Brand Positioning: Why It Matters More Than You Think

Brand positioning isn’t a marketing buzzword – it’s the foundation of how a brand is perceived, remembered and chosen over competitors. If you’re not actively shaping it, you’re leaving your brand’s reputation to chance. That’s a risk most businesses can’t afford to take.

Why Brand Positioning Should Be Your Priority

Think of the brands you admire. What comes to mind first? Apple’s innovation, Volvo’s safety, Nike’s empowerment? These associations don’t happen by accident – they are the result of deliberate brand positioning. Without it, businesses struggle to differentiate, build trust or command loyalty.

Good positioning isn’t just about standing out – it’s about standing for something… a meaningful difference. It gives customers a reason to choose you beyond price or convenience. When done right, it creates emotional connections, strengthens customer retention and makes marketing efforts significantly more effective.

Models for Crafting a Strong Positioning

A strong brand position is built on insight, clarity and consistency. There are several frameworks you could try yourself:

The Positioning Statement Formula

A simple but effective approach:
For [target audience], [brand] is the [category] that [unique benefit], because [reason to believe].
This forces clarity and ensures every touchpoint reinforces the same message.

The 3Cs Model: Company, Customer, Competitor

Your positioning should align with your company’s strengths, meet customer needs and differentiate from competitors. Ignoring any of these leads to a weak, unsustainable position.

The Brand Onion

A layered approach that starts with your brand’s purpose at the core, then expands to personality, values and external messaging. This ensures consistency and depth.

With all of these, remember you're trying to create a meaningful difference in your brand positioning - so avoid generic phrases or something that anyone in your category could be saying.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

Without clear positioning, businesses fall into a trap of trying to appeal to everyone – and end up appealing to no one. Here’s what happens:

• Confusion – If customers don’t understand what you stand for, they won’t remember you.

• Commoditisation – Without a meaningful difference, you’re probably competing on just price or salience, which is a race to the bottom (either in revenue or spend).

• Inconsistency – Mixed messages dilute your impact and erode trust.

• Missed Opportunities – If you’re unclear about your positioning, so is your audience – and they’ll go elsewhere.

Getting It Right

Brand positioning isn’t a one-off exercise. It needs regular refinement to stay relevant as markets shift. Businesses that get it right don’t just compete – they lead. So the question isn’t whether you should focus on positioning, but whether you can afford not to.

The team at The Brand Strategy can guide your brand positioning journey, from understanding customers better to finding your space to shine.