Brand Positioning: Creating Effective Ways to Present Your Brand

Brand positioning is so important, it is practically the backbone of any marketing strategy. Adapting to trends and customer’s desires is vital to stay relevant, and positioning your brand in a suitable light can do just that.

How did companies such as BMW managed to create an impression for many people around the world? It is so well-known, we don’t even have to give the full name for you to identify the car company. These three letters has become one of the strongest brand in the world.

BMW as we know today is a product of decades of consistent positioning and showcasing themselves as ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’. Since the 1970’s, BMW had turn its gears towards performance cars and it has been in the same direction ever since.

So what is brand positioning?

Positioning can be described as a marketing method for creating perception towards the brand. It is the place a brand occupies in the mind of its target audience.

It is vital for your brand to have a brand positioning statement to define where you are at in the market, and how you define yourself against your many competitors.

Positioning had made BMW stood out differently than its luxury car counterparts such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus. BMW’s niche is performance luxury cars. It therefore works to keep developing faster cars than its competitors.

To set up a brand positioning statement, you first need to know what your value propositions are. Consider this with what you have decide on your brand archetype. Set the goals of your statement by referring back to your brand purpose.

And finally, have a target customer in mind so you know who your brand positioning statement is for.

Be careful not be be different for difference’s sake. There is a spot called ‘fool’s space’, where no brand chooses to be perceived because it simply does not make business sense to be at. Choose your desired perception wisely!

As a case study, in the 1980’s, the soft drink industry saw a very strong rivalry between soda giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Pepsi had the idea of introducing a breakfast drink, since no breakfast soda drinks was made yet. So they introduced Pepsi AM, a soda with clear liquid and twice the caffeine.

Turns out there was a reason why there were no breakfast soda drink; there was just no demand for it. Pepsi AM became a huge failure and it soon went out of production, costing the company losses phenomenal even by today’s standard.

Therefore, take note on your brand positioning statement and see if there is a demand or capacity for you to do it. BMW’s brand position is a result of decades of research and development, whereas Pepsi AM is a product that needs much understanding of the market’s demand.

Brand positioning is the backbone of your brand strategy and there are many things that needs to be learned about it.

Which is why we invite you to read more about brand positioning in our guidebook The CEO’s Strategy Playbook: The Brand Building Playbook for Business Leaders, which you download today and get your own do-it-yourself brand strategy worksheet!