Positioning Your Brand

If your brand is well-defined in the marketplace, then that is guaranteed to drive product sales and propel your small business along the road to profitability. It is every business’ dream to have a brand that is easily recognized, resonates well with consumers, and evokes positive feelings and emotions. However, while it is attainable, it often proves to be very elusive. Nevertheless brands like Apple, Facebook, KFC, Coca-Cola, Google, and others, have managed to hit the mark. They have realized that making it to the top and staying there, is all about brand positioning.

Your brand is what establishes your identity with a customer, and defines your business. Very often it might be a logo, like Apple’s grey apple, which is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of that company. It might also be a sign, or company name, or the way you do business, and the quality of your product.

Branding basically communicates the character of the company to the market. It can give you a competitive edge, make you stand out in the market, generate growth, and lead to higher revenues. However, to be able to successfully exploit the benefits of a strong brand, you have to ensure that it well positioned in the marketplace.

Brand positioning will give your product the distinctive edge in the market, and increase the value of your product in the eyes of the customer. Brand positioning involves:

1. Identifying and wooing your target audience.

When positioning a brand on the market, it must be targeted to a particular segment. For example, when Coca-Cola released its low-calorie Coke Zero in 2006, it was targeted to young men ages 20-30 years. The colors and design of the logo were all specifically designed to attract that crowd.

2. Communicating information about your product to the customer.

When done effectively, brand positioning informs the market. They become fully aware of your product, what it does, and why they should buy it. In addition, consumers will also recognize the differences and/or similarities with competitive products. In the example just mentioned, Coca-Cola dubbed their Coke Zero as being a calorie free alte
ative, rather than ‘diet’ in an effort to gain the attention of the young male population, had it been marketed as a diet coke, it would not have appealed to men.

3. Influencing the customer’s perception of your brand.

You can do an analysis to determine where your brand currently sits in the market. If you are not happy with the position, you can design a strategy to adjust its brand position in comparison to competitors. Putting your product into a pre-determined market sphere is another way of getting customers to see its uniqueness.

Brand positioning is a multifaceted concept. First of all, you need to determine where your product should be placed in the market. This should be based on competitive advantages that have been identified. In addition, a careful analysis of the competitor’s product should also take place, in order to ensure that the advantages of your product are effectively communicated to the customer.