We get it: logos and taglines are the sexy bits of branding. Concepts! Brainstorms! What fun! But these alone aren’t going to make your brand stand out from the crowd or engage your target audience. A brand is built from the ground up using a distinctive and ownable brand positioning informed by product truths. After all, while hot as f**k in his cape and tights, Superman wouldn’t be quite so super without the goods to back it up in his ability to fly, rescue civilians and move like lightning (not to mention those muscles).
But what’s the difference between brand image and brand positioning? Quite simply, brand image is how you’re currently perceived by customers, while brand positioning is the intended brand image you want to portray. As a powerful tool to help shift the dial, your positioning empowers your brand in a number of ways.
- It provides the base on which to build the tactics – tagline, TOV and VI, etc. – for fuelling brand awareness.
- It strengthens brand health and builds equity for long-term, sustainable organic growth.
- It brings your people along for the ride – empowering and motivating team members under one unifying purpose.
Think Coca-Cola and its positioning around togetherness, joy and friendship.
Psycle and its positioning around energy, motivation and positivity.
Nike and its positioning around peak performance.
Here, Bray St. Founder and Managing Director, Daniel Dagher reveals his four tips for creating a simple but stellar brand positioning.
Take a shortcut (and you might get lost)
“Doing the groundwork is key in gathering insights that help inform a positioning, so it’s built from something truthful and purposeful. That’s why any work we do with a new client at Bray St. begins with a deep-dive into the business, its people and its brand to really get under the hood. A powerful brand positioning will always be born from the DNA of a business.”
Just three brain cells for landing your message (no pressure)
“According to marketing guru Mark Ritson – who has worked for global brands like LVMH, Johnson & Johnson and Sephora and writes a weekly column for Marketing week – customers’ brains are increasingly busy and there are a maximum of three cells to communicate with at any given time. A case, if ever there was one, for being succinct, sharp and pointed in your brand positioning. By keeping it simple, you give it power. If it needs explaining, it needs simplifying.”
Test on your toughest audience (clue: your team)
“When you’ve arrived at a brand positioning you believe in, test it on internal stakeholders first to see how it resonates. If it doesn’t land with them, you’ve not got a chance in hell of making it land with customers, so it’s best to know early and adjust accordingly. If it doesn’t pass the test, ask questions. Why didn’t it land? What were they expecting instead? How would they make it better?”
Put a ring on it (and get wedded to your positioning)
“Lastly, when you’ve devised your brand positioning, ensure it’s deployed across all touchpoints in a coherent and consistent way. The USP you’re communicating needs to be seeded across all channels at any given time to be noticed by your customers and embedded in their subconscious. It’s not a flash in the pan, but a daily and omnichannel commitment.”
Get in touch with Bray St. to discuss how we can help position your brand and empower your product (or if you just want to chat all things Superman…).