Photo by Kaitlyn Wynn
Establishing Your Position
What position does your brand hold in its target market? How can you distinguish yourself from all of your competitors? This blog will look at how to capitalize on uniqueness and use this to develop a position that sets your brand apart.
What is a position?
According to Strategic Planning for Public Relations, by Ronald Smith, positioning is "the process and result of managing how an organization distinguishes itself with a unique meaning in the mind of its publics." Basically, this is about showing your target audience why they should side with you and how you are different than competitors. To start off this process, ask yourself these two questions...
What are we wanting people to think about is?
What position are we seeking with our public?
In order to create a successful brand, it is important to position yourself according to your own niche. What makes you different? What do you bring to the table that others don't? How can you serve your target audience better than competitors?
Why is this important?
Although some may think so, a brand position is not automatically embedded in one's organization. It is important to think about what makes you different, not just so the target audience knows- but so you know, and so you can see areas in need of improvement.
According to Natalie Matiusha's article on Snovio, the brand position is important because it, "ties your business vision, identity, goals, and product image all together to place your business in a notable place in the market."
Let's look at some examples...
1) Amazon
Amazon's Who We are page gives a statement that highlights its attention to the customer's wants, needs, goals and lifestyles. This is what makes them different. They go above and beyond to be dedicated to you, and their position screams it.
Image from Who we are | About Amazon
Ethics in Positioning
As much as it is important to distinguish your brand from others, it is also important to think about the ethical implications that come with that. Positioning is not about bragging, exaggerating or demeaning other organizations. Doing anything like that does not promote trust and respect in a brand and your audience will see right through it. Don't say you're the biggest, fastest, best, blah blah blah brand out there. Instead focus on the traits your instill and your brand and what it is meant to represent- commitment, hard work, philanthropy, community, etc.
And that's all!
Thanks so much for reading! If you want to learn more about positioning for your brand, check out Matiusha's article by clicking here!
References
Matiusha , N. (2022). What is Brand positioning: Definition, examples, and how to write a brand positioning statement. Snovio. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://snov.io/glossary/brand-positioning/
Smith, R. D. (2020). Strategic Planning for Public Relations (6th ed.). Taylor & Francis. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781000201468