Positioning is one of the absolutely fundamental elements of marketing, regardless of what industry you’re in. It’s a brand’s unique way of providing value to its customers: answering questions such as where does a brand stand in hearts and minds? How much weight does the actions of your brand carry, and how do consumers associate these actions with your brand? All these, and more; are a direct result of your brand positioning.
Above all, brands use positioning to craft a brand’s image, along with that of its products or services in the mind of the target consumer. The idea is to “own” a marketing niche using various strategies – the goal being to create a unique impression in the customer’s mind so that they associate something specific and highly desirable which is distinct from the rest of the competition.
In other words, brand positioning is your reputation. And it’s absolutely critical to remember that whether or not you put in effort to build a good one, your reputation will grow – whether it’s a good one or not will depend on your positioning.
As you decide how to position your brand, you’ll have many options to choose from. It can get confused, and even overwhelming; but that’s what we’re here to help you with. By rule of thumb, your positioning will greatly depend on what your competitors offer; however you’ll need tailor your strategy to not only highlight your product’s competitive advantage, but also indirectly or directly point out the shortcomings of your competitors.
We’ve highlighted a few useful strategies that can serve as a great starting point for your positioning. While you’re not limited to one or the other, understanding these various tactics can help you plant the seeds that will one day grow into a strong, unique position for your brand.
“Brand positioning is your reputation.”
1. The Customer Service Positioning.
We’ve all selected a brand because of their excellent customer service.
Illustrating your prompt, friendly customer service can work wonders in keeping customers coming back, especially when your competitors are known for inattentive support. Especially if your product has complicated implementation or execution – customer service will make all the difference then.
More importantly, great customer service can and will justify higher prices. This justification can bring about even bigger or longer-lasting rewards: an initially unhappy customer may even turn into an authentic promoter of your brand if you can provide them a great service experience.
However, you’ll need to be especially diligent with this service: If you advertise your great customer service but don’t deliver, you’ll be an easy target for bad reviews or even worse, angry feedback on social media which can easily evolve into a death spiral for your brand.
“Great customer service can and will justify higher prices.”
Embrace the future of experiential marketing today.
- Price-based Positioning.
By associating your brand with competitive pricing, you’ll be aiming to provide greater value for a lower price point. Which doesn’t mean that your value needs to be objectively cheaper than your competitors’ even at a loss to yourself – it means that you give a more reasonable (or greater) value relative to pricing.
This opens up more mass market options, and allows you to cater to consumers of more financial positions. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you need to be the cheapest product in the market – brands can also position well if they find a gap in the market at a particular price point. In that case, filling that gap means that if consumers desire a product at that specific price point, you will be the top, if not only option.
- Quality-based Positioning
In the mind of the consumer, high price is commonly associated with high quality. Often brands that utilise this strategy choose not to communicate their price point directly, but instead emphasise high quality or prestige to create a desire – one that convinces customers that the product brings about value beyond mere monetary terms due to its quality.
In other words, this is a strategy that convinces consumers to buy regardless of the price.
Note that ‘high quality’ or ‘luxury’ does not always mean better quality in build or in value, but customers still believe it is better because of the reputation of the brand; which in hand is due to effective long-term brand positioning strategies.
“Convince consumers to buy regardless of the price.”
- Use-based Positioning.
Associating your product with a particular use is another fantastic way to give your brand a distinctive position. For example, meal replacement supplements cater well to consumers lacking time or wanting a quick meal that is still healthy. Other meal replacements are designed specifically for people who want higher performance when exercising, or people on a diet who are looking for low-calorie meals.
As you can see from this – all these products are in the same, or similar category – however their specific use differentiates their positioning greatly. One fundamental requirement to this strategy – as with any other positioning strategy – is that you’ll need to thoroughly research your target market appropriately.
- Competition-based Positioning
This focuses on using the competition as a reference point for differentiating your brand. By highlighting a key shortcoming or difference in the competition, brands position their product/service as more favourable and bringing greater value compared to other options.
This doesn’t need to be inherently negative, however – brands can also use the competition as a reference point to grow. If a particular brand enjoys a large market share, their positioning strategy working! Hence, you may try to emulate their strategy up until a certain point, where you could convert their consumer base by offering similar, but differentiated/additional value.
While each and every brand’s positioning should be unique, these are the common strategies upon which to build from. From there, you should be able to extrapolate the direction you want to take your brand in – even combine multiple strategies together to build something entirely new!