How to define a competitive position for your brand

Your category and value proposition define what your brand is. Position defines what your brand is in relation to all the other brands in your category. Positioning is typically expressed as an aspiration that defines the words and sentiments you would like your prospect to use in differentiating your brand from others in the category. It should frame your argument, making sense of all of your selling points. For instance, when SAS had established its value proposition for on-time performance and global coverage (although it lagged in price and other areas), itpositioned itself as the Businessman’s Airline.

We said you can only say one thing first. But what about the rest of your offer? Surely communicating your brand’s other attributes could help create a favorable brand bias. The position lets you do this in a highly compact fashion. The desired position should build off your value proposition to infer superior value across the wider spectrum of requirements held by the target. It should, therefore, preclude the need to detail each and every feature and benefit. For instance, if a chain of gas stations positioned itself as the gas station for traveling families, it would create the expectation of clean bathrooms with changing tables, microwaves for baby bottles, and safe, well-lit facilities, without necessarily having to spell all these things out.

A brand’s position is defined by its prospects and customers, not by its owners. Yet, ask a marketer what their brand’s position is and nine time out of ten times they will read you a line from their brand strategy. That may be where they would like their brand to be positioned, but in no way answers the question you asked. The only way for a marketer to know how their brand is positioned is to survey their target market. The rest is just wishful thinking.
Imagine the confusion that would ensue on a sailing journey if the navigator used the current location and the desired destination interchangeably. That’s what happens inside marketing organizations that state their positioning aspirations in place of their actual position. To help avoid this confusion, define these four dimensions for your brand and use them with your team:

 

•  Reality: the objective truth about what the product or
  company behind the brand is and is capable of.
• Profile: how you portray that product or company brand to
  the target market.
• Perception: how the target market perceives/positions your
  product or company brand.
• Aspiration: how you would like the target to perceive/position
  your product or company brand to provide a strategic
  advantage.

 

If you want a formula for sustainable positioning, define and align the four elements above. The end game is this: What your brand is (reality), what you say it is (profile), which is how people perceive it (perception), which is how you were hoping they would perceive it (aspiration) in order to compete more effectively. This is Brand Nirvana, an ideal state that is never actually reached, but one that strong brands perpetually strive for.

The difference between desired position and value proposition can often seem academic since both help define your brand’s offer. Although there may be cases where the two are the same (i.e. the value proposition is used as the position), they address two different concerns prospects have as they take the first steps down the path to purchase.

Value Proposition vs. Position

Every brand that is considered by a prospect will be positioned by them. Your prospects will combine all their information, feelings, and perceptions about your brand to sum up the totality of your offer and differentiate it relative to other options in the category. That will be your position and it will weigh heavily in the final purchase decision. The only question is, to what degree do you influence that process? To do that, a clear statement of the desired position you want your brand to occupy in your target’s mind needs to be drafted, then reinforced through your communication every chance you get. Below are a few steps you can use to help you define a valid position for your brand.

These steps are very similar to the process used to determine your value proposition. And, like the value proposition, you will most likely find that your target’s perceptions will differ from country to country. Be sure to include the different major markets you serve when surveying competitors and interviewing the target.

Read “How to write a compelling value proposition” and  “How to position your brand?” to get more insights!

❶Survey your competitors

Visit the sites of all main competitors for each of your major markets. Look at their messaging and try to reverse engineer what each one’s position is. Write down their position and make a note if you feel the position has or is likely to gain any traction in the market.

❷Develop a hypothesis

You don’t create positions so much as you anticipate and occupy them. Start by looking at the positions occupied by your competitors in each major market. Have they missed any? Are there any unclaimed positions within the category that would be relevant to both your value proposition and your target segment? Make a list of possible positions for each major market you serve and see how they fit. Arrive at a short list of two or three for each major market that are defendable and feel right for your brand. It’s fine if the position is the same in every market, but you should not set out to make it that way from the start. Brands are positioned in relation to your target’s beliefs and perceptions, along with the other options available to them. These are typically different from one country to the next, therefore, a brand’s position is often different from country to country.

❸Talk to your target

You should now have a list of several possible positions that highlight not only your value propositions, but also your entire brand offer. You also have a list of what you think are your competitors’ positions in each market. Time to put both to the test with a third party who can investigate your target to:

1. Confirm the category and who prospects perceive as the major players in that category.
2. Describe how prospects distinguish / position the various brands in their own words.
3. Describe how prospects distinguish / position your brand in their own words.
4. Arrive at a description prospects feel best distinguishes your brand.
5. Assess and discuss the appeal of your list of potential positions.
6. Assess and discuss the believability of your list of potential positions.

❹Define your position

The results of the target interviews should have provided insight into what positions are relevant to your target. Your own assessment should have indicated what areas you can excel in. Combine these to define your position in plain terms. Remember, this is a strategy statement, not a tagline or headline. Like other strategy statements, your desired position will never be seen by the outside world. Your priority is clarity and accuracy, so don’t try to make it fancy. To ensure a good fit with your value proposition, you can try to write your position as an extension of it, using the template below. However, if you find the template too restrictive, simply use in your own words.

For (your brand’s broad target market) who (statement of main problem you address) (your brand name) excels at (statement of main solution you provide) because (primary support). Like (three leading competitors), we (main point of parity). But unlike them, we (main point of differentiation). Therefore, in/for (specify market segment), we would argue that we are the only (position name) brand in the category.

❺Support your position

Next, for each market’s position, list all the proof you have that directly supports your position. Prioritize the points that your target in that market indicated would be most convincing. These will be used to communicate the position in a believable manner.

❻Communicate your position

Positions are built on communication. Brands communicate in thousands of different ways, from the advertising and packaging to customer service and pricing plans to the way corporate offices are decorated. Your position should form the backdrop against which all your communication takes place. It should define your tone and manner and be developed into a communication theme that frames all your communication and your relationship with the market. It should be reinforced with the way you communicate and interact with your online audience. It should also be reflected in the way you choose to profile your brand.

• Is your desired position relevant to your target?
• Does your desired position clearly differentiate you from other brands in the category?
• Have you verified these assumptions with your target in all major markets?
• Does your position provide fertile ground for promotion and communication?
• Does your position help your best prospects self-identify?
• Is your desired position relevant to your brand?
• If it’s a company brand does the position make sense with the product brands?
• If it’s a product brand does it fit logically under the corporate brand umbrella?
• Have you investigated and adapted your position for each major target segment and market?
• Have you defined your desired position in plain terms that non-experts could understand?
• Have you made a plan to focus all of your brand communication around your position?
• Is your position clear and evident through the design of your website and other online assets?
• Is your position reflected in your content marketing and online networking?