Brand Positioning and Branding StrategyFive questions to ask on a brand positioning and strategy:- What are my brands' perceived strengths and weaknesses vs. my closest competitors'?
- What brand characteristics truly motivate my target market to buy?
- What brand positioning will be relevant, credible, pre-emptible, sustainable, and profitable?
- How do I bring my brand alive in communications, logo, and creative?
- Where is the 'white space' in the market?
Every business wants to build and
position their brand so that its target market can easily identify and connect with it. When a brand is prominent and creates positive feelings with its customers, it results in a
profitable brand and long-term loyal customers. Achieving this however takes strategy and hard work to position a successful brand.
Your brand is, in principal, your business's identity with your customers since it defines the business. It can be the
business name, its logo, an excellent product and a business strategy. Branding can give the business the advantage to stay competitive in its market and grow, while representing value to a customer.
These are the first steps in
positioning a brand accurately in its market:Identify your target marketYou must
identify your target market in order to suitably design and display your brand to your target market in an enticing way.
Informing your marketInformation about your business or product must be conveyed to your market in such a way that it attracts them and motivates them to buy the product. The customer must understand
why your product is better than the competition and it's USP (unique selling proposition). Your audience must understand why they should buy your product over the competition.
Influencing brand perception It may be beneficial to do a quick survey to
find out how your brand is doing in the market. Create an enhancement strategy to set it apart from the competition. Positioning your brand in a particular segment will attract the type of customers your business wishes to reach.
Competitor AnalysisConduct a competitor analysis;
identify your competitive advantage so that you can design your marketing message in such a way that shows the customer why they should buy from you and not from competitors.
Design your marketing messageUnderstand that the
meaning of the words you use to convey your message creates a perception in the customers mind. This means understanding the impact words, colours and images have on people and the feelings they can stimulate, therefore use the right selection to your advantage as this will influence the buyers thinking process.
Alternate MarketTo ensure that you have the most
effective brand positioning, an in-depth understanding of your competition is vital. Sometimes, you may need to identify the white space or gap in the market
creating an entirely new niche for your brand/product, since it may not always be possible to compete head on with a larger market leader. Also the branding strategy that works for a market leader may not necessarily be effective for your brand.
ConclusionCreating a tailored branding strategy for your business can help you stand out in your industry and build a captivating brand.
Brand positioning is about training your customers' minds about how to distinguish your product against competitors. Even though you know your product is better than the competition, this has to be consistently publicised to potential customers to increase market share.
To build a
powerful brand, you need to have all the elements of a brand strategy in place.
WRAPPA is a brand consultancy that offers full-spectrum brand management services for start-ups and large corporates alike. They maintain a fresh approach to optimising brands in accordance with markets, trends, consumer behaviour and endless research, and utilise holistic design consulting techniques in determining the optimum look and feel for your brand.
Contact WRAPPA Brand Consultancy today and
make your brand work for you! 
