How to Position a Brand

The position of a brand is its location in the consumer’s mind in relation to other products in the category. It is based on differentiating the brand from competing brands, creating a brand personality, and combining brand perceptions. The brand experience must remain consistent, combining these three concepts into an image of the brand as a whole.

Differentiating the brand is primarily the job of advertising and marketing departments. They must avoid using the same style of advertising as their competitors, because then one brand could be mistaken for the other, and consumers would not be able to remember which one was which. The brands should look different, such as using complementary colours or differently shaped packaging. A good example of brand differentiation is Coca Cola and Pepsi – they have very different colours and logos, and most people think of them as distinct. In a restaurant, if you ask for one and they serve the other, they will generally ask if the one they have will do. This is because they are well differentiated.

There must be an interesting brand personality. The brand personality should be appropriate to the audience, and be able to engage them on an emotional level. Emotional engagement creates consumer loyalty. A distinct personality can also help to differentiate the brand from a competing brand. The brand should have a concrete personality, without conflicting features. For more information, see ‘How to Create a Brand’s Personality.’

The brand experience should be consistent across the entire company. To keep the brand experience consistent, all areas and employees must demonstrate the values and perceptions of the brand. If the brand is a luxury brand, then its products must be high quality and expensive. Creating a lower quality product, or the image of lower quality in an advertisement or on a website, could damage the brand perceptions. Similarly, companies cannot ‘greenwash,’ or be environmentally friendly in some areas, but damage the environment in others. To learn more about avoiding greenwashing, see ‘How to Implement Ethical Branding.’

When these segments are combined into a clear and distinguishable idea, they will have a position in the mind of the consumer. The idea will differentiate the brand from any competing brands, and help the consumer connect with the brand. Once the brand is differentiated, if it is a good one, it will create consumer loyalty, spread to friends and family, and become a leader in its category.

Resources:

Great Ideaz provides secure online collaboration workspaces where you can determine the best way for your brand to engage with your target audience. To see how we can help you, visit greatideaz.com.

Barry Callen’s Manager’s Guide to Marketing, Advertising, and Publicity, Chapter 6 – http://cwlpub.com/images/Callen06.pdf

Melissa Davis’s The Fundamentals of Branding