What is brand positioning?

Brand positioning is a medium through which a company can portray to its customers what it wants to achieve for them, and what it wants to mean to them. Brand positioning forms a customer’s views and opinions. Vast marketers must have a clear understanding of who they are trying to reach and the needs of their audience. Good brand positioning guides marketing strategy by clarifying what the brand is all about, it’s unique aspects and similarities to competitive brands, and ultimately why consumers should purchase from and use them over another. Let’s discuss this further now. Brand positioning is the act of designing a company’s product and brand image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customer’s mind.

Brands apply positioning by emphasizing the distinguishing features of their brand, and then by using advertising to create an image of the brand in the minds of consumers in a distinct part of the market. Brand positioning ensures that all brand activity has a common aim, is guided, directed, and delivered by the brand’s benefits and reasons to buy and focuses on all points of contact with the consumer. The first step in deciding where to position a brand is to consider who the brand is. This means reviewing the brand heritage, domain, personality, reflection, values, and assets to identify the core brand values. [NOISE] Once the core brand values are clearly understood, a number of external factors must also be considered and analyzed.

These include the brand’s competitive offering, its audience needs, and it’s defendable strengths. To identify the brand’s competitive offering and audience needs, you must first identify the brand’s frame of reference. This means identifying who the target market is and who the brand’s main competitors are. Next is to identify and determine any points of parity or points of difference in brand association related to its competitors to ascertain the right brand identity and create a proper brand image. A brand’s unique meaningful points of difference provide a competitive advantage, and the reason why consumers should buy the brand over that if its competitors. On the other hand, some brand associations can be roughly as favorable as those of competing brands.

Say they function as points of parity in the consumers minds and negate potential points of difference for competitors. These aspects are crucial in successfully positioning the brand in the correct point in the market. Once this information has been established, the brand’s positioning is known. At this point, marketers design and implement marketing campaigns that have been tailored to deliver the desired message, to create the brand’s position and cement the required associations in the minds of the consumers. Furthermore, it is extremely important that a brand is positioned correctly and that it manages its positioning over time. It is very difficult to reposition a brand without destroying its credibility.

Now we’ll take a brief recap of what we’ve learned from positioning is the key to marketing strategy. Strong brand positioning directs marketing strategy by explaining the brand details, it’s unique aspects, and its similarities with competing brands, as well as the reasons for buying and using that specific brand. Positioning is the base for developing and increasing the required perceptions in customers. It is the single feature that to set your service apart from your competitors. For luxury brands, this means positioning itself as premium, luxurious, and high end. Here are the five key points to take away. One; brand positioning is the act of designing a company’s product and brand image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the market.

Two; brand positioning forms customer’s views and opinions. Thus, marketers must have a clear understanding of their target market. Three; brands apply positioning by emphasizing the distinguishing features of their brand through advertising in order to create a tailored brand image. Four; identifying and acting on points of parity and difference alleviates any concerns consumers may have, and identifies unique attributes which gives more reason to buy. Five; once a brand is positioned, it is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility.