The Art of Formulating a Brand Positioning Strategy
Brand Management Insights
A carefully-selected and well-articulated brand positioning is a "must-have" asset for any organization.
Your brand position encapsulates what distinct you from the competition and it is the starting point of the development of product and service propositions, the service concept, and all customer journey touch points.
Before arriving at the right brand position as a basis of a strong brand image, market share gain, and higher profits, a number of steps need to be taken of which the brand position study is the most intensive one.
The main aims of the brand position study is to gain statistically substantiated insights in the main buying selection criteria of your target customer segments, to establish the relative importance of brand differentiation, and to determine your brand's relative position compared to your competitors. The brand perceptual map (see next sector) is the most often used instrument to visualize how your brand is positioned in relation to the competitive brands from a customer's perspective.
Once the brand position status quo is determined, it is time to identify possible blanks on the map that can offer openings to either strengthen the current position or to reposition the brand. This is the brand positioning process. This process also provides insights in tables stakes and less relevant differentiators where we should economize.
Brand Perceptual Mapping: Why is a reliable and representative perceptual map so crucial to steer your brand strategy into the right direction?
Without a reliable and representative perceptual map, brand strategy development is merely guesswork with a substantial risk of managing your brand into the wrong direction.
Establishing the relative position of your -and competing brands based on target customer perceptions is a key milestone of the brand strategy process. Brand Perceptual Maps serve several other purposes of which the most important ones are: identification of potential brand differentiators that offer a competitive advantage │ identification of empty near ideal points on the map providing new market opportunities │ changes in the dynamics of relative importance of differentiators over time.
The development of a brand perceptual map is a worthwhile investment since it will be followed by significant investments in brand image building, product and customer journey development, marketing, and all other commercial activities. The production of a brand perceptual map is often preceded by a quantitative market study to increase confidence levels.