A Brand Positioning Strategy must have four positioning elements to qualify as one.
- a target
- a frame of reference
- a point of difference
- a reason to believer
Therefore, the brand statement guides or helps in the alignment of all customer-facing decisions that relate to the brand. When considering decisions about the elements of brand designs, customer’s touchpoints, advertising, and others, this internal document will be the source to consult.
For example, let us use the Apple brand statement below and illustrate the various elements.
‘‘For consumers who want to feel empowered by the technology they use regardless of their skill, Apple offers electronic devices that make you feel smarter because they incorporate leading-edge technology that is sophisticated, yet intuitive to use.’’
In the Apple brand statement above
- The target was the consumers with varying degrees of technology skills
- The frame of reference was the electronic devices
- The point of difference is that Apple electronics create a feeling of being smarter than you when using a competing brand
- The reason to believe is that the brand has superior technology proven over time.
In effect, in doing the brand positioning critical assessment, the examination of the brand statement from these four elements (target, a frame of reference, point of difference and reason to believe).
Notes:
Tybout, A. M., and Calkins, T. (2019). Kellogg on branding in a hyper-connected world. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
