? This is the power of proper brand positioning. They consistently position the brand in the market and build an ideal consumer perception that relates convenience to Uber.
By creating a framework, you can clearly position your brand. So, to make you sell like crazy, in this piece, we will spill the beans on frameworks for brand positioning to help you define yours effectively.
What is a Brand Positioning Framework?
In a few words, a brand positioning framework is how businesses market their products or services to a target audience. This framework works as a roadmap to set the brand’s position in the industry and create a positive perception in the ideal customer’s mind. For example, whenever your consumers want to purchase a product or service that your brand provides, you come to their minds. Why? Your unique brand positioning resonates with them.
Brand positioning is all about identifying a unique part of your brand and consistently communicating across all marketing channels.
Step-by-step guide to creating a framework for brand positioning
A solid framework for brand positioning is the real thing that gives a brand an edge when marketing products or services. So, you must develop a strong framework to position your brand effectively. Let’s go through the process.
1. Analyze Your Competitors
Competitor analysis is a tactical research process businesses utilize to identify, evaluate, and understand their market competitors.
- Identifying Key Competitors: When you are about to enter the market, the first significant step you need to take is to identify your competitors(direct or indirect). Direct competitors are those who offer the same product or service, and indirect competitors are those who deliver different products or services but to the same target group.
- Analyzing Competitors’ Strategies: Afterwards, understand their positioning strategy in the marketing content and customer reviews.
- Know their strengths and weaknesses: In this phase, you need to evaluate competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. It could be specific product benefits, brand recognition, and customer service.
When you get to know their strengths and weaknesses, you can fill the gaps to differentiate your brand and create high-value products.
Let’s see how Dollar Shave Club analyzes its competitors. When it launched in 2011, Dollar Shave Club’s primary competitor was Gillette. Later, they had multiple competitors like Harry, Bevel, and so on. Gillette sold premium razors(strength) through traditional retail channels, but came with crazy prices(weakness). Dollar Shave Club found that they could gain a competitive edge here.
2. Understand Your Consumer
After analyzing your competitors, you must research your potential customers. To do this, collect the target audience’s demographics, interests, and purchasing habits.
You can have direct conversations by creating a focus group of your target consumers to gather their feedback. Other than that, you can distill your ideal group perception by running surveys and social media polls to get the target consumers’ perspectives on the products you are selling.
Understanding target customers can help you shape your positioning and secure competitive advantages.
As a matter of fact, most businesses that fail mainly focus on what they sell instead of why consumers buy. What are their challenges, and how can your product or service overcome them?
You have to dive into their minds to position strongly and resonate with their emotions. Then, with this knowledge in hand, you can decide how to put yourself in your consumers’ shoes while offering something new that they are seeking.
For instance, Dollar Shave Club’s audience is time-strapped men aged 18-45. They found that their target consumers are tired of overspending on traditional, expensive razor brands. They value quality with lower prices and convenience, and this is what they are not getting from their competitors. So they truly understand what their ideal customers need.
3. Find out your UVP (Unique Value Proposition)
Great! Now, you have understood your potential consumers’ problems and interests. But is this enough? Nope. There are multiple products or services in the market. So, you have to build up your unique value proposition to outshine the crowd and spotlight how you solve their needs differently.
Therefore, reflect on what value your brand brings to consumers that others don’t have. Your UVP helps you become the first choice of potential consumers.
Dollar Shave Club came up with UVP, which offers affordable, great razors without the hassle of shopping trips, and that with a monthly razor subscription plan. No one has done it before. Additionally, they realized that adding a humorous tone in marketing can differentiate it more from stuffy competitors.
4. Craft your winning positioning statement.
It’s time to compose your brand position statement—primarily, it’s a short statement that defines who your brand is for, what problems you solve, and why consumers trust your brand. Your thorough understanding of the competitor’s target consumers and brand strengths will help you target the needs that others neglect.
Most importantly, you have to craft a positioning statement that your brand can live with. It could be based on quality, price, customer service, convenience, or differentiation.
Don’t overclaim it; develop what you actually offer. In addition to that, your positioning statement must be one 1 to three sentences or phrases. Merge your brand’s unique attributes and customer benefits into a concise statement.
Your brand positioning statement shapes consumer perception, drives loyalty, and impacts their buying behavior.
Dollar Shave Club introduced its brand positioning statement in a marketing video that went viral.
In the first 10 seconds, Michael Dubin(co-founder) clearly communicates the unique value proposition. “For $1 a month, we send high-quality razors right to your door.”
Next, he makes a punchy line:
“Are our blades good? No. Our blades are f***ing great.”
Then, define the razor benefits: “Each blade has stainless steel and an aloe vera lubricating strip…”
This viral launch video generated hype around the brand, which fueled the company’s growth.
5. Implement and test your brand position.
Afterward, you have to communicate your positioning to the audience. This means you have to incorporate your brand positioning across all touchpoints and marketing content consistently to build recognition.
Additionally, ensure that your brand team understands and reflects your brand positioning while communicating with customers.
A good rule of thumb is to test your brand positioning. It will help you create stronger brand recognition in the market. No one can tell you about brand positioning better than your target consumer, whether it is clear and compelling or not.
You can gather your audience’s feedback through surveys, social media polls, or focus groups. After gathering the feedback, make adjustments if needed to resonate with your audience deeply. Adapting to industry trends and consumer preferences is essential for your brand to maintain its identity in the long run. Just like a Dollar Shave Club that is keeping up with its brand positioning.
Framework for brand positioning example
Chipotle
Before Chipotle, Taco Bell was the only favorite Mexican fast-food restaurant in the US for a long time. To appeal to their audience, they initially positioned their brand as affordable, convenient, and open at night.
Then Chipotle dived in with a different positioning that emphasizes the quality of food. They connected with their target consumers who are inclined toward healthy food source choices. Their brand positioning statement, “Food with integrity,” perfectly shows their brand values and aligns with their target consumers. You can find multiple fast food restaurants, but Chipotle is set apart by offering fresh, real, sustainably sourced 53 ingredients that support ethical farming practices.
Summing Up
The only way to differentiate from competitors and make your product and service their first priority is by positioning your brand distinctively. Your brand positioning defines who you are, why you matter, and how your brand is different from the crowd. It forms a positive brand image in the minds of your audience. Therefore, strategically create a framework for brand positioning to amplify your brand recognition.
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