Your customers need guidance while rummaging through all of the products they encounter throughout their daily lives. Given the competitive nature of today’s markets and myriad of emerging products, consumers need much more than a list of attributes to sort through this clutter. No matter how differentiating the attributes of your brand may or may not be, consumers also need to be able to form an emotional connection with your brand.
A common misconception is that the vast advertising spent and self-proclaimed uniqueness is a recipe for market success. This approach may work sometimes, but it is often by sheer luck and is in no way the most efficient strategy. Just think back to the late ‘90s and the “dot-com” boom, dozens of companies ran ad after ad to the masses, spending money faster than the media could accept it. What resulted out of this was a bust for most of these big spenders as they failed to articulate a position of meaning and personal value. So while you were aware of their name, there was no other influence as to what they stood for, what they did, or how they could impact your life. At that point, these companies had spent millions of dollars only to cast themselves into a dark corner of their prospects’ minds.
The fundamental reason and well-thought positioning you need is that it is one of the last available platforms for competitive differentiation in developing an identity within your market. Solely relying on an attribute or the price of the product as the primary form of differentiation is not the ideal strategic move. It may easily differentiate your brand at launch, but without capitalizing on an emotional need in the market these spaces can quickly be owned by competitors.
Brand positioning gives a brand an opportunity to compete for space in its prospect’s mind, ultimately it is what differentiates and guides customers to make a choice on one brand over another.
About The Author
As a lead strategist for a top NYC agency, Sumit Agrawal leads client project teams in finding innovative solutions to positioning and branding challenges. With consumer and healthcare marketing experience, he’s had the opportunity to work with countless brands, including: AstraZeneca, Dow Chemicals, Medtronic, Avocados From Mexico, Jose Cuervo, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and more. For private consulting opportunities and additional discussion contact Sumit via LinkedIn.
