Incorrect brand positioning blocks you from being seen the right way. So have you positioned yours correctly? Find out in this article.
Imagine scrolling through endless options, brands blurring into one another. Your carefully crafted message? Drowned out by the noise. Sound familiar? In today’s saturated market, standing out isn’t enough. You need to be remembered. The secret weapon? BRAND POSITIONING.
What Is Brand Positioning?
Brand positioning in marketing defines how you want your brand to be seen by your target audience. It’s not only about what you have to offer but also about the following 2 things –
- What makes you better than the rest
- What helps you carve a space for yourself in the heart of your customers
And is effective when the brand is seen as CR2UD3:
- Clear in its communication
- Relevant while making a buying decision
- Recognizable for their unique feature
- Unique and desirable in their offerings
- Deliverable, as in the promises made by the brand are met
- Differentiable such that the audience can tell what makes you different from your competitor
Brand Positioning vs Value Proposition
Here’s a challenge. Brand positioning is often confused with value propositions. And it’s not your fault. On the surface, they do appear somewhat similar. So what’s the difference?
Brand Positioning
- How the brand wants to be seen
- Focuses on the perception in the market relative to competitors
- Emphasis on unique identity, differentiation, and image
- Key elements include vision, mission, values, and personality
Example: Tata Motors positions itself as reliable, innovative, and socially responsible. Their brand image emphasizes trust, longevity, and commitment to quality. Furthermore, it offers a wide range, from affordable hatchbacks to rugged SUVs and electric cars.
Value Proposition
- The benefits and value the brand offers to customers
- Focuses on tangible benefits and features offered to customers
- Emphasis on product attributes, benefits, and customer needs
- Key elements are performance, features, quality, price, and convenience
Example: Tata Motors’ value proposition centers around delivering quality, reliability, and affordability. Their vehicle lineup promises innovative features, safety, and environmental consciousness. Their value proposition extends beyond the product to after-sales service, spare parts availability, and customer support.
Types of Brand Positioning
There are many ways you can position your brand once you understand your strongest suits. Here’s a quick overview of types of positioning strategies and what they focus on.
Quality Positioning
This type emphasizes the quality of your products. It positions your brand to be seen as reliable, durable, and trustworthy, and works well when the target audience is tired of cheap, breakable products.
Price-Value Positioning
Focuses on the psychological relationship between a product’s price and how it is perceived. For instance, a highly-priced product will prompt the audience to hold it at a high value and vice versa.
Benefit Positioning
Benefit positioning highlights the benefits of your products or services. For instance, data plans. When comparing the same plan from service providers like Vodafone, Airtel, Jio, Idea, and others, the consumer wants to know where they benefit most. It is also applicable when comparing different plans from the same service provider.
Problem And Solution Positioning
Pinpoints the consumer problem and solves it with the product or the service. For instance, Band-Aid. It positions its bandages as the solution for minor cuts and scrapes. When people think of minor injuries, they associate Band-Aid as the go-to solution.
Celebrity-Driven Positioning
This type of brand positioning leverages celebrities and their established fanbase to create an emotional connection. For instance, Nike and Michael Jordan or Lux’s association with Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, etc.
Experience-Based Positioning
Experience-based brand positioning builds on the experience a customer can expect from a brand. Hotels, Vacation Homes, or any service-based brand uses this type of positioning.
For example, Disneyland promotes itself as a place where you can make life-long memories. They turn this promise into a reality with the help of immersive rides and character meet-and-greets. Another great example is Apple. It builds on its ability to create a transformative experience where everything syncs across devices and is agile.
Lifestyle Positioning
This one is all about promoting a lifestyle that the brand’s product/service will bring in. For instance, Red Bull is associated with an active lifestyle. As a result, it positions itself as an energy drink for athletes and adventurers.
Emotional Positioning
Highlights the emotions the brand sparks in its audience and leverages it. For example, Tanishq creates an emotional narrative around a daughter’s wedding or special occasions as a family. Similarly, the oil brand Fortune builds on the warmth and comfort ”Ghar ka Khana” brings to us.
Disruptive Positioning
It focuses on challenging the normal and traditional. For instance, earlier content was viewed on satellite channels. With the launch of Netflix and Amazon Prime, the way to consume entertainment has changed.
Features-Based Positioning
This method is usually seen in highly competitive industries like the mobile industry. When the offerings are similar, brands differentiate based on micro-features. It is also called USP-focused brand positioning.
You’ve Made It To The End!
Your success as a brand largely depends on how distinctly you present it to your audience. It’s like a game of musical chairs with other brands. You must ensure that when the music stops, your brand has the best seat in the market which helps stand out, attract and retain customers, and grow indefinitely! Here’s a pro tip to ace at positioning your brand – THINK LIKE YOUR CUSTOMERS.
At StartInc, we are cracking the secret to this game of musical chairs with every brand we work with. The next one can be yours! What do you say?