How do Brand and Position coexist? Have you ever considered the difference between the two words and their impact on the success of your company and your product offerings? These and other online business ideas support these articles.
Marketing campaigns that do not have the expected impact can be attributed to a poor understanding of brand-centric market dynamics, when the primary focus required should be Positioning. Brand and Position can be considered different sides of the same coin or like the old cliché; “One hand washes the other.” Without placing Positioning first, brand value is not long-term, because position is where a brand’s fundamental difference lies. Think of positioning as the purpose or reason for being in business.
A brand campaign without a positioning strategy is like throwing money to the wind. In other words; Most companies wouldn’t launch products without using market intelligence and data, yet it’s surprising how many manufacturers fly blindfolded with their brands, not considering that their market value will ultimately be put at risk.
A basic mindset to understand the difference between Position and Brand is the example: Brand is the “sizzle” and Position is the “steak”.
Branding done solely on its own merit creates awareness, where the goal is for the market to know you. The simplest approach to branding is to trigger an emotional response from the consuming audience trying to choose from thousands of product comparisons. For commodity products where price is the most obvious differentiator in a crowded competitive field, too many marketers take the easy way out with heavy promotions and price reductions to gain sales volume. Unfortunately, it is often not the most profitable strategy as pricing has its moment, but the consumer still has inherent questions and these will affect long-term decisions that will eventually erode the value and longevity of the brand in the marketplace.
The quadruple threat facing marketing in today’s world is:
• Saturated Competition
• Hyperchoices in elections
• Communication overload – white noise
• Price
Countless marketers, all with their own set of propositions, compete for the same resources, time, attention, and money, available to the typical consumer.
In any category, the glut of options on offer is paralyzing. Remember the last time you stared at the many options available in the shampoo aisle. Is it any wonder that we have now evolved into a condition called Choice Anxiety?
Every day we are bombarded with more than 4,000 messages and more than 400,000 message units (individual pieces of information) delivered to the average American consumer. With so much “white” noise, the risk of your advertising not being seen is extremely high.
That’s the key reason why Positioning should be defined and used, which is to create a sharp focal point around your most competitive difference and plant that Difference firmly in the minds of your prospects. Dare to be different as it counts for a lot but really defines why you are different from everyone else in the same category.
Don’t try to create a place in the world. Don’t get obsessed with your competitors and differentiating yourself from them. Instead, start with the question: Why? “Why do we exist?” “Why does anyone need us?” “Why are we useful?” “Why would consumers pay their hard-earned time or money?” “Why is it valuable?” Simply put, defining a sense of purpose will set you apart from your competitors and give you the value you need from this simple tactic.
Look at how powerful Apple’s sense of purpose and delivery of highly anticipated product launches has been in creating its growth. Or how Facebook’s greatest inventions have come from its engagement and encouragement of experimental behavior among its employees. All high-growth businesses of the future will be defined by their purpose.
Positioning is becoming the most powerful concept in marketing today! Betting on a position means that an organization, product or service represents something in the minds of potential consumers. What do you represent? And how will it boost your market?
If you remember the sales analogy used many times over the years about the steak and its sizzle. The positioning has to do with the steak. The brand is all about the sizzle.
Positioning is about establishing the inherent value that the company or product offers, while creating a mindset that inferentially implies the inherent weakness of its competitors in comparison. Positioning aims to define that essential point of difference you can possess, to ensure that consumers really know why they want your products or services over others. As a prerequisite tactic for strategic branding, positioning becomes the foundation of all brand communication.
When your Brand automatically follows your defined Position, the result of the brand effect is much clearer by associating the difference of your position in the market with your brand name, so that the name and the idea become basically the same.
Examples: Wal-Mart = Cheap prices. Porsche = Performance. Kenmore = Reliability.
What makes positioning a long-term marketing advantage is that it focuses on the most advantageous competitive difference it offers to the market. Example: Redken Labs established its difference in the shampoo market, as the company that supports beauty through science in a category where everything else was bubbles in a bottle.
Positioning hallmarks
o Uses core truths and the competitive landscape to set the long-term direction of your brand.
o Recognizes all the P’s of marketing: Product, Price, People, Priorities and Place, organizing them within the context of a single generalized strategy.
o Build trust and loyalty among your consumer base.
o Improves cost efficiency for optimal return on investment.
o Solidify what to do and what not to do.
o Builds on itself Building brand equity and establishing goodwill.
o Goes to the heart of the purpose. Stand up for something or you will fall in love with anything.
o Establishes a clear set point for the ongoing development and evaluation of all marketing strategies.
In closing, a marketer must be fully convinced of their understanding of current market dynamics and use information that supports the difference between their branding and positioning strategies to impact their long-term bottom line. Initially misjudging the strategy to use in effective marketing campaigns can and will have a long-term impact on your particular brand. People today want to know what you stand for philosophically and what you are willing to do to meet their needs. Without a strong positioning strategy, the brand will ultimately suffer and with the myriad options offered to the consuming public today, it can be the catalyst for the demise of the brand.