Brand Positioning in a Big World

written on September 02, 2009 by Rachel Downey

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Your business’s brand is comprised of an intricately woven web of components that work in harmony to deliver specific goods or services in a specific way.  THIS is your Brand Promise.  Think about how your brand is perceived in the minds of the target market.  THIS is your Brand Position.  You can influence both the perception and your position by developing a brand strategy that will support where you want to go.  Assuming you have a business plan and have done the research to assess market conditions, you know your strengths and unique offerings within that market, and understand current perceptions of your brand via 360° analysis, the brand strategy starts with a Positioning Statement. 

A Positioning Statement is a forward-looking statement that succinctly defines how your organization wants to be positioned in the marketplace.  It should be an honest reflection of who you are today, but with short-term attainable aspirations.  Therefore a positioning statement describes how you wish to be perceived and what you intend to do to create and maintain it.  This statement is for internal use only to assist in communicating with various publics and is brought to life by the entire firm through day-to-day activities.  The more the firm embodies this statement, the greater its power and resonance.

Your brand identity, messaging, company culture and execution should support this statement so that your business can move toward this new position as its goal.  Once there, refine the statement to once again align with your new business plan and new, current perceptions.

There was once a time when the world was smaller and it only took one or two defining characteristics to make you unique.  Now, with so many choices for just about everything, you need to showcase your unique set of offerings and attitudes to appeal to exactly the target market that is looking for those things.  You can no longer be the Montessori school, but the Montessori school founded in Jewish principles that provides a nurturing and rigorous academic environment where each child thrives regardless of their aptitudes (The Lillian & Betty Ratner School if you like the sound of that!).

Be what you are, then be better at it than anyone.  That is the mark of an authentic brand.