BSK: Positioning
In this session, we are going to talk about Positioning.
What is Positioning? Positioning is how you stand out and differentiate yourself from others in the market.
Whatever your Product or service, someone else (a competitor) is likely out there offering an alternative that can provide the same thing you do.
You need to develop your brand position to ensure your value proposition is clear and compelling and to stand out when clients compare you to others offering the same thing.
To help you understand this, let's put it into the example of a literal market, like a Sunday market, where you can buy fruit, vegetables, and other random goods.
There isn't just one seller offering fruit at the Sunday Market (that would be a monopoly, which ends up being bad for everyone attending the market).
No, when you go to the market, you'll see many fruit sellers offering different combinations of quality, price, and variety. One will be the cheapest, the next the most organic, the sourced locally, and the other all of the above.
These differentiators - quality, price, variety - make each fruit seller stand out in the market.
Outside the Sunday Market, there are many ways to differentiate and Position yourself alongside competitors beyond quality, price, and variety; there's also geography, brand, speed, features, and many more.
Your Positioning will be informed by your Story, who your Audience is, your set Values, and what Product you are selling.
With all of that in mind, how are you standing out? It doesn't have to be competitive. But it does need to be distinct.
Let me explain using Storytime Studios as the case study.
We (Storytime) are a creative agency that does Branding, a space and service filled with many people offering something similar. Brand Identity can be tackled by pretty much any designer - to varying degrees of detail or competence. To compete in the market, we Position ourselves differently from others by focusing on strategy and ensuring we address the brand's plan and architecture before working out the project specs.
Is this a revolutionary way to Position Storytime? Not really, and our Positioning is also not a direct and blatant counterposition to others in the market. That sounds like, "We focus on strategy because everyone else is stupid".
That's not the case; everyone has their own approach, and this is ours. People know that when we take on a branding project, it will usually be a sizable project because we're looking at a bigger picture. Focusing on strategy is not revolutionary, but it is distinct in this space.
My favourite example of Positioning relates to cars.
Simply put, are you selling a Rolls Royce, which takes six months to build a single unit, or are you making Toyota Corollas, which get pumped out of the factory as fast as possible?
Both cars have wheels and an engine, but each is Positioned (and priced) very differently.
Note: your Positioning and Values are not the same thing. Your values reflect the way you want to do business. Your position is how you want to build perception around your Brand and differentiate it from your competitors.
Extra Positioning Related Prompts
How do you stand out?
What’s your ‘X-Factor’?
What do you do well? Better than most?
Why would people choose your offer over someone else’s?
Do you have specific experience, knowledge, or understanding of something that makes you unique?
Do you have equipment or skills that are unique and stand out that others don’t have?
Who are your competitors? How do you compare? How do you contrast them and their offers?
What attributes describe your Brand voice? Friendly? Playful? Serious? Scientific? Clinical? Passionate? Reliable? Bold? Direct? Honest?
That's Positioning: think, ponder, write it down, and see you on the next one.
Last Updated: 29/Dec/2023