In our professional lives, we’ve all had the distinct pleasure – or torment, depending on the day – of sharing our working days with that person who was the Swiss Army Knife of existence.
You know who I’m talking about. THAT person who, by the age of 22, claimed to have played football with a top-flight NRL team as a junior, dodged bullets as part of an elite commando unit and gone on to make his mark as an award-winning art director in a world-renowned advertising agency.
A fascinating fella. A living, breathing compendium of tall tales and pure fantasy. I can still hear him regaling us about his life on the stock exchange as a high-flying stockbroker – after the advertising career, of course, who suffered the calamity of losing it all on 9/11.
As you listened to the stories between sips of beer, you knew he was about as authentic as a seven-dollar note.
Details moved about ‘under fire’, and favourite stories repeated often would have different endings – all the definitive hallmarks of the true bullshit artist.
But looking back, amongst all of these fairy stories, a kernel of truth lies waiting to be unearthed. It’s about the importance and power of brand positioning—the misunderstood hero in the saga of business success.
What’s in a Brand(Position)?
LinkedIn influencers have kicked about and abused brand positioning to the point that it’s barely on life-support! So, let’s resuscitate it! When you nail your brand positioning, it becomes the platform for all of your marketing tactics and defines the ‘brand’ in the minds of your chosen audience.
Failure to nail your brand positioning can lead to your brand being seen in the same light as our fantastical friend from above—buried under layers of fairy stories talking to bewildered and disbelieving client prospects.
It ain’t what you think it is.
First and foremost, let’s demystify what brand positioning isn’t. It’s not a catchy tagline; that’s messaging (and a valuable brand asset). Nor is it picking a spot on a 4×4 grid of the market—that should form part of your market analysis.
Here’s what it should be.
Brand positioning is the platform for your marketing game plan. At its core, it’s about how you win based on the unique value you deliver to your chosen market segments. It’s about understanding your brand’s core competencies and intimately understanding your relevance to your audience and what makes you different to your competitors.
It’s about being more appealing, more pertinent – it’s not simply saying ‘we’re better’. Authentic brands don’t win by trying to be adored by everyone. A brand position isn’t a laundry list of attributes; it’s the singular, shining beacon you want to be known for with the right people. It is what makes you irresistible to them, like the last bit of ‘Pav’ on the plate!
What you’ll get.
With a well-crafted brand position, you don’t just navigate the market—you chart your course with precision. It helps you build trust and craft a presence through actions as memorable as the last note of a favourite song!
It’s not about being loud or saying a lot; it’s about resonating with clarity and conviction.
Your brand position will guide every decision, ensuring your business moves purposefully and coherently. It’s the difference between being another face in the crowd and being the face—the one that stands out, the one that matters.
The authenticity imperative.
Let’s circle back to our fabulist friend and not be too harsh.
After all, his endless stories are a caution—a reminder that without the spine of genuine, thoughtfully crafted brand position, your business could be remembered like our old friend: all hat and no cattle.
Invest the effort in creating a well-defined, genuine brand position. Otherwise, you risk echoing the hollowness of unsubstantiated claims and being forgotten by all but yourself.
That’s a story you don’t want to have to tell.
To find out more on how to tell the right one, get in touch.
