Brand positioning: what not to do

The results of activities significantly depend on how the brand positioning strategy is built: economic indicators, competitive advantages, popularity and attention to the company, audience involvement - potential buyers. In the variety of products and ideas for their promotion, a brand with an unclear position may not even be in the background and get completely lost. 

Which positioning strategy is right for your brand? a question that needs to be examined individually — this can only be understood after in-depth study, marketing research and analysis of company data. But we will now outline in general terms what not to do when developing a positioning strategy. 

Very wide range

To build an effective brand positioning strategy, you need certainty: in what way we, as professionals, will be most useful to people. And pay all attention to it. Do not try to launch dozens of additional products or related services from the start. Later, to develop the company or improve customer comfort, there may be a need for additional product lines, but first, work on key competencies must be fine-tuned. 

A huge range of products or attempts to provide many services at once “in a one-stop shop” may turn out to be a failure for a new brand. It seems that you want to satisfy as many customer needs as possible and thereby become more in demand in the market. But in such a pursuit of everything at once, there is a very high risk of losing control over the main processes, a noticeable decrease in the quality of work and a blurred brand position.

Only benefits

To create a brand positioning strategy, advertise and sell goods or services, you need to know your strengths and be able to demonstrate them correctly. But at the same time, you shouldn’t hide your shortcomings as if they don’t exist in principle.

When a brand speaks exclusively about successes, victories and new records, the audience may doubt the sincerity of communication: “we all live this life and we know that it doesn’t always happen that everything is just a plus sign, they don’t tell us something.” It’s a paradox, but the level of trust in the “ideal” brand is falling.

But another company was not shy and shared a real story, for example, about what difficulties arose when working with one of the clients, how long they could not come to an agreement, agree on the details and the project was on the verge of failure. This is where the audience gets into it. There will be no thoughts that the company is performing poorly. There will be empathy: everyone can face difficulties, not everything depends on us, we are all human. 

Yes, or just divide it: we do this flawlessly, but we are still gaining experience in other areas. A brand that not only proves its best qualities, but also admits its weaknesses, will be closer to the audience. 

The product is useful to everyone

At the first stages of creating a brand, an idea like this is possible: “what if we launch a product that will be needed by any person?” And further arguments about versatility and that greater coverage will create a constant flow of buyers. But, unfortunately, this is an illusion. 

Firstly, there is probably no such product that is interesting and useful to everyone. Even vital products in their varieties are aimed at different audiences. Secondly, an attempt to create a “product of mass utility” and please everyone will only make the positioning incomprehensible: you need to present yourself somehow, but all people will not perceive one sales offer in the same way. 

If the idea of a universal product seems to work, it means the market, audience, competitors have not been studied and, as a result, there is no own position. And this is, perhaps, the main mistake on the way to creating a brand: without positioning, you will not get a solid visual image or communication with the audience. 

Marketing research will help you determine your positioning strategy and find your buyer: 

• Where will we sell and on what scale: online or offline, within a microdistrict, throughout the city, country or world.
• What price range is our product in: budget offer or high quality.
• Who are our competitors: we need to determine our advantages and use them in the competition.
• How the buyer will find out about our product and buy it: what sites the audience we need visits - we will place advertising there; Which stores do they go to? We’ll place the product there.
• What makes our offer unique: we determine the features of the product, why they will choose it, and why it appeals to the target audience. 

When there are clear answers to all these questions, an understanding will come of how to organize work in the market. When you have warned against all possible mistakes in the brand formation process, the emergence of your own positioning strategy will not be long in coming.