Brand positioning is about where you fit in your market. It starts with good research. The 1st step is to research your market to find out who the key operators are and how they define themselves in the market. For the designer, learning the client’s market feeds the discovery process. Once the market is understood, the next step is to learn more about the client’s own voice in that market in order to find out how they stand out. What makes them unique.  The designer takes time to listen to the client’s story and what precipitated the why they got started in their business. With all of this information, we begin to unravel who the client is, what they offer and their place in their market.

The key to your market position is your point of difference – also known as your point of distinction or your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). But being different isn’t enough to build a position strategy. For a brand to be built well, preparation through research in the marketplace is key. Look at the market you serve. Where does your business voice fit in? What do you contribute that is different and needed in this market? What is the fire in your belly that gets you excited to put your offer in the market despite the competition?

Create a Distinction Statement. A distinction statement comprises of your name, tagline, the description of the business, your offer, and the features and benefits. This might include using words such as best, first, only, most-recommended, or highest ranking. Include how your business solves key pain points for your customer as well as how your customer will feel with your offer – the emotional outcome: secure, successful, self-confident, indulged, etc.

Match your position to your brand’s experience.

Brand strategy begins by looking at your market and doing a competitor’s analysis. To get clear about who’s in your market and where you fit. A good competitor knows their market and will vie for position to be the friendliest, the highest quality, the lowest prices, or to excel in a given attribute. To prevail in that niche. Competitor analysis involves understanding the brand behind your competitors, the type of customer/client that buy from this company, and why. The high-positioning companies build trust and credibility in their offer. Their brand message is clear and consistent with continuity in their choice of font, colour, and graphics. To stake a claim to your brand’s point of difference and position, ensure every encounter delivers on the brand promise. If your focus is economy, create a warehouse experience. If it’s exclusivity, excel at individualized services and second-to-none responsiveness to the customer’s needs.

Outside-the-Box Graphics are brand ambassadors for our clients. We build brand guides so the message in the market is clear and consistent across all platforms for both print and web media. Knowing your place in your market and sharing it with continuity goes a long way to strengthening the business foundation and building trust and credibility in your market. Give us a call to find out what we can do to build and expand the brand position in your business.

Laurie Kingdon, Creative Director
778-839-3755