example of positioning strategy in business plan

The Complete Guide to Positioning in Marketing

Learn how to improve your positioning in marketing. We cover the benefits of positioning, types of positioning, examples, how to create a positioning strategy.

Manager of the Experts Success Team at Mayple

Learn about our

Natalie is a content writer and manager who is passionate about using her craft to empower others. She thrives on team dynamic, great coffee, and excellent content. One of these days, she might even get to her own content ideas.

Updated November 20, 2023.

There are probably hundreds or even thousands of companies that provide products or services similar to yours. They give similar promises and offer similar benefits, and thus they have a similar position in the mind of the average consumer.

Such a situation makes the consumer wonder why they should go for one company instead of another. They might feel like all the options are the same. As a business owner, your job is to show why your products are not the same as others’ products and why you can provide unique value to customers about your competitors.

The process of positioning is crucial for your marketing strategy and marketing efforts. This guide will help you learn how to distinguish yourself from your competition in the consumers’ minds, thus getting ahead of your competition in a highly competitive market.

What does positioning mean in marketing?

Positioning is one of the 4 P’s of the marketing mix and refers to the process influencing the consumer perception of your brand or a specific product you offer. More specifically, positioning is the process of creating a specific image of your brand with which your target customers will associate you, thus distinguishing you from your competitors.

As Ries & Trout say, “Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.”

Positioning is all about choices - choosing your place in the market. For example, a car manufacturer may emphasize the practicality of its cars, positioning them as quality vehicles for the average consumer instead of costly status symbols. Likewise, a fast food chain may position itself as a palace to get inexpensive and quick meals, unlike high-end restaurants.

On the other hand, a fashion brand may position its clothes as high-end status symbols with completely unique design choices. This would make it stand apart from other clothing manufacturers.

No matter what business you run, positioning is invaluable for showing consumers why they should pick your brand out of all the others. You need to create a distinct image and make it stick in your consumers’ minds to have a lasting impact and ensure they don’t forget you and the value you bring.

Positioning is somewhat similar to processes such as branding, value proposition, messaging, and differentiation. However, there are some key differences that we need to highlight to understand better what positioning is.

Positioning vs. branding

Branding refers to creating a unique logo, tagline, or slogan to create an original brand image . You can think of the McDonald’s logo and the recognizable “I’m lovin’ it” slogan. These two elements are unique to the company and instantly recognizable.

Positioning is similar, but its main focus is on creating a specific image or idea of your brand in your customers’ minds. For example, you might try to position your company’s products as more practical when compared to your competitors.

Positioning vs. value proposition

Positioning can also be confused with a value proposition. A value proposition is a promise you make to your customers regarding the benefits, use, and quality of your products or services. So a value proposition might be a part of the positioning, but it is not the same process.

Positioning vs. messaging

While positioning involves outlining the uniqueness of your products and services in comparison to your competitors, messaging is when you communicate how you’ll fulfill your promises to your target audience.

Positioning vs. differentiation

Since positioning is to a great extent about how different your product is from the competition, it might be easy to confuse it with differentiation. However, differentiation is a tactic you use to make a specific offer or product stand out and get more interest from the target audience.

The benefits of positioning in marketing

Now that we know what positioning is, we should examine its benefits in greater detail. Here are all the benefits of having good positioning.

Have a stronger position in the market

When you create a positive image of your company in consumers’ minds and associate your business with a certain value, you’ll attract more customers.

A successful positioning campaign will cement your position not only in consumers’ minds but also in the target market. The goal is to have consumers believe that your products and services provide more value than those of your competitors.

Increase sales

Improved positioning can lead to greater sales. Having a relevant offer and communicating information about your company effectively may allow you to get a bigger piece of your existing market and expand to new markets.

Better market to your target audience

Positioning also allows you to reach out to your target audience and better capture their imagination. This will allow you to market your products and services to your target buyers better. You will be able to address their needs and pain points effectively, thus turning them into more loyal customers.

Build a stronger brand

Positioning goes hand in hand with branding. While branding will give you a recognizable logo and slogan, positioning will ensure that your brand is associated with a certain value and that your (potential) customers see it in a certain way. And together they are part of an overall branding strategy .

You might position your business as one that provides convenience at a reasonable price. Such clear positioning will result in a strong brand because you’ll show that you have a clear focus and target demographic. Customers who prefer this kind of service or goods will know where to look for them.

Every brand must have a specific focus. A brand that tries to cater to everyone will end up catering to no one. And a great branding freelancer will be able to help you take your first-party data and create a brand that attracts your ideal customer.

Types of positioning in marketing

There are different types of positioning depending on what you want to focus on in your business. Let’s look at each one in detail.

For most consumers, a product’s price is a determining factor when they have to decide if they’ll buy something or not. A company that offers affordable products with reasonable quality will most likely have lots of success with customers if it positions itself as a low-cost brand with decent products.

A good example of this is Dollar Shave Club compared to Gillette. Even though Gillette was the leading company in the razor blade market, Dollar Shave Club took over a decent chunk of their market due to their unusually low prices and good quality.

The cheapest razor cartridge from Dollar Shave Club is only $0.20, which swayed many customers to their side. This enabled Dollar Shave Club to successfully take on a giant like Gillette. They have positioned their business around a competitive pricing strategy and it worked. They were acquired by Unilever in 2016 for a whopping $1 billion .

Quality is the determining factor for companies that sell products in the same price range. Think of the reason people buy Volvos - they are more expensive but are significantly better quality-wise than other cars. Consumers for whom product price is not an issue will want to get the highest possible quality.

Chipotle and Taco Bell are good examples of this. Chipotle was able to get a good part of the market share when it focused on quality instead of price.

Competitors

When positioning your brand, you must also emphasize the ways in which you’re better than your competition. This can refer to your superior customer service, top-notch experts that you hire, or better standards of production.

Convenience

Sometimes your biggest strength might be the convenience you offer to your customers. It can refer to the sheer number of your stores or office, accessibility, multiple-platform support, or ease of use of your application(s).

A convenience-based positioning strategy attracts busy customers, who are often willing to pay extra to save time. And while it can get you greater profits, it can also cost more. For example, if you’re offering a mobile app and a desktop version of the app, you can get more customers, but you’ll need to spend more on development.

Customer needs

If you want to get and retain customers, you must be ready to quickly and efficiently meet their needs. Consumers are generally happy to pay a premium price if they know that any problem they might have with the product will be solved quickly and efficiently.

On the other hand, If consumers perceive you as cold and disinterested, they’ll rather opt for someone else, even if your goods or services are top-notch.

Positioning your company around your customer and their needs is a powerful strategy that helps cement your position in the market.

Product use

Another thing you can focus on is the intended use of your product(s) and its characteristics. It’s impossible to create products that customers can use for everything and in every situation, so you have to focus on a particular characteristic and use it to stand out.

For example, Volvo emphasizes the safety of its vehicles, and drivers who prioritize that characteristic know where to turn when buying a car. On the other hand, drivers that prefer reliability will turn to Toyota, as the company positions itself as a manufacturer of reliable cars.

Examples of positioning in marketing

Now that you know the different types of positioning here are a few great examples from the world’s most famous brands. These examples will deepen your understanding of positioning and they might give you some useful ideas you can use in your marketing efforts.

1. Tinder and Bumble

Tinder and Bumble are two of the biggest names in the dating industry and they rely on different positioning strategies to attract new users and retain the ones that they have.

Tinder tries to position itself as a leader in the industry by drawing attention to its large number of users ( 75 million and counting) and its long presence in the market. That’s an important factor for potential users who would like to have a wide pool of potential dating partners.

On the other hand, Bumble uses its unconventional approach to position itself as a game changer in the industry. Bumble is specific because it only lets women initiate conversations, and it also offers users to look for friendships and business connections.

Therefore, Bumble relies on differentiation to stand out from the competition and present itself as an innovative alternative to its competition.

2. Apple Music and Spotify

Apple Music and Spotify are bitter rivals when it comes to music streaming. Even though their services are similar, their positioning strategies are quite different.

Spotify relies on a price-based strategy. While it has a premium option that makes it very similar to Apple Music, it also offers a free plan that attracts many users. Additionally, it offers a great degree of personalization that allows users to enjoy their favorite music and discover new artists with only a few clicks.

Apple Music focuses on its status as a prestigious service. It emphasizes its impressive catalog of 60 million songs and exclusive features such as on-screen lyrics and music videos, which Spotify offers for only a few songs.

3. Walmart and Target

The rivalry between Target and Walmart can also give us a great example of different positioning strategies. While both chains offer similar products and prices, their positioning is vastly different.

Walmart competes on price and offers the best-priced goods in the market. This has some drawbacks and it has earned them an interesting reputation but customers know that if they want to get the best deals they should go to Walmart.

On the other hand, Target focuses more on customer experience and product quality. Target stores tend to be better organized, and the customers find the experience much more enjoyable than the one they might get at Walmart.

4. Popeyes vs. Chick-Fil-A

Both companies serve tasty fried chicken but with very different approaches. Popeyes focuses on differentiation, while Chick-Fil-A focuses on its quality and customer service.

Popeyes’ main focus is on home style, Cajun recipes, and food that are different from many other similar chains. This allows them to stand out from the crowd and be recognizable for their food.

Chick-Fil-A emphasizes the quality and general appeal of its food to position itself. However, their strategy is hybrid because they also rely on customer service . They don’t brag about it, but they let their employees’ actions speak for themselves, so they’re recognized as a place where customers feel well-treated.

How to create an effective positioning strategy

Here is a step-by-step process for creating an effective market positioning strategy for your business.

1. Define your current position

Before you dive deep into the positioning process, you must first determine your current position in the market. Do prospective customers see your products as just another thing on the market, or do they see them as something unique? Conduct some research to determine how your products are perceived by your target audience.

After that, you must determine who your potential and ideal customers are and how you can connect to the typical buyer persona. If you have a wide range of products, segmenting your customers is also a good idea. This will help you create campaigns that cater to specific market segments.

2. Analyze your competitors

Competitor analysis is just as important as analyzing your own position in the target market. Conduct a SWOT analysis to see how you stack up against your competitors. Identify the weaknesses you need to address, as well as the strengths you should emphasize.

Pro tip : take note of your competitors' marketing channels, tactics, and advertising campaigns, and record all of those in your marketing plan . Refer back when you need fresh ideas of what works in your target market.

3. Create a positioning map

Positioning maps are a visual representation of how you compare to your competition based on certain attributes and values they find important. It’s a super helpful tool that helps you see a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses you and your competitors have.

4. Tweak your current position

Once you know what you need to work on, you can start tweaking your position. Emphasize your strengths compared to your competitors and convince your potential customers that your business is the place to go if they’re looking for a certain value.

This value should be the one you’ve identified as your strong point and decided to push forward as a factor that differentiates you from the competition. This should also be the value you associate with your customers’ needs.

5. Create a positioning statement

Your positioning statement should be one or two sentences long and briefly state your mission and goals. It should emphasize your uniqueness compared to your competition.

It consists of three elements - what you do, who your target audience is, and the greatest benefit that your product provides.

For example, here’s a compelling positioning statement from Amazon: “Our vision is to be the Earth’s most customer-centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”

This statement summarizes their goals and proof of the statement has become self-evident. Amazon offers basically anything you might want to buy, it’s all available at the click of the mouse, and it's delivered to your doorstep.

6. Create a tagline

A tagline is better known as a slogan. A good slogan can be almost synonymous with your brand and will do an excellent job showing your customers what they can expect from your company.

We’re all aware of slogans such as “Just do it” from Nike or “Because you’re worth it” from L’Oreal. Those slogans are instantly recognizable and tell consumers exactly what they can expect from the companies.

7. Test your marketing positioning

Once you’ve prepared everything essential for positioning, it’s time to put it to the test. It takes time until your customers’ perception of your business changes into what you want it to be. This allows you to track the progress of your positioning campaign and make changes.

Don’t expect your positioning campaign to be effective immediately. It’s almost impossible to do everything perfectly right away, so embrace the effort and know that it’s a process.

Looking to position your company?

If you’re serious about standing out and conquering your competition, you need to have a successful positioning strategy.

It could seem daunting but you don’t have to do it alone. Hire the perfect marketing consultant through Mayple and get the job done. Get started now and start working on a killer positioning plan!

What is the meaning of market positioning?

Market positioning refers to shaping the consumer perception of your brand, company, or products. Brands position themselves by creating an image or identity of the brand or product so that consumers view it in a certain way. It’s an important part of your marketing mix and serves to strengthen your brand and improve sales.

What is the importance of market positioning?

The objective of market positioning is to stand out from the competitors and show your uniqueness to the customers. It associates your company with certain values and characteristics, and people will know they should turn to you if they’re looking for those values and characteristics.

It's important for companies that want to develop better messaging for their target segment, improve their current market position, and increase sales.

What is meant by positioning in marketing?

Positioning is how consumers see your brand. In other words, it refers to the values you want your customer base to associate you with. It can also refer to how consumers see your product in relation to other products on the market. Good positioning makes your product unique in the eyes of your target segment and helps display the benefit it provides for them.

What are the 5 positioning strategies?

The five positioning strategies are: quality positioning, convenience positioning, customer needs positioning, product positioning, and competitive positioning.

What are the 4 types of product positioning?

There are four types of product positioning: price-based positioning, lifestyle-based positioning, characteristics-based positioning, and quality-based positioning. You can also use a combination of two types of product positioning together to make your product stand out in the market.

What is an example of positioning?

Volvo is a good example of positioning in the car industry. The company emphasizes the safety of its vehicles, so consumers who prioritize that characteristic know that Volvo is the best option for them.

Why is positioning important?

Positioning helps you boost sales, attract your target audience, and create a unique image of your company. This makes you a recognizable force in the target market and cements your position in your customers’ minds.

What are the 4 Cs of positioning?

The four Cs of positioning are clarity, consistency, competitiveness, and credibility. They tell what your main focus should be when working on your positioning. They were created by David Jobber and John Fahy in their book "Foundations of Marketing" (2009).

Related Articles

Ben Kazinik

BeardBrand’s $100K/mo Content Marketing Strategy

Rakefet Yacoby From

How to Own Your Marketing Data When Switching Marketing Providers

Octavia Drexler

10 Examples of the Best Browse Abandonment Emails | Expert Guide

Mostafa Dastras

PR for eCommerce: Top Strategies to Spread the Word About Your Business

[Interview] Scott Lux on Customer Experience (CX) & Social Commerce

How to Build a Positioning Strategy for Your Brand

What words come to mind when you think of iconic brands like Uber and Instagram? Maybe you think of “fast” and “affordable” for Uber, or “share” and “friends” for Instagram.

The associations we have with brands may seem benign, but they are vital for brands to succeed in the long term.

What a customer associates your brand with influences how they interact with your company. If the association is positive, they may make repeat purchases or recommend you to a friend. If the association is negative, they may avoid your brand or opt for a competitor.

To control how consumers view your brand , you need to position your company correctly.

Naturally, it would help if you had a strong positioning strategy to build loyal customers long-term. This article will teach you what a positioning strategy is and how to create one.

Let’s dive in.

What Is a Brand Positioning Strategy?

A positioning strategy helps you outline how you want customers to perceive your brand. Essentially, it outlines the “thing” your brand is known for.

Though we often associate brand positioning with marketing, your positioning strategy influences many aspects of your business. This includes sales, customer service, customer relations, and order fulfillment.

There are many advantages to developing a positioning strategy, as it can help you:

• Shape your customer experience
• Make sure the content you produce aligns with your brand’s visions and goals
• Build brand recognition
• Design a high-quality marketing strategy
• Market your brand
• Craft a recognizable public presence
• Create a niche for your brand
• Showcase your competitive advantage

Like anything branding-related, these advantages only apply when the positioning strategy is effective. Effective strategies generally consider customers’ desires and needs carefully. Additionally, they account for the brands’ strengths and weaknesses and outline their competitive differentiation.

Many brands share their positioning strategy through a 10–50 word positioning statement. These are like a mission statement, except a mission statement answers the question, “Who are we?” While a positioning statement answers the question, “What do we do?”

We will dive deeper into developing a positioning statement in the “How To Design a Positioning Strategy”  section.

Positioning Strategy Examples

While we don’t know precisely how each brand positions itself internally, you can see most brands’ strategies from their marketing.

To conceptualize how a positioning strategy looks, let’s analyze five branding examples from well-known brands.

1. AirHouse

AirHouse is a logistics platform that helps people organize and manage product shipping.

If you look at AirHouse’s homepage, you can see that the brand positions itself to cater to retail and ecommerce businesses that ship products to customers.

The marketing on this page also tells us that:

• AirHouse prides itself on providing a fast and easy experience
• AirHouse can help brands increase order fulfillment scale
• AirHouse’s “thing” is providing a cloud-based solution that syncs your fulfillment data in real-time

Slack is a professional communication and chat tool designed for teams. Looking at Slack’s homepage, you’ll see that Slack positions itself as a “digital HQ” for companies.

Additionally, Slack markets itself as:

• A trusted brand, as the homepage mentions that Fox, Lonely Planet, Intuit, Carvana, Kiva, Target, and DevaCurl use Slack
• A tool for the future, as Slack uses phrases like “build a better tomorrow” to describe what you can do with Slack
• A tool that’s compatible with Google, as Slack prompts visitors to “sign up with Google”

3. RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud communications company that offers voice, text, fax, and conferencing solutions for small, medium, and large businesses.

If you look at RingCentral’s homepage, you can see that the company positions itself as an all-in-one provider that prioritizes getting customers “connected.”

Scrolling down on RingCentral’s homepage also shows that the company sets itself apart from competitors by offering 24-hour support with “fast resolution,” professional services with “quicker ROI,” integrated solutions for “accelerated business growth,” and real-time analytics that provide “business-driving insights.”

Owned by PayPal, Honey is a browser extension that collects discount coupons for popular websites and automatically applies them to users’ transactions.

Honey’s marketing is built on social proof that the extension is trustworthy. This proof includes the statements that Honey works on “30,000+ sites,” has “167,000 Chrome Store reviews,” and serves “17 million members and counting.”

If you look at Honey’s Facebook page, you can also see that Honey positions itself like a friend to customers with language like “shop smarter, together” and “join Honey.” Honey’s customer service email, “ [email protected] ,” also uses this positioning.

5. Function of Beauty

Function of Beauty produces beauty, skin, and hair care products personalized to each customer’s tastes.

If you look at Function of Beauty’s website, you’ll see that the brand positions itself as “the world leader in customizable beauty.” This positioning is clever because it provides social proof while emphasizing that the Function of Beauty is different because it allows for custom products.

Positioning Perceptual Map

After looking at marketing from RingCentral and Function of Beauty, you may have noticed that competitors play a vital role in a good positioning strategy. An effective positioning strategy describes why your brand is unique, thus separating you from your competitors.

Of course, it’s not always easy to see how your brand is unique when designing your positioning strategy.

That’s where a positioning perceptual map comes in.

A positioning perceptual map (also known as a “brand map” or “magic quadrant”) is a visual representation of how your brand compares to your competitors using two or more factors at a time. When marketers create perceptual maps, they think from the target customers’ perspective.

Here’s what a perceptual map looks like:

Though you can use any factors you like in your map, here are some common factors many brands utilize:

• Time investment
• Ease of use
• Product quality
• Customer service
• Trustworthiness
• Supply chain ethics
• Profitability

Although many brands use perceptual maps as an internal tool to guide operational and marketing decisions, some brands also choose to share their perceptual maps as a marketing tool. For example, RingCentral published this perceptual map on its website:

Types of Positioning Strategies

Up until this point, we’ve covered positioning strategies as a whole. However, there are seven different “types” of positioning strategies, each of which uses a unique angle.

These strategies are:

1. Pricing-Based Strategies

Pricing-based strategies position your brand as desirable because of the cost, pricing model, or value for money you provide.

For example, a brand using a pricing-based strategy may describe itself as “affordable for families” or “a retailer with low prices.”

However, pricing-based strategies don’t always play the race to the bottom , as high-class brands like Mouawad (which sells a $3.8 million  handbag) also use a pricing-based strategy to market products as luxurious.

Alternatively, brands like Netflix and Hulu use their subscription-based pricing model in their positioning, as subscription-based pricing allows consumers the flexibility to watch a vast catalog of content, not just rent a single movie or show at a time.

2. Product-Based Strategies

Product-based strategies build your brand positioning around the quality of your products and services. For example, a product positioning strategy might emphasize that a product is durable, dependable, reliable, stylish, environmentally friendly, cruelty-free, kosher, or vegan.

Alternatively, a product-based strategy might market your brand with key features or benefits . Grammarly does this, as it built its brand positioning around offering a program that gives people “real-time suggestions to strengthen their writing.”

3. Use-Based Strategies

Use-based strategies position your brand by what your product or service does for customers.

For example, legal service Lawyer.com positions itself as an intermediary between people and lawyers in their area with branding like “get connected with a lawyer today.” Or, the real estate website Zumper promises to help users “find your fresh start.”

4. Situation-Based Strategies

Situation-based strategies position your brand as the perfect solution in a niche situation. Essentially, these strategies say, “(brand) is perfect for (niche users) who need (result).”

Brands that produce niche products like laptop skins or phone cases use situation-based strategies, as their products only work for specific devices.

Well-known brands also use this positioning. For example, Tylenol positions its flagship Tylenol product with a situation-based strategy. The company specifically designed the medication for people who want over-the-counter pain relief from acetaminophen.

5. Influencer-Based Strategies

Influencer-based strategies position brands as the company chosen by a famous person, an influencer, or a well-established industry figure.

One of the most well-known examples of a business that uses a famous person for positioning is Raycon. Raycon is a wireless headphone company founded by musician Ray J.

Businesses owned by influencers also use this type of positioning. Examples include Cloud9 Scrubs and HudaBeauty.

6. Symbol-Based Strategies

Symbol-based strategies use popular or culturally significant symbols to position a brand as aligned with the meaning behind the symbol.

For example, brands like Qatar Airways convey a sense of royalty by using shades of purple and red associated with wealth, luxury, and notability.

Brands that market themselves based on awards or industry recognition also use a symbol-based positioning strategy. Like symbols, these awards associate the brand with the award’s prestige.

7. Competitor-Based Strategies

Competitor-based strategies position brands as an alternative to a famous brand. These strategies often use phrasing like “the free alternative to (famous brand)” or the “eco-friendly version of (famous brand)” to emphasize why they are the better choice.

You can see an example of competitor-based positioning in Rocket.Chat . Rocket.Chat markets itself as a communication platform alternative using language like “Rocket.Chat does everything other platforms do, except exposing your data.”

Search engine DuckDuckGo uses similar positioning for marketing itself as an alternative to Yahoo, Google, and Bing. DuckDuckGo’s slogan is “your personal data is nobody’s business.”

Creating an Effective Positioning Strategy

Creating a solid positioning strategy is vital in setting your brand up for success and leading to high conversions .

For example, consider the positioning of the Tato Nano car — a car that Tato only marketed as low-cost. The Nano cost roughly $2,500 USD (though Tato sold it primarily in India).

The car itself wasn’t a horrible product, but marketing it as “cheap” caused people to consider it a low-quality investment for people who couldn’t afford a different vehicle. As a result, Tato only sold 7,591  Nanos during 2016 and 2017, and the project failed to make a significant return on investment  for Tato.

To help you design a positioning strategy that serves you better, we’ll cover the critical components of a positioning strategy and how to create one in this section.

Key Components of Positioning Strategy Marketing

Three key components underpin every positioning strategy. These are sometimes called the “three Cs” of branding and positioning.

If you recognize the “three Cs” phrase, it’s because a popular theory developed by Kenichi Ohmae shares the same name. Ohmae’s model outlines that a company is successful because of its customers, company, and competitors.

The three Cs for positioning strategies are similar, as they include:

The “customer” component covers the customer’s needs, wants, and desires. As these factors motivate a customer in every interaction with your company, including them in your positioning will help you serve them better.

When thinking about your customers regarding positioning, it’s helpful to ask yourself questions like:

• What motivates your customers?
• What separates loyal customers from past customers?
• What inspires a customer to make a repeat purchase?
• What do customers like about (brand)?
• What do customers want to change about (brand)?
• What broad consumer perceptions exist about (brand)?

The “channels” component covers the operational, sales, and marketing channels that customers use to reach your brand. These channels include your sales team, content marketing, social media profiles, advertising, customer service representatives, email marketing , and other forms of digital marketing .

It’s essential to consider how your channels look to customers because they shape customers’ interactions (and thus, the impression they develop of your brand).

Competition

The “competition” component refers to how your brand compares to other brands within your niche and industry.

When comparing your brand to your competition, it’s helpful to ask questions like:

• What does (brand) do that no one else does?
• What are (competitor) ‘s weaknesses and strengths?
• How does (brand) compare in supply chain ethics, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion?
• How do (brand) ‘s products and services compare to similar offerings?

Positional maps are crucial for understanding where you stand compared to your competition.

How to Design a Positioning Strategy

Follow these steps to design your positioning strategy.

Step 1. Define Your Target Audience

Your company couldn’t exist without customers. Naturally, identifying your target audience is the first step you need to craft your positioning strategy.

The easiest way to pinpoint your target market is to describe your buyers by their demographics, buying behavior, and tastes. You might want to present this information in a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a representation of your target market that looks like this:

You should also identify what a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and sales qualified lead (SQL) looks like for your brand during this stage. MQLs have the need and desire for your goods but aren’t ready to purchase like SQLs are.

Separating your MQLs from your SQLs will help you position your brand to target leads at the right time.

Step 2. Research Your Competitors

Next, you’ll need to research your competitors thoroughly to identify their positioning strategy. Identifying competitors’ strategies will help you determine what makes your brand different.

You might want to use a SWOT and PESTEL analysis to make this market research easier.

A SWOT analysis looks at a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Here’s a SWOT analysis template you can use:

A PESTEL analysis (sometimes called the “external factors analysis”) focuses on the environment around a company. It looks at Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors like these:

Step 3. Brainstorm

Once you understand your audience and competitors, start brainstorming potential positioning strategies your brand could use. It might be helpful to refer to these strategies from the “Types of Positioning Strategies”  section for inspiration:

• Pricing-based strategy
• Product benefit-based strategy
• Use-based strategy
• Situation-based strategy
• Influencer-based strategy
• Symbol-based strategy
• Competitor-based strategy

You could also try brainstorming techniques like word association, mind mapping, or thinking like a customer. Alternatively, you could read customer feedback and look for common keywords (like “good customer service” or “eco-friendly”).

Whichever brainstorming method you choose, include your sales, marketing, and management teams in the discussion. Each group sees customers differently, so they will bring different ideas to the table.

Step 4. Narrow Down Your Options

Once you’ve created a list of options, you can sort them in two primary ways:

• Eliminate the ideas that don’t align with your brand values or goals
• Highlight the strongest ideas

It may also help to combine similar ideas.

This step will leave you with a small handful of potential positioning or repositioning strategies. Consult your colleagues to find the right one.

Step 5. Write Your Positioning Statement

Writing a positioning statement will give you an accurate reference point to revisit. It will also help you clearly define your positioning strategy in a way that’s easy for you and your colleagues to convey to others.

While every positioning statement is subjective, there are four things you should include: your target audience, what you do (or what your product or service is), how you are different, and what “end goal” you help customers reach.

If you are stuck, try these templates:

• “(brand) uses (the thing that makes you different) to help (target audience) to (end goal).”
• “(target audience) turns to (brand) for (the thing that makes you different) when they want (end goal).”

Alternatively, you could draw inspiration from an existing brand. For example, PayHlip’s shortened position statement is, “ We help creators earn a living online doing what they love .” The more extended version reads:

“Payhip is an e-commerce platform that enables anyone to sell digital products or memberships directly to their fans and followers. You can embed Payhip directly into your website or use our storefront to sell your work. Payhip takes care of everything. We’re an all-in-one ecommerce solution for creators.”

When writing your statement, keep these tips in mind:

• Align your message with your brand values
• Keep the statement concise
• Back your statement up with data and key performance indicators (KPIs)

And that’s it! You now have a positioning strategy to apply to your operations and marketing .

Final Questions For Effective Positioning Strategies

Before we wrap this article up, we wanted to touch on the three questions that underpin most positioning strategies. These questions include:

• “What is (brand)?”
• “Why should you buy from (brand)?”
• “Why shouldn’t you buy from (brand) ‘s competitor?”

Though it’s easy to get caught up in the flowery language of a well-written positioning statement, how effectively you answer these simple questions determines whether your strategy works or not.

Similarly, it’s easy to turn your positioning statement into a unique selling proposition (USP). A USP describes why prospective customers choose your product or service over a competitor. USPs focus on products and services, while positioning statements focus on brands.

For example, McDonald’s market positioning strategy is that it is a family-friendly fast food restaurant, while the USP of a Happy Meal is an affordable child’s meal that comes with a toy.

Revisit the three questions to stop your positioning statement from turning into a USP.

Developing a successful positioning strategy is vital to compete in 2024, as good strategic positioning will help you:

• Set your brand apart from competitors
• Create strong marketing messages
• Align your brand values with your marketing plans
• Build an effective business strategy

Building a solid positioning strategy may seem complicated, but it’s easier than you think. Remember to focus your statement on customers, stick to your values, and take a research-based approach.

Now that we’ve covered positioning strategies in detail, we’d like to hear from you. How did you design your positioning strategy, and do you have any tips for writing a solid positioning statement? Share them in the comments below.

Content & Marketing Editor at Kinsta, WordPress Web Developer, and Content Writer. Outside of all things WordPress, I enjoy the beach, golf, and movies. I also have tall people problems ;).

Related Articles and Topics

Powerful Managed WordPress Hosting

20+ Must-Know Email Marketing Statistics (Use Data to Boost Your Email Campaigns)

• Content Management Systems
• Digital Marketing
• Website Security

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

By submitting this form: You agree to the processing of the submitted personal data in accordance with Kinsta's Privacy Policy , including the transfer of data to the United States.

You also agree to receive information from Kinsta related to our services, events, and promotions. You may unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions in the communications received.

Brand Positioning Strategy And Framework

How to define your brand positioning strategy based on your customers’ needs, competitive points of differentiation, and alignment of your brand’s offerings..

Our Content Is Featured In:

Use our new AI app to see where your messaging and positioning are strong, weak, and where your brand stands out from the competition.

What is brand positioning, brand positioning definition .

Positioning speaks to how a brand communicates its unique value in a way customers can easily understand.

To make that communication effective and memorable, your position needs to convey some specific points of information. Your customers want:

• Context : What part of my life does this relate to?
• Points of Differentiation : Why is this particular solution valuable for me?
• Proof Points : How do I know this will deliver on my needs?

To get that information, we need to dive deep into 3 core areas of your brand:

• Customers : What motivates them and what needs do they hope to satisfy?
• Competition : Where does your brand sit within the competitive landscape?
• Offering :  How does your product or service align with the needs of your customers?

Understanding each of these elements on their own is a critical first step, but you can’t stop there. A real brand positioning strategy speaks to how all of the 3 elements work together. 

The challenge of course is that you need to break down the elements in a systematic way. The sections below provide some frameworks and exercises from our positioning process to help you get started.

Brand Positioning Framework

Step 1: understand your customers.

Your positioning strategy should always start with your customers. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking about your position strictly from the perspective of your product or service, but you can’t communicate effectively with your customers if you don’t deeply understand their needs first.

Below are two frameworks you can use to break down the motivations of your customers.

Jobs to Be Done:

The Jobs to Be Done framework helps us think about the challenges our customers are looking to solve in their lives. Some of these challenges are functional (i.e. I need to save time with a task), some are emotional (i.e. I feel anxiety when I’m juggling too many things), and some are aspirational (i.e. When I solve my tasks consistently it gives me hope that my business can scale).

By talking to and listening to our customers we can uncover these Jobs to Be Done and then speak to them through our brand positioning.

We have an entire resource section with exercises to help you get started.

This is our Job Story exercise template. For additional exercises and to learn how to use them with your brand, go to our complete Jobs to Be Done resource section .

Elements of Value:

With our customer Jobs defined, we can use the Elements of Value framework to get even more specific about the needs of our customers. 

The Elements of Value are like the periodic table of things customers care about when making a buying decision. Once again, we see there are tiers of elements ranging from functional, to emotional, to aspirational. 

Our goal here is to look at the Jobs our customers have and identify the elements that most align with those needs. 

We have an article and video on the Elements of Value to help you get started.

This is the B2C version of the Elements of Value (there’s a B2B version as well) to help you visualize the elements together. Watch our video to learn more about how you can use this framework with your brand.

Step 2: Differentiate From The Competition

Once you understand what’s driving your customers and what they want in a solution, you can compare and contrast your brand with the competition to find areas of strength (and weakness!). 

Below are two ways to visualize the differences between your brand and your competitors.

Competitive Landscape:

Before you can evaluate your brand in the competitive landscape, you need to determine the category you’re competing within. Once again, this is less about how you see your brand and more about how your customers see it.

By focusing on how your customers see their own challenges and what other solutions they may consider, this will help you define the market and the offerings you’re competing against from their perspective.

With the market context in mind, you can compare and contrast differences between brands by grading their strengths and weaknesses. This is where the Elements of Value come back into play. Once you have the elements that your customers care about, you can assign values to each element based on how well you satisfy it and how well your competitors satisfy it.

To start you can assign these values based on existing market knowledge, research, and data. It can then be refined with customer survey and interviews .

With those grades in place, then you can visualize the results to understand where your brand fits in the landscape compared to competitors.

We use two visualization tools to identify relative strengths and weaknesses and we have additional resources for each one:

• Brand Positioning Map: Creates a high level overview of comparison 
• Strategy Canvas: Visualizes specific points of strength and weakness 

With a brand positioning map (see, the example below for Masterclass), we can see on a high level the relative position of brands within a market. This is helpful to communicate comparisons on a broad level.

Read our article on how to plot competitors via a brand positioning map .

The Strategy Canvas (see, the example below for AirBnb) is a great tool for looking at the specific points of difference between your brand and competitive solutions.

Read our article on how to plot competitors via a Strategy Canvas

Step 3: Align Your Offering

Finally, you need to ensure that your brand’s offerings (i.e. products, services) align with the needs of your customers and deliver consistent value on those points of differentiation.

Below are two exercises to help you map alignment with your brand’s offering.

Map Offering Alignment:

To help see how well your offerings align with the needs of your customers, you need to break them down down into discrete pieces.

We do this by first looking at the offering as a whole and then the specific features and attributes within that. 

This allows you to see exactly how those features and attributes contribute to the value your customers are seeking. It also helps you to see your brand’s balance between standard or “table stakes” features (i.e. baseline elements you need to compete in the space), versus true highlights that align with clear points of differentiation.

Looking at your offering through this lens not only shows how well aligned your brand is it can help trigger new innovation as you pinpoint areas of opportunity for new features or totally new offerings. 

Start with this exercise to break down your offering into its individual features, separating out standard features from highlight features.

Now, map your features against the Elements of Value that are either most valuable to your customers, where you’re most differentiated, or ideally both.

Brand Positioning Statement

A positioning statement serves as a short summary of the key elements of your brand positioning strategy. It’s an internal-facing tool that can be used to help align your marketing and sales team on your brand’s most critical points of value for different audiences.

Your team can and should have multiple variations of positioning statements based on the most critical points you want to emphasize for each of your target customers.

The trap that people often fall into though is thinking they can simply fill out a positioning statement outline without doing the work it takes to define and understand the inputs for it.

So, while using a positioning statement structure (like the example here) can serve as a helpful shorthand reminder for your team, it’s not a process for defining your brand’s positioning strategy.

You have to do the work to dig into the 3 core areas of your positioning in order for a positioning statement to have any value.

We intentionally placed this section at the end to emphasize that filling in your positioning statement is the very last step in the process. 

Reviewing the positioning examples we have for Lyft and Chipotle shows how these different elements fit together. 

Brand Positioning Statement template:

Brand Positioning Statement examples for Lyft and Chipotle:

Brand Positioning Examples

Brand Positioning Questions

Here are 6 questions to consider as you evaluate the strength of your Brand Positioning Strategy:

• Is your location in the competitive space open or crowded? Are there clusters where groups of competitors are trying to meet the same needs in the same ways? Why?
• How would the competitive landscape look different if you chose different Customer Jobs to Be Done? Are there other Jobs that your brand can satisfy that are less competitive or that you have more advantages in serving?
• What if you expanded / restricted your existing competitive context, or choose a different space altogether? Would you be able to differentiate your brand more effectively if you were competing with different brands and offerings?
• What if your Customers’ Elements of Value were different? (e.g. Fun / Entertainment actually turned out to be more important than Saves Time or Reduces Cost)?  Have you validated that the Elements of Value you believe are most important align with what your customers think?
• How well are you satisfying the features you believe to be most important to your Customers? Do you have an opportunity to invest further in areas where you have a competitive advantage?
• Which features are most associated with competitive challenges? Are these areas where you currently invest significant resources? Could those resources be better allocated to areas of opportunity?

Get Help Crafting Your Brand Positioning Strategy

Get a 10 page workbook on Purpose, Vision, and Values. Plus resources for Archetypes, Tone, Messaging, and more.

Check your email to confirm your address and receive your workbook!

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer
• QuestionPro

• Solutions Industries Gaming Automotive Sports and events Education Government Travel & Hospitality Financial Services Healthcare Cannabis Technology Use Case NPS+ Communities Audience Contactless surveys Mobile LivePolls Member Experience GDPR Positive People Science 360 Feedback Surveys
• Resources Blog eBooks Survey Templates Case Studies Training Help center

Home Market Research

Positioning Strategy: A Complete Guide for Your Market Plan

In marketing, a positioning strategy is like a special spotlight that shows how a brand is different from its competitors. It’s all about how a brand wants people to think about it compared to other similar brands. Understanding positioning strategies can help us connect better with the people we want to reach.

In this blog, we’ll break down the main ideas behind strategic positioning and look at a complete guide on how to create effective positioning strategies.

What is positioning strategy?

A positioning strategy is like the way a brand wants to be known and remembered by its customers. It’s about telling people why a product or company is better or different from others. 

Just like when you meet new people, you want them to remember something unique about you. Companies want their customers to remember something special about their products or services.

To do this, companies think about what makes them special, who their products are for, and why people should choose them over other options. Then, they create a plan to talk about these things in a way that makes customers like and trust them. 

This helps the company stand out in a crowded marketplace and attract the right customers who will love what it offers. So, a positioning strategy is like a brand’s way of introducing itself and making a good impression on customers.

Importance of positioning strategy for your market plan

A positioning strategy is crucial for your market plan because it helps your brand stand out and make a lasting impression on customers. Here’s why it’s so important:

Differentiation

In a competitive market, customers have many choices. A well-defined positioning strategy sets your brand apart from others by highlighting its unique qualities and benefits. This differentiation helps customers understand why they should choose your product or service over others, increasing your chances of success.

Targeted marketing

Knowing your position in the market allows you to tailor your marketing efforts to a specific audience. This precision saves time and resources and ensures that your message resonates with the right people, leading to higher conversion rates.

Brand consistency

A clear positioning strategy guides your branding efforts, ensuring that all marketing materials, from advertisements to social media posts, convey a consistent and compelling message. Consistency builds trust with customers and reinforces your brand’s identity.

Long-term success

A strong positioning strategy is not just about short-term gains. It lays the foundation for long-term success by creating a customer loyalty base and establishing your brand as a leader in its category.

A well-crafted strategy is a cornerstone of any successful market plan. It sets your brand apart, helps you reach the right customers, maintains brand consistency, and ensures long-term growth and profitability.

3 keys of strategic positioning

These three keys of strategic positioning – Channel, Customer, and Competition – are essential for businesses looking to carve out a successful place in the market:

Your chosen channel is the way you communicate and interact with your customers. Whether it’s through social media, advertising, email campaigns, or other means, your channel plays a critical role in how your brand is perceived. Selecting the right channel for your target audience ensures that your message reaches the right people at the right time.

Understanding your target market and its specific needs is fundamental to developing a successful positioning strategy. When you know your customers well, you can tailor your products, services, and marketing efforts to meet their expectations. This customer-centric approach leads to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Competition

To effectively position your brand, you must assess how it compares to your competitors in the market. Creating a positioning map helps you understand where your business stands in the minds of customers relative to other players. This insight guides your overall business strategy and helps you identify opportunities to stand out from the competition.

Types of positioning strategy

Businesses can employ several types of positioning strategies to establish a unique identity and capture the attention of their customers. Here are some common types:

Market positioning strategy

Effective market positioning strategy defines how your brand is perceived within a specific market or industry. It involves tailoring your products, services, and marketing efforts to cater to the needs, preferences, and behaviors of a particular segment of the market. 

This strategy helps your brand establish a unique identity within that market, allowing you to differentiate yourself from competitors. For example, if you’re in the smartphone industry, you might position your brand as catering specifically to tech-savvy professionals who prioritize security and productivity.

Product positioning strategy

Product positioning focuses on highlighting the distinct features, benefits, and value that your product offers in comparison to others in the market. It’s about creating a clear and compelling image of your product in the minds of consumers. 

This positioning strategy answers questions like, “Why should customers choose our product over similar options?” For instance, if you’re marketing a sports car, your product positioning might emphasize speed, performance, and cutting-edge technology.

Brand positioning strategy

Brand positioning goes beyond individual products or services; it’s about shaping the overall perception and reputation of your brand in the minds of consumers. It encompasses the emotional connection and values associated with your brand. 

Effective brand positioning creates a unique and memorable identity that fosters customer loyalty and trust. For instance, a brand like Apple is positioned as innovative, user-friendly, and design-focused, creating a strong emotional bond with its customers.

Price positioning strategy

Correct Pricing strategy is about how your product’s price is positioned relative to its quality and the perceived value it provides. It involves deciding where your product stands on the price spectrum within your market. 

You can position your product as a premium option with a higher price point, emphasizing quality and exclusivity. Alternatively, you can position it as a budget-friendly choice, highlighting affordability and value for money.

Quality positioning strategy

Quality positioning centers on highlighting your product or service’s superior quality, reliability, and performance. It aims to position your brand as a leader when it comes to quality within your industry. This strategy is often used in industries where quality is a critical factor, such as luxury cars, high-end electronics, or gourmet food products.

Competition positioning strategy

Competition positioning means showing why your brand is better than others. You talk about what makes your brand special compared to your competition. To do this, you need to know what your competitors are good at and where they’re not so good. 

Then, you focus on the things your brand does better and use that to show why customers should choose you. It’s like saying, “We’re the best because we do this really well, and they don’t.” This strategy needs you to really understand what your competitors are good and not so good at and then use that to make your brand look like the better choice.

How to create a positioning strategy: a step-by-step guide

Positioning your brand effectively in the market is essential for standing out and attracting your target audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you develop a compelling positioning strategy:

Step 1: Identify your goal

Begin by clarifying your goal for creating a positioning strategy. What do you want to achieve? Your goal could be to increase market share, target a new customer segment, or rebrand your business. Having a clear objective will guide your strategy.

Step 2: Study your competitors

In-depth competitor analysis is crucial. Identify your competitors and study their positioning in the market. Understand how they communicate their unique value propositions and what sets them apart. This will help you find opportunities to differentiate your brand.

Step 3: Create a perceptual map

A perceptual map is a visual representation of how consumers perceive brands in your industry. It helps you understand where your brand stands relative to competitors in terms of key attributes or factors. Plot your brand and your competitors on the map to identify gaps and opportunities for positioning.

Step 4: Make a timeline

Develop a timeline that outlines the key milestones and deadlines for implementing your positioning strategy. This timeline should include tasks such as market research, branding updates, content creation, and promotional campaigns. A well-structured timeline keeps your strategy on track.

Step 5: Find your niche

Identify a niche or specific market segment that aligns with your brand’s strengths and unique offerings. By focusing on a niche, you can become an expert in that area and connect more deeply with your target audience.

By following these steps, you can create a positioning strategy that helps your brand stand out, resonate with your audience, and achieve your business objectives. Remember that positioning is an ongoing process that may evolve over time to adapt to changing market dynamics and customer preferences.

Strategic positioning best practice

Positioning strategy is a critical component of marketing and branding. Here are some best practices to help you develop and implement an effective strategy:

Understand your target audience

In-depth knowledge of your target audience is essential. Create detailed buyer personas to identify their needs, preferences, and pain points. Tailor your positioning to address these aspects effectively.

Analyze competitors

Conduct thorough competitor research to understand their positioning strategies. Identify gaps in the market where your brand can excel. Your positioning should aim to fill these gaps and offer something unique.

Create a unique value proposition (UVP)

Your UVP is a concise statement that communicates your brand’s unique benefits and values to customers. It should clearly articulate why your brand is the best choice. Make sure your UVP is compelling and easy to understand.

Consistency across channels

Maintain a consistent brand image and messaging across all channels, including your website, social media, advertising, and customer interactions. Consistency builds trust and reinforces your positioning in the minds of customers.

Focus on customer benefits

Instead of just listing features, emphasize the benefits your products or services offer to customers. How will using your brand improve their lives or solve their problems? Connect emotionally with your audience.

Segment your market

If your target audience is diverse, consider segmenting it into smaller, more specific groups. This allows you to tailor your positioning for each segment, making it more relevant.

Test and refine

Don’t be afraid to test different positioning strategies or messages with your audience. Conduct surveys and A/B tests and gather feedback to refine your approach based on what resonates best.

How QuestionPro help create your business positioning strategy?

QuestionPro is a versatile online survey and research platform that can be a valuable tool for creating and refining your positioning strategy. Here’s how QuestionPro can help:

Market research surveys

QuestionPro allows you to create customized surveys to gather insights from your target audience. You can use surveys to understand customer preferences, pain points, and perceptions about your brand and competitors. This data can inform your positioning strategy by clearly understanding market dynamics.

Competitive analysis

Use QuestionPro surveys to conduct competitive analysis. You can create surveys to collect feedback about your competitors from your target audience. Understand what customers like or dislike about competitors’ products or services, and identify opportunities to differentiate your brand.

Customer feedback

Positioning is all about meeting customer needs and expectations. Use QuestionPro’s feedback and satisfaction surveys to collect real-time feedback from customers. Identify areas where your brand excels and where improvements are needed. This data can guide your positioning efforts.

Segmentation

Effective positioning often involves segmenting your target audience. With QuestionPro, you can create surveys that include segmentation questions. This allows you to divide your audience into smaller groups based on demographics, behavior, or preferences. Tailor your positioning for each segment to increase relevance.

Brand perception studies

Use QuestionPro to conduct brand perception studies. Create surveys that assess how customers perceive your brand compared to competitors. Are you seen as innovative, affordable, or customer-focused? Analyzing these perceptions helps refine your positioning strategy.

A/B testing

QuestionPro offers A/B testing capabilities, allowing you to test different positioning messages or brand elements. Create surveys with variations of your positioning statement and see which resonates most with your audience. Use the data to refine your final positioning.

Employee surveys

Ensure internal alignment with your positioning strategy by surveying employees. Gather their feedback and insights to ensure everyone in your organization understands and supports the brand’s positioning. QuestionPro’s employee engagement surveys can help with this.

Data analysis and reporting

The platform provides robust data analysis and reporting features. Visualize survey results with charts and graphs to gain actionable insights. Use this data to make informed decisions and adjustments to your positioning strategy.

Integration

QuestionPro integrates with other business tools and platforms, making it easier to incorporate survey data into your overall marketing and strategic planning. Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems can be particularly valuable.

Survey templates

QuestionPro offers a library of survey templates for market research, customer feedback, and brand perception. These templates can save you time when creating surveys for positioning research.

Real-time analytics

Get real-time access to survey responses and analytics. This allows you to stay agile and make adjustments to your positioning strategy as needed based on the incoming data.

QuestionPro is a versatile platform that can facilitate every step of the positioning strategy process, from gathering initial market insights to testing and refining your brand’s positioning. Its survey and research capabilities empower businesses to make data-driven decisions that strengthen their market position. Contact QuestionPro today for a free trial or learn more!

LEARN MORE         FREE TRIAL

MORE LIKE THIS

The Best Email Survey Tool to Boost Your Feedback Game

May 7, 2024

Top 10 Employee Engagement Survey Tools

Top 20 Employee Engagement Software Solutions

May 3, 2024

15 Best Customer Experience Software of 2024

May 2, 2024

Other categories

• Academic Research
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assessments
• Brand Awareness
• Case Studies
• Communities
• Consumer Insights
• Customer effort score
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Experience
• Customer Loyalty
• Customer Research
• Customer Satisfaction
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Retention
• Friday Five
• General Data Protection Regulation
• Insights Hub
• Life@QuestionPro
• Market Research
• Mobile diaries
• Mobile Surveys
• New Features
• Online Communities
• Question Types
• Questionnaire
• QuestionPro Products
• Release Notes
• Research Tools and Apps
• Revenue at Risk
• Survey Templates
• Training Tips
• Uncategorized
• Video Learning Series
• What’s Coming Up
• Workforce Intelligence

How to Develop a Positioning Statement for Your Business

4 min. read

Updated May 10, 2024

Positioning is the essence of marketing strategy, and some would say of all business strategy.

It’s about how your business is different from the others. It’s about what your business does for people that other businesses don’t do.

• The positioning statement template

I’m not sure where this classic positioning statement template started, or whom to credit, but I’ve found it very useful for years of developing business plans.

“For [target market description] who [target market need], [how our business offering meets the need]. Unlike [key competition], it [most distinguishing feature].”

Here’s an example of that template in action for a social media consulting service, with the components separated:

“For [small business owners who want social media marketing but don’t have time to do it themselves], our social media services [do it for them without taking their time and effort]. Unlike [most social media consulting], [we don’t just advise; we do the work].”

Another example for a healthy fast food restaurant:

“For [busy people who want healthy foods but need fast meals], [we offer organic healthy fast foods]. Unlike [most fast foods offerings], we [offer fresh local ingredients, organic, grilled not fried, with a lot of vegetables and vegetarian options, and free-range meats].”

The examples show how the positioning statement sets the business and its offering apart from others. It implies strategic focus and a strategic match between target market, market need, and business offering. It’s a great tool to help you view your own business strategically, and to explain your strategy to outsiders when necessary.

• Positioning diagrams

I also like to explain positioning graphically with diagrams, like this simple one from Philip Kotler’s iconic textbook, “Marketing Management,” that shows positioning related to breakfast:

The diagram illustrates simple positioning related to breakfast. Breakfast can be slow or quick, and expensive or inexpensive. Pancakes might compete with hot cereal for slow and inexpensive, but bacon and eggs are different because they are slow and expensive. The instant breakfast doesn’t compete with bacon and eggs. That’s positioning.

To do your own positioning diagram, start with creative thinking about how you can divide your market in terms of variables that make strategic sense. In the example below I decided to organize the automobile market according to two factors: economical versus expensive, and practical versus fun. If I were looking to position specific cars with this, I’d put a luxury SUV on one extreme as practical and expensive; and a Mini-Cooper on another, as economical but fun.

I hope you can see how this kind of positioning diagram can lead to strategic thinking. What kinds of cars compete against the Mini-Cooper? What kinds of cars compete in the luxury SUV area? I hope you can also see how the positioning will help set marketing strategy, marketing messaging, and so forth.

We could take this diagram and develop a formal positioning statement for the Mini-Cooper:

For people who like fun-to-drive sporty cars but can’t afford to spend what a Porsche costs, the Mini-Cooper S offers a small car with great cornering and good acceleration that costs only about $30,000.

You may notice that the positioning diagram example here is a lot like the competitive matrix that appears in many business plans. That similarity is not an accident. The competitive matrix that appears in many plans and pitches is a direct descendent of the positioning diagram that Philip Kotler first popularized in the 1970s and 1980s.

What I wrote in an earlier discussion of the competitive matrix also applies here, with positioning:

“Don’t, please, discount [this] as an internal tool to help with strategy development and specifics of designing products. For this use, you don’t worry about showing how what you have is better; you use it to look for holes in the market, and needs that aren’t covered, so you can lead product development toward solutions that are better business opportunities.”

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

• Place it in your plan where it achieves your goal

So which do you include in your business plan: competitive matrix, positioning statement, positioning diagram, or two or even three of these components? As with so many elements of a good business plan, this depends on the exact goal of your plan and the nature of your business.

If your plan is to serve as background information for raising angel investment, then you’ll need a pitch deck ; and either your positioning diagram or your competitive matrix will be one slide in the deck. Don’t give your investors both.

If you use the more trendy competitive matrix, include it in the part of the presentation that you’re using to explain and develop your product, product positioning, or marketing. Put it close to your relevant information, and be flexible, because the flow of a pitch depends on the specifics. If you use the more traditional positioning diagram, keep it close to strategy or marketing strategy.

Within the plan itself, in that case, include the formal verbal positioning statement as part of marketing strategy. Done right, it’s concise and communicates strategy very well. Set it aside as a “positioning statement.” That specific phrase will be meaningful to people who have studied marketing.

If you’re doing a lean business plan, use the positioning statement and the positioning diagram to help with strategy development. It fits into strategy or tactics, and concrete specific actions to react to your competitive positioning could easily be milestones.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

Table of Contents

Related Articles

7 Min. Read

3 Key Steps to Create a Promotional Plan

8 Min. Read

How to Create A Digital Marketing Plan and Strategy

3 Min. Read

How to Write an Effective Marketing Plan

9 Min. Read

How to Create a Unique Value Proposition + Examples

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

Subscribe now for weekly advice and free downloadable resources to help start and grow your business.

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

• English - United States
• English - Singapore
• English - South Africa

Is HubSpot right for you? Are you using it to its full potential?

Is your tech effectively supporting your sales, marketing and service?

We’re always looking for ambitious businesses who understand the world is changing, and are driven to adapt and thrive. Take the next step and book a call with our team.

Are you a motivated individual, looking to challenge yourself and make a positive impact on the business world? Take a look at our vacancies.

How to develop a brand positioning strategy [+examples]

In this article, we explore the key elements and strategies behind effective brand positioning plus share examples of brands that did it right.

In today's fiercely competitive market, brand positioning plays a vital role in determining the success of businesses. It is not enough to simple offer quality products or services; brands need to differentiate themselves and forge a unique identity that resonates with their target audience. 

This is where brand positioning comes into play. 

A well-defined and authentic brand positioning strategy serves as a compass, guiding businesses towards their desired market position. 

By identifying what truly matters to customers, brands can craft messaging that connects on a deeper level. These connections are crucial to foster loyalty and set your brand apart from the competition. 

Let’s explore key elements and strategies behind effective brand positioning that can help your business thrive.

Do you have a steadfast brand context?

To develop a brand context, start by reflecting on the purpose and values that drive your business. By articulating these core beliefs and principles, you’ll find it easier to establish an authentic and meaningful brand identity.

Also consider the desired impact that your business strives to make, over and above profitability. This impact is key to resonating with your target audience, as it centers on how their lives stand to change after interacting with your products and services.

A defined brand context serves as a compass for any brand positioning strategy, providing guidance and direction for the whole team. It acts as a reference point, ensuring that all brand decisions and actions align with the established purpose, values, and desired impact. 

By using the brand context as a guiding force, businesses can maintain consistency and coherence across all brand touchpoints. It can also help your campaigns resonate with customers, establishing an emotional connection and fostering brand loyalty.

Going beyond superficial competition analysis

When it comes to competition analysis, go beyond superficial assessments to develop a robust brand positioning strategy. This requires a deeper understanding of competitors and their strengths that can then be leveraged to craft a compelling and differentiated brand message.

Avoiding surface-level flaws and biases is the first step towards unbiased competition analysis. 

Instead of focusing solely on the weaknesses of competitors, try giving them the benefit of the doubt and objectively evaluate their core strengths. By doing so, you can more effectively identify areas where your business has an edge.

By understanding the unique value propositions and customer-centric benefits that set a brand apart, businesses can tailor their messaging to resonate with their target audience. This approach helps create a stronger connection with neutral prospects who are assessing benefits with an impartial perspective.

Framing your messaging around these differences will help you gain the upper hand. 

By emphasizing the aspects that truly matter to customers, businesses can position themselves as the preferred choice in the market. This allows them to communicate their unique value and address the specific needs and desires of their target customers.

Examples of effective brand positioning

Effective brand positioning can make a significant impact on a company's success in the market. Let's explore a few examples of brands that have successfully positioned themselves and differentiated from their competitors.

One notable example is Apple . With its "Think Different" positioning, Apple positioned itself as a brand that challenges the status quo and empowers individuals through innovative technology. 

By focusing on user-friendly design, cutting-edge features, and seamless integration, Apple has created a strong brand image synonymous with premium quality and exceptional user experience.

Another example is Nike. Through its "Just Do It" positioning, Nike has established itself as a brand that inspires and motivates athletes and fitness enthusiasts to push their limits. 

Nike's emphasis on performance, innovation, and authenticity has allowed it to connect with its target audience emotionally, building a community around its brand.

Dove is a brand that has successfully positioned itself with its "Real Beauty" campaign. By challenging conventional beauty standards and promoting inclusivity, Dove has positioned itself as a brand that celebrates diversity and empowers individuals to embrace their unique beauty.

These examples demonstrate the power of effective brand positioning in creating a distinct identity and resonating with target customers. 

By understanding their target market, identifying unique value propositions, and aligning their messaging and experiences accordingly, these brands have successfully differentiated themselves and gained a competitive edge in their respective industries.

Steps to create a strong brand positioning

Creating a strong brand positioning requires a strategic approach that aligns with the unique characteristics and goals of your business. Here are the essential steps to develop a compelling brand positioning:

• Conduct a thorough self-assessment of the business: Understand the company's mission, values, strengths, and weaknesses. Identify key differentiators that set the business apart from competitors.
• Identify unique value propositions and differentiators: Determine the specific benefits and advantages that the brand offers to its target audience. These differentiators should resonate with customers and address their pain points or desires.
• Craft a compelling and authentic positioning statement: Create a concise and impactful statement that communicates the brand's unique value and position in the market. This statement should clearly articulate what makes the brand special and why customers should choose it over competitors.
• Align marketing efforts with the brand positioning strategy: Ensure that all marketing campaigns, messages, and visuals consistently reflect the brand's positioning. This alignment helps build a coherent and recognisable brand image.
• Consistently deliver on the brand promise: Every customer interaction should reinforce the brand positioning. Delivering exceptional products, services, and customer experiences builds trust and strengthens the brand's positioning in the minds of customers.

By following these steps, businesses can create a strong brand positioning that sets them apart in a competitive market. It allows them to communicate their unique value to the target audience and build lasting relationships with customers.

How Huble can help you develop your brand positioning strategy

Developing a strong brand positioning strategy is crucial to stand out in a competitive market. 

It requires careful introspection, understanding core differentiators, and crafting a compelling positioning statement. While the process can be complex and challenging, the rewards are significant. 

A strong brand positioning helps create a unique identity, resonates with target customers, and sets the foundation for successful marketing campaigns and customer experiences.

At Huble, we understand the intricacies of brand positioning and the importance of standing out in today's crowded marketplace. 

We have the expertise to guide your brand towards a strong and differentiated positioning. Our creative consultancy services are designed to help companies like yours craft a compelling brand positioning strategy that captures the essence of your business and resonates with your target audience.

Don't let the complexities of brand positioning hold you back. 

We can be your trusted partner to develop a strong brand positioning that drives growth and sets you apart from the competition. Contact us today to speak with our experienced consultants and discover how we can help your company thrive through effective brand positioning strategies.

Popular Posts

Content Strategy

RELATED Posts

Hubspot data management: 6 strategies for success.

This article dives into the central role of HubSpot data management in maximizing CRM potential,

How to empower your B2B content strategy with storytelling

This article discusses the nuances of B2B storytelling, exploring the story structures and

3 SEO best practice case studies to inspire your own strategy

In this blog post, we'll be sharing three of Huble’s SEO case studies that we conducted for our

Maximizing your online visibility with an SEO content strategy

Having an effective SEO content strategy has become a critical component of any organization's

• Security & Compliance

Work with us

© 2024 Huble Digital All rights reserved

How to Create an Effective Market Positioning Strategy

Aug 12, 2023

14 min. read

Your market positioning strategy is a key element of brand development. It helps guide content marketing plans, influencer marketing tactics, pricing and distribution models, and even has an influence on decisions made outside of the marketing department too. But the concept of positioning can be a little ambiguous, as can the strategies used to cement it. So in this post, we’ll delve into all you need to know about product positioning; let’s begin by clearing up what we mean by this term.

Table of Contents

What is market positioning, how to kick start your market positioning strategy.

Branding and digital marketing expert,  Phil Kotler  (also known as the "father of modern marketing”), defines market positioning as “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. In general, strategic positioning is used to influence the perception of an organisation or product in relation to others in the market. The idea is to create an image and identity that audiences recognise as being a certain way.

Perception is complicated. You see, they vary from person to person and like reputation, it’s fragile - it can take years to craft and seconds to shatter. But if it’s so temperamental, why are professionals investing millions into strategic positioning? Well, there are a number of very attractive advantages to benefit from, including (but not limited to):

• Heightened awareness
• Differentiation
• Charging premium pricing
• Increased recall
• Improved market and customer-centricity
• Helping companies to bounce back from crisis
• Increased brand equity

With advantages like the above, it’s pretty understandable why so many teams strive to have a clear-cut brand positioning strategy. If you’re wondering how you can too, you’ve come to the right place. During this article, we’ll walk you through all you need to know about strategic positioning so you can reap the above awards also!

Conduct a competitive analysis

In order to create a unique positioning in marketing, you first need to understand how you compare to other companies in your space. This can be achieved through strategic competitive intelligence and assists you with understanding aspects like:

• Who are your main competitors?
• How much influence does each of your competitors have on each other?
• What key themes are associated with each competitor?
• Are certain competitors thought of more favourably?
• What does the consumer like and dislike about them?
• Where they’re performing and where they’re falling flat?
• How is the industry performing?
• Where do the opportunities and threats lie?
• How does your organisation compare and contrast amongst others in your category?

Once you have the answers to the above questions, your competitive positioning will become clearer. We don’t want to sound like a broken record and repeat past competitive analysis tips we’ve already shared, so instead, you find useful resources on this topic below:

• How to Perform a Competitive Analysis
• Competitor Benchmarking: What It Is and Why It Is Important

Plot a market map

Next, using the insights gathered from your competitive analysis, create a perceptual map that shows your competitive positioning. A perceptual map, sometimes referred to as a position map or market map, is a visual representation of how competitors are positioned in relation to your organisation. Through market mapping, you can better understand the thoughts and behaviours of consumers, spot industry trends and see gaps in your category, helping you create a unique and differentiated identity.

Maps takes the form of a matrix which is usually represented by two or more attributes that you rate on a scale, for example, from high to low. While famous scholars such as Keller tend to focus on ‘price’ and ‘quality’, you might find plotting other attributes on the axis more helpful, such as:

• Quality vs Price
• Functionality vs Price
• Healthiness vs Tastiness
• Price vs Performance
• Price vs Safety & Reliability

 Not created this type of map before? We’d recommend checking out  GroupMap’s free tool  and reviewing this article which  offers tips on plotting and reading such maps . We’d also advise reading this HBR article,  A Better Way to Map Brand Strategy , which introduces a more advanced type of map known as a centrality-distinctiveness (C-D) map. Traditionally, companies have analysed brand positioning and business performance separately, the difference with C-D maps is that they allow companies to directly connect a brand’s position on a perceptual map alongside business outcomes such as sales.

Write a positioning statement

By now you should have a good idea of how you want to be perceived, the next step is to formalise thoughts and develop a statement.

As  Hubspot  explains, a positioning statement is a brief description of a product or service and target market, and how the product or service fills a particular need of the target market. It's meant to be used as an internal tool to focus and align efforts with the brand and value proposition. Unlike value proposition statements which describe through an overview of the benefits a product or service/ what sets your product or service apart from competitors, positioning statements are created after you've developed your business' value proposition and identifies only the primary customer benefits and points of differentiation.

Here are a few positioning statement examples to spark inspo.

G2 Crowd  positioning statement example: G2 provides a B2B review site for business professionals who are looking to quickly discover, buy, and manage  the best technology  for their needs. Unlike other B2B review sites, G2 offers 700K+ unbiased and verified user reviews in over 1400 categories.

HubSpot  positioning statement example: Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 68,800 total customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better.

Tips to follow when writing a positioning statement:

• Keep your statement short and sweet
• Make it unique
• Keep your statement aligned with your core values
• Don’t forget to include your promise
• Explain why your company is different
• Follow the below positioning statement example formula as a rule of thumb:

For [your customer], [your company] is the [your market] that best delivers on [your promise] because [your company] is [your evidence].

Consider the strategic market positioning signals you’ll use

Now you that you understand your positioning and have summarised this in a statement, it’s time to think about what marketing positioning strategies you’ll use. Let’s take Louis Vuitton as an example. This is a company that’s known for being high-end and highly valued – but that didn’t just happen by chance. A team of marketing experts carefully crafted that perception through a number of signals (or strategic positioning strategies). Let’s explore some of those signals in more depth.

More often than not, price is a key factor in the  customer journey  decision-making process and what customers come to expect from a business is usually determined by this signal. While the old saying "you get what you pay for" is cliché, audiences truly believe in this mantra. Because of this, marketing teams use their pricing strategy, be it low or premium, to occupy a distinct image and dictate how prospects perceive the value offered. Positioning solely on price is dangerous territory though. As John Michael Morgan explains in his book 'Brand Against the Machine', “one of the problems with trying to be the cheapest price is that it's far too easy for someone to come along and price their product or service lower. Low price positioning means your business might as well be standing on quicksand. There is no loyalty for businesses positioned on the low end of price as the customer will go to who is offering the lowest." With this in mind, marketing professionals rarely use pricing as a key differentiator.

Perceived quality

Price and perceived quality usually go hand in hand, which is why they’re often the go-to attributes for perception maps amongst scholars. Consultant and Professor, David Aaker, states that perceived quality has three prongs: 1. Objective quality, which is based on the performance of the brand 2. Manufacturing quality, which is based on how defect-free the brand is 3. Product-based quality, which is associated with features/ parts/ ingredients/ services Say you have two TVs, one is a 4K plasma smart TV with after sales care and the other is a bog standard entry-level model. You may think that the entry-level TV will naturally be perceived as being lower quality as it has fewer features, but truth is, positioning in marketing requires you to have an understanding of what quality means to different customer segments. If certain audiences prefer to look at the manufacturing spec/ materials used and the entry-level TV comes out top, consumers will deem that to be of better quality regardless of the product attributes of the plasma TV. Moreover, the plasma TV may be produced by a company that has a history with product recalls, in which case, consumers are likely to think that entry-level TV is still better quality. 

So to summarise, it's important to achieve perceived quality on a dimension that consumers consider important. Want to learn more about better understanding your target audience and their decision making process? Check out our  Meltwater Audience and Consumer Insights tool or take a look at the best consumer insights tools in comparison !

Corporate endorsements

Another positioning signal often leveraged by marketing and branding pros is corporate endorsements. While McDonald's is known as being a fast-food company, they tried to dispel their unhealthy image through  their London 2012 Olympic sponsorship . Despite the sponsorship confusing people at first, it gave McDonald's the publicity and platform they wanted to raise awareness around obesity. In line with their sponsorship, they unveiled a large-scale promotional push which took place throughout the duration of The Games and included activity toys with Happy Meals and vouchers for sport sessions. As a top-tier International Olympic Committee sponsor, McDonald's was also the only branded food in the Olympic Park and the Athlete's Village. The messaging strategy? If a Big Mac is good enough for the world’s top athlete’s it's good enough for you (in moderation… of course)!

Influencer marketing

Following on from the above, influencer marketing can also significantly help positioning efforts. Since consumers often find influencers more credible as the message doesn’t directly come from a company, it’s a great strategy to use for those wanting to influence how their organisation is perceived amongst those they're targeting. With that being said,  choosing the right influencers to endorse your brand  is critical. Make the wrong decision and your business can end up being positioned in a totally different direction than what you set out to achieve. Thankfully we don’t have to rely solely on our gut feel when choosing influencers as there are tools out there that can do the job for us.  Meltwater’s Social Influencer Management solution  is one example.

Tip: These are the best social influencer management platforms and social influencer marketing platforms .

Thought leadership

Think Marketing  defines thought leadership as a “communication strategy that positions your brand as a leading authority on a specific industry/category/subject”. Lots of companies choose to include thought leadership in their content marketing strategy and  frame their executives as experts on certain topics  knowing this has a positive effect on product positioning too. Thought leadership is useful for all organisations, but it’s especially helpful for those wanting to break into a new category as it can make employees seem more credible and trustworthy.

There are thousands of examples of thought leadership online, but as an animal lover, one of my favourites has to be  Lush cosmetics . To strengthen their cruelty-free product positioning and brand promise, Lush often gets involved in lobbying for animal rights. They even have their own award,  The Lush Prize , which is the largest prize fund in the non-animal testing sector, awarding £250,000 to support initiatives that end or replace animal testing.

Distribution

Your distribution strategy can say a lot about you and your positioning. For example, choosing to sell your goods in convenience stores doesn’t scream luxury. Moreover, products sold in convenience stores also tend to be lower in price as they need to match the consumers browsing mindset. It’s unlikely that customers will pop out to get a pint of milk or loaf of bread and come home with a £1,000 TV – but if it’s lower-priced, you might just trigger that impulse buy! When selling goods through retailers, businesses also have less control over promotional efforts. This is why it’s rare to see extremely exclusive brands in department stores – yes, even the fancy ones! Such companies prefer owning their owns stores, and in most cases, rarely offer promotions – a strategic tactic that helps strengthen their exclusive market positioning too!

Measure if you’ve successfully influenced positioning in marketing with these 3 methods

Now there’s no use in putting all this effort into strategic positioning if you’re not going to measure whether or not your decision has successfully moved the needle. As mentioned earlier, perception is complicated – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be analysed. Below you’ll find 3 marketing analysis strategies to lean on when trying to understand if you’ve influenced how your target audience perceives you.

Media Monitoring

Use  media monitoring and measurement  to see if the thought leadership angles you're targeting and tactics used are resonating. You can do this by measuring how many times your organisation is mentioned alongside conversations related to the thought leadership angles you set out to drive. You can even measure how prominent your company is within the conversation, for example, are you mentioned in the title of the article or alongside a bunch of competitors?

Audience analysis

Use a  consumer analysis tool  to understand if there’s a difference in the types of  tribes following you on social media . This can be achieved by looking at dimensions such as audience affinity, how your target audience describes themselves in their bios, other types of companies they follow, and so on. This is especially useful if you want to measure whether you’ve successfully changed the type of target audience you’re marketing to.  

Hold a focus group

Brand salience is the degree by which your company is thought of or noticed by consumers when they make a purchase decision. Focus groups are a great way of qualitatively measuring brand salience. For example, you can ask the consumer what company comes to mind when they think of marketing analytics. If they recall yours, it’s a good indication that you have strong positioning.

Hopefully, by now you have a better understanding of what is meant by positioning in marketing, understanding your competitive positioning, how to write a market positioning statement, as well as the types of strategies and tactics you can use to change how your business is perceived. To wrap things up, I wanted to share one example of a brand that did this well...

Back in 2012, Kodak was on the brink of extinction - but only 8 years later, it's a force to be reckoned with. When Danielle Atkins, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, joined the company in 2014, she helped Kodak reignite its relevance and gave it the breath of fresh air needed within the youth demographic. By harnessing the latest trends, collaborating with influencers and captivating audiences, Kodak now has a new lease on life! Ever the curious ones, Meltwater partnered with Atkins on a webinar so we could better understand the steps she took to achieve this! Curious too? Listen to the  on-demand recording  and hear Danielle explain how you too can re-energise your brand, in both the B2B and B2C spaces, with a carefully put together marketing strategy. 

Continue Reading

What Is The Marketing Mix? 4Ps & 7Ps of Marketing

Why You Need a Marketing Communication Strategy

What Is Marketing & Why Your Business Can't Do Without It

How To Set Up A Positioning Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

A positioning strategy is a marketing tactic to position a product in the customer's mind. This includes creating a message and visual image that portrays your product as the best and most desirable. This is often accomplished through an advertising campaign or television ads.

The first step is to decide on the type of customer you're looking to reach. Do you want to attract business leaders who have more money? Or do you want to attract customers who already have a high net worth? Once you've determined this, you need to research your target market .

With the rise of digital platforms and the proliferation of channels, it's becoming increasingly difficult to establish a strong brand identity that will help you stand out from the crowd.

In today's article, we'll look at setting up a positioning strategy to help you better define your business and gain traction with your audience.

Table of Contents

What is a Positioning Strategy?

The term positioning strategy refers to the methods businesses use to market and sell their products. By knowing what their customers want and how they want to buy and use the product, companies can develop strategies for sales and marketing that can produce positive results.

A positioning strategy is more than just a slogan or tagline; it is an organised approach to selling a company's products, services, and ideas to consumers. For example, Apple's “Think Different” slogan represents the company's core values. Nike has created a culture of sports apparel and accessories that is synonymous with athletic performance and lifestyle.

A positioning strategy is a company's marketing plan. It is a plan for developing and implementing marketing messages that help customers associate a company's products or services with positive feelings.

A positioning strategy should communicate who the company is and why the customers should trust them. This marketing effort aims to convince potential customers to purchase and use a company's product or service.

Positioning Strategies in Business

Positional marketing is creating an identity for your brand or product. Your product or service is your company, and your positioning is your position in the market. A positioning strategy will help you to establish your position in the marketplace, and it will help you to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors.

A good positioning strategy helps to define who you are as a company and what you offer to your customers. It is one of the cornerstones of marketing and should be developed early in the company's history.

When creating a positioning strategy, it is crucial to consider your company's unique circumstances. Your business needs to answer questions such as:

• What is your product or service?
• Who is your target audience?
• What does your product or service bring to the customer?
• How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
• What are your core values?

Once you know your company's answers to these questions, you can think about the positioning strategy that best represents your company.

What Should a Positioning Strategy Look Like?

A positioning strategy is not a one-time thing. Instead, it is a process that evolves. Companies that consistently develop their positioning strategy can be seen as having a higher brand awareness and credibility.

When developing a positioning strategy, it is vital to consider three main points:

• What your positioning statement will be?  A positioning statement is your company's customer's first point of contact. The statement should communicate what the company stands for, what it is known for, and how it can be different from its competitors.
• Your positioning message.  Every time you talk to a customer, your message is one of the main ways you show that you are different from your competition. A positioning message communicates the qualities your company is known for and is intended to create a positive emotional response from your customers.
• Your position in the marketplace.  A positioning strategy is not just a plan to win customers. It is a plan to develop the company's overall market share .

There are many different ways to communicate your position in the marketplace, but all of them should be based on your company's unique story and experience.

How to Develop a Positioning Strategy

If you are in the early stages of developing a positioning strategy, consider starting with one part of the product experience. For example, you could focus on the benefits of your product and how it can help customers.

If you have already started developing your positioning strategy, you can move on to the second phase, which involves choosing your positioning statements. Here are three tips to consider before selecting your product positioning statements:

• Know your market.  Your positioning statements should address your target market's unique challenges, problems, and concerns. Your positioning statements must speak to their needs and wants, enabling them to identify what they want from your product quickly.
• Ask questions.  Questions allow you to clarify what your audience wants and need from your product. When answering your questions, keep your answers brief and straightforward.
• Consider a range.  Your positioning statements should be accurate and effective but not so positive that they come across as false. When answering your questions, look for something in the middle, not too optimistic and not too negative.

In addition, here are some common questions to ask yourself when creating your positioning statements:

• What are the core benefits of my product?
• How can I help customers solve a problem or achieve a goal?
• What sets me apart from other products and services?
• Who are my ideal customers?
• What are the top reasons customers would buy my product instead of competitors' products?
• Do you think the positioning statements you selected are accurate and precise?
• Have you created a product positioning strategy for your product, service, or company? If not, why not?

Identify the Key Competitors

In an ideal world, we always have access to the information needed to make informed decisions on everything from purchasing to selling. We would know exactly what each vendor offered: strengths, weaknesses, benefits, and drawbacks. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

We often don't even know what options exist in a given category. For example, you may have multiple vendors offering the same product, or you may not have access to a vendor.

So, how do we identify the key competitors for a positioning strategy? We need to look for the gaps in the market or the areas where you have no choice but to act. By identifying the gaps, we can use those to inform the product and marketing choices that will help us sell more.

First, we need to understand the current marketplace. Start by searching for terms like “competitors,” “options,” or “alternatives” in Google, or by checking your product website and competitor sites. Look for companies that are offering products that are similar to yours. The most important thing to note about a competitor is their size. 

They probably have more resources to spend on research, development, and production if they are significantly larger than you. They can also invest more heavily in advertising, creating significant brand awareness .

Once you've identified your competitors, think about your strengths and weaknesses relative to them. Do they offer a complete product set, or do they have something you don't? Do they have a more extraordinary ability to compete on price? Or are they more focused on value?

After analysing your competitors, consider what you can do to differentiate yourself. What are the differences between you and your competitors? What are the things that they're not offering? What are the benefits that you can deliver?

These questions will help you understand what is unique about your offering and why customers might choose you over the other competitors.

Find a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

What makes one product unique is a robust and differentiated value proposition . It is the key to driving sales and making consumers buy from your company. It is also the key to differentiating your positioning strategy from your competitors.

Developing a USP for a product is easy, but what makes it unique? That requires you to consider your customers' needs and create a new value proposition for your business. The uniqueness of a USP should always relate to the specific position you're targeting and the value it offers to your audience.

Your positioning strategy is a marketing tool that provides your company with the information it needs to address market demand successfully. It also helps you to reach out to potential customers, attract them to your website, and ultimately get them to buy from you.

To find a USP for your position, answer the following questions:

• Who is your ideal customer?
• What problems do they face?
• How are they currently being addressed?
• What is it about your product or service that makes it unique?
• What benefit does it provide your customer?
• Why should they choose you over your competitors?

Your USP can be based on any of the following:

• Value, convenience, quality
• Price, performance, reputation
• Newness, uniqueness, exclusivity
• Service, support, or personal relationship
• Education, training, or skill
• Empowerment, inspiration, or motivation
• Innovation, convenience, or speed

You must articulate the difference that sets you apart from your competition.

As you answer these questions, don't be concerned if you can't develop a USP for every aspect of your product or service. That is perfectly normal. Just pick one or two aspects that you feel are the most important to your ideal customer, and try to explain what they mean to them.

Answering these questions will help you to identify which aspect of your positioning strategy to emphasise in your advertising and marketing.

Examples of Positioning Strategies

A positioning strategy can involve either or both of the following:

• A brand strategy
• A product strategy

A brand strategy involves how your company wants to position itself to the world. It focuses on what makes your company different and better than your competitors.

For example, you may decide to position yourself as a luxury brand , a low-priced brand, a value brand, or a high-end brand. Or maybe you want to position yourself as the leading provider of organic products, the top-of-the-line producer of sustainable products, or the leading supplier of all-natural products.

A brand strategy also defines the image your company portrays. It includes the colours and imagery used on your website, your products and packaging and even the tone of your advertisements.

A product strategy is what you decide to put on your products. This may include the ingredients or processes used to make your product, its price, features, and any other information you think might help differentiate your product or service from your competitors.

When you use positioning strategies, your goal is to make your company memorable and to attract the right customers to your website and your business.

Example: Positioning Strategies for a Kitchen Appliances Store

Let's say you are the owner of a kitchen appliances store. Here are some ways to position your company to your customers and potential customers.

• Luxury brand:  You're a high-end kitchen appliances retailer. Your products are the best available, and your prices are higher than your competitors.
• Low-price brand:  You're a competitive kitchen appliances retailer. Your products are good, but your prices are much lower than your competitors.
• Value brand:  You're a kitchen appliances retailer emphasising quality, convenience, and customer service.
• High-end brand:  You're a kitchen appliances retailer emphasising quality, convenience, and customer service. Your prices are higher than your competitors.
• Organic brand:  You're a kitchen appliances retailer that cares about the environment and the health of your customers. Your products are all-natural, and they're healthier for your customers to use.
• Sustainable brand:  You're a kitchen appliances retailer that cares about the environment and the health of your customers. You produce products that are made with natural ingredients and that are more sustainable than your competitors.

Create a Differentiated Value Proposition

Creating differentiation is one of the fundamental principles of positioning strategy design.

In a competitive market, companies must offer differentiated value propositions to stand out in the crowd. For example,  Amazon  offers differentiated value propositions for its online shopping service by offering fast delivery and free shipping. The company offers differentiating value propositions for its Kindle reader, Amazon Prime memberships, and other services.

To differentiate a positioning strategy, you need to consider the product or service unique or something that no other company offers. Think of a differentiator as a point of difference in the product or service you offer.

When positioning, you should consider ways to offer your customers something uniquely yours or only you can offer. For example, consider the value proposition that your business provides:

• Helps customers create, manage, and analyse data to solve complex real-time problems.
• It offers a differentiated value proposition to help customers solve problems in real time and save time.
• It offers a unique value proposition to provide real-time solutions to customers using artificial intelligence .
• It offers a unique solution to help customers solve problems using artificial intelligence.

Example of Positioning Strategies

Let's consider the following examples:

• Amazon: “We make it easy to find and buy anything from anywhere.”
• Google: “We organise the world's information and make it accessible and useful.”
• Uber: “We connect riders and drivers so people can get around more easily.”
• Apple: “We create products passionately and put them in the hands of people worldwide.”

The key to successfully positioning your business is to develop an authentic story that is true to your business.

Think of your business as a living organism that grows and changes with the times. Positioning is your unique identity that helps customers know what they are buying.

If you are new to your industry, you may struggle to develop a positioning strategy. However, the following four questions can help you identify your positioning strategy.

• What's the promise your business is making?
• What does your business stand for?
• What is the brand story behind your company or product?
• What are the three main points of your value proposition?

The next step is to create a positioning strategy consistent with your unique value proposition. Here are some examples of positioning strategies that may work well for your business:

• A promise:  What do you promise your customers?
• An identity:  What does your business stand for?
• The brand story:  What is the “story” behind your company or product?

When to Use a Positioning Strategy

Positioning is a powerful tool in marketing, but you should use it carefully. While there are some situations where positioning is the only way to achieve results, there are other ways to get more out of it. The key to using positioning effectively is understanding the difference between positioning and persuasion.

Positioning is a process of designating a point, object, or location. In the context of marketing, positioning is the art of creating the appearance of familiarity, similarity, trustworthiness, reliability, and expertise. Positioning is a tactic to persuade people to take action, such as buying a product, donating to a cause, or even voting for a candidate. It works by establishing rapport with a target audience and making them believe they are already friends with the brand.

Persuasion is different. Persuasion is when someone is persuaded to do something by providing reasons or evidence that justify the request. For example, if you're persuading someone to vote for a specific political candidate, you would want to provide evidence that the candidate has the qualities, skills, or experience needed to perform the job. Positioning and persuasion are not the same things.

You can use positioning to build credibility and increase brand awareness , but it's much more effective when you combine it with persuasion. Suppose your brand is trying to build credibility by positioning itself as trustworthy, reliable, and reputable, for example. In that case, the best approach is to present persuasive evidence demonstrating why people should believe in you.

For example, if you're trying to convince a sceptical audience that you can deliver on promises, provide proof of your track record of delivery. A  recent survey  found that 83% of Americans believe that companies make promises that they cannot keep.

By positioning your brand as a trusted, credible, and trustworthy organisation, it's easier to persuade your customers to do business with you. If your brand is positioning itself as innovative, then offer proof. For example, a  study  found that 92% of consumers believe that products with the newest technology are more desirable.

In short, use positioning to create a sense of familiarity, similarity, trustworthiness, reliability, and expertise, but don't stop there. Use positioning to persuade people to buy a product, donate to a cause, and vote for a candidate.

How to Implement a Positioning Strategy?

Marketing is about telling a story about your company's products or services. Whether talking to a colleague or a potential customer, positioning your story around your company's unique strengths can help communicate your company's value to others.

One of the most fundamental ways to tell a story is through language. Words carry meaning, and they influence others' perceptions of your company. For example, if you're a software company and talk about your software's security features, you're communicating that your company is trustworthy and secure.

When you position your story, it's essential to focus on your company's unique strengths, which means describing things in terms that other companies aren't already doing. If your company's unique strength is its innovation, you should highlight that, even when talking to competitors. The unique quality of your company is often what sets it apart from its peers.

Think about how you'd describe your company's product or service to a new prospect. The unique quality that makes your company stand out is the element that you'd include in a position statement. Positioning is about telling people what your company does and why they should care.

Here are some questions to help you position your company's story:

• What are the company's top strengths?
• Why should people trust the company?
• How can people benefit from working with your company?
• What makes your company unique?

Positioning Strategies

If you want to emphasise your company's unique strengths, you can take a position statement and rewrite it so that it includes only your company's unique qualities. By describing your company's fundamental value proposition in your own words, you'll be able to communicate your company's unique qualities.

It's also important to focus on the benefits your company can offer. That may mean highlighting specific features your company offers or focusing on the impact your company can make on customers or society.

Another strategy is to focus on your company's benefits to people. For example, if your company's innovative and unique products, you could highlight that. Describe how your products help consumers with work or leisure. If your company's products are highly reliable, you could explain how your company's products make customers' lives easier.

The best way to determine your company's strengths is to consider the attributes that distinguish your company from the competition. If you're a software company, your unique strengths may be the security of your products, your support for multiple platforms, or your software running on your client's servers.

Once you've determined your company's unique strengths, you can position your story based on them. Here are some examples of positioning strategies:

• The safety of our products
• The convenience of our products
• The reliability of our products
• The effectiveness of our products
• The ability of our products to connect people

If you're struggling to determine which niche to go into, you can use the positioning strategy to help you figure out where you should begin.

It's a great tool because it allows you to compare yourself to your competitors and determine what makes you different. You'll also be able to see what the most profitable niches are.

Want to learn more about positioning strategy? Check out this article to get started!

Stuart Crawford

Need help building your brand.

Let’s talk about your logo, branding or web development project today! Get in touch for a free quote.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Trusted by businesses worldwide to create impactful and memorable brands.

At Inkbot Design, we understand the importance of brand identity in today's competitive marketplace. With our team of experienced designers and marketing professionals, we are dedicated to creating custom solutions that elevate your brand and leave a lasting impression on your target audience.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Demand Gen: Growth Unleashed.

Strategic Positioning 101: Building a Foundation for Business Growth

Ron Sela / Last updated: January 1, 2024

Strategic positioning  influences how a business is perceived in the market. A well-defined strategic position helps a company establish a unique and compelling identity that resonates with its target audience. 

This positioning informs various aspects of the business, including product development, marketing, and customer engagement. Effectively communicating its distinctive value proposition attracts and retains customers, commands premium pricing, and builds long-term brand loyalty. 

Strategic positioning also guides resource allocation and decision-making, allowing a company to align its capabilities with market demands and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the basics, show you different strategies, and help you figure out your own unique position. Let’s get started on building a foundation for your business’s growth. 

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Strategic positioning enhances a business’s competitiveness and resilience in the dynamic business landscape.
• Understanding your target audience is crucial for tailoring products, services, and marketing to speak to their needs and motivations.
• Competitor analysis and SWOT analysis help identify competitors’ strategies, assess your business’s strengths and weaknesses, and seize opportunities.
• Creating consistent branding and a communication strategy that aligns with your target audience helps build a strong brand identity and effectively communicate your unique value proposition.

What is Strategic Positioning

Strategic positioning  refers to the unique space a product, brand, or company occupies in the minds of customers and competitors in the marketplace. It involves defining and communicating the distinctive attributes and value proposition of a business or its offerings in a way that sets it apart from competitors.

What does this mean?

Imagine you’re in a crowded marketplace. You’re shouting about your offering, but so is everyone else. It’s noisy chaotic, and you’re not getting the traction you want. 

That’s where strategic positioning comes in. It’s like getting a megaphone to amplify your message. It’s about finding a distinctive place in the market where you can shine, where your voice rings out clear and true above the din.

Strategic positioning is about identifying and leveraging your unique strengths. It’s about understanding your customers and their needs and aligning your offerings to meet those needs better than anyone else.

You must define your identity, values, and vision and communicate them powerfully to your target audience. It’s not just about standing out; it’s about standing for something.

Types of Positioning Strategies

Now, let’s explore the various positioning strategies you can implement in your business. Each strategy offers unique advantages to help distinguish your business in the marketplace.

Product Attribute Positioning

Product attribute positioning means highlighting and emphasizing specific attributes or features of a product or service to distinguish it from competitors in the market. This positioning strategy relies on the unique characteristics of the offering to create a distinct and compelling image in the minds of consumers. 

Companies often identify key attributes that set their product apart: superior quality, advanced technology, unique design, or other standout features. Businesses can carve out a niche and cater to specific consumer needs or preferences by effectively communicating these attributes through marketing and branding efforts.

For example, a smartphone manufacturer may focus on promoting cutting-edge camera technology, highlighting the device’s exceptional photography capabilities. This attribute positioning attracts consumers interested in high-quality photos and differentiates the product from competitors that may prioritize other features.

Price and Quality Positioning

Price and quality positioning is a strategic approach where a product or service is positioned in the market based on its price and perceived quality. This strategy aims to find the optimal balance between cost and value perception to attract and retain customers. 

One common strategy is high-quality, high-price positioning, targeting consumers willing to pay a premium for superior products or services. The brand emphasizes a luxurious or premium image in this approach, highlighting unique features and exceptional quality to justify the higher cost. 

On the other end of the spectrum is the value-for-money positioning, which caters to cost-conscious consumers seeking a balance between quality and affordability. Brands adopting this strategy focus on delivering quality products without steep price tags, appealing to consumers looking for good value and reliability.

Use or Application Positioning

The use or application positioning strategy involves strategically positioning a product or service based on its specific functionality or application. This approach emphasizes the unique and practical benefits offered to consumers within a particular context. 

By highlighting the specific problems it solves or the needs it fulfills, companies can effectively target a niche market and differentiate their product from competitors. 

This strategy requires a deep understanding of the target audience’s needs and preferences, allowing businesses to tailor their marketing messages to resonate with the specific use cases and applications that matter most to their customers. 

Successful use or application positioning helps create a distinct market identity and fosters a stronger connection with consumers seeking solutions tailored to their specific requirements.

Product Category Positioning

User or consumer positioning is a marketing strategy that involves tailoring a product or brand to meet the distinct needs and preferences of a specific target audience. 

This approach acknowledges the diversity in consumer segments and aims to create a meaningful connection by addressing a particular group’s unique characteristics, desires, and challenges. 

For instance, Nike has effectively employed user positioning by targeting athletes and individuals striving for excellence. 

Their marketing campaigns, product features, and brand messaging consistently resonate with the aspirations of this specific user group, emphasizing the idea that anyone can achieve greatness through sports and an active lifestyle. 

This strategy creates a strong bond between the brand and its target consumers, fostering loyalty and influencing purchasing decisions within the identified demographic.

Competitor-based Positioning

Competitor-based positioning is a marketing strategy that involves positioning a product or brand by directly comparing it to its competitors. This approach emphasizes highlighting the unique features, advantages, or value propositions that differentiate the product from others in the market. 

The goal is to create a distinct and favorable perception in consumers’ minds by showcasing the product’s competitive advantages. This type of positioning often addresses the strengths or weaknesses of competitors and positions the product as a superior or preferable choice within the same category.

How to Determine Your Strategic Position

Determining your strategic position involves comprehensively analyzing your organization’s internal capabilities and external environment. Identify your unique value proposition and core competencies that set you apart from competitors. 

Understand market trends, customer needs, and competitive forces to align your strengths with external opportunities. Conduct a thorough analysis of your industry and target market, considering factors such as market share, customer segments, and competitive positioning. 

Utilize tools like Porter’s Five Forces and PESTLE analysis to evaluate the broader business landscape. By integrating these insights, you can clearly understand your strategic position, enabling you to make informed decisions and formulate effective strategies for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

How to Position Your Business Strategically

Ready to position your business strategically? First off, we’ll identify your Unique Value Proposition. Then, we’ll explore how to understand your target audience, analyze your competitors, conduct a SWOT analysis, and craft a powerful positioning statement.

Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

While you’re working on your strategic positioning, it’s essential that you clearly define your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) to stand out in the business landscape. Your UVP is that special something your business offers that sets you apart from competitors. It’s your brand’s promise to deliver a unique and relevant experience to your customers.

To clearly define your UVP, consider:

• What your business does better than anyone else
• Why customers should choose your brand over competitors
• The unique benefits your products or services offer
• What makes your brand culture different
• How your business solves customer problems in a unique way

Understanding your UVP helps you position your business strategically, paving the way for growth.

Know Your Target Audience

You must get to know your target audience as it directly influences your strategic business positioning. Don’t just guess who they are; research and gather data. Understand their demographics, behaviors, needs, and motivations.

This will help you tailor your products, services, and marketing in a way that genuinely speaks to them. It’s not just about selling more. It’s about ensuring your offerings are relevant and valuable to those who use them. Tailoring your business to your audience ensures your efforts aren’t wasted on the wrong crowd. 

The more you know about your target audience, the better you can serve them and position your business for growth. Now, with a clear picture of your audience, let’s move to competitor analysis.

Competitor Analysis

Now that you’ve identified your target audience, how do you stack up against your competitors? It’s vital to conduct a thorough competitor analysis. This will help you understand where you stand and how to position your business strategically.

Consider the following:

• Identify your main competitors: Understand who you’re competing with.
• Analyze their strategies: What are they doing that’s working? What isn’t?
• Examine their products or services: How does your offering compare?
• Evaluate their marketing strategies: Learn from their successes and failures.
• Assess their customer relationships: Are they creating loyal customers ?

SWOT Analysis

Having assessed your competition, it’s time to conduct a SWOT Analysis, a crucial tool for strategically positioning your business. This analysis scrutinizes your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. You’ll identify what you’re good at, areas needing improvement, chances to seize, and potential dangers to dodge.

Your strengths could be a unique product, a dedicated team, or great customer service. Weaknesses might be a lack of funding or a small customer base. Opportunities could come in the form of a new market or technological advancements. Threats might be a new competitor or changing market trends.

Positioning Statement

Once you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, it’s time to craft a clear and concise positioning statement that’ll define who you are, what you do, and how you’re different from your competitors. Your positioning statement is your roadmap to strategic growth.

Consider the following points as you compose your statement:

• Identify your target market. Who are you serving?
• Specify the unique value you provide. What makes you different?
• Highlight your essential product or service. What do you offer?
• Define your promise to customers. What can they expect?
• State how you outshine competitors. Why should they choose you?

Your positioning statement mustn’t be just words on paper. It should be a living, breathing part of your business strategy.

Consistent Branding

After crafting a compelling positioning statement, following through with consistent branding is crucial to distinguish your business in the market further. Consistent branding isn’t merely about a recognizable logo or catchy tagline. It’s about creating a unified and predictable customer experience across all touchpoints.

This includes product packaging, website design, social media presence, and customer service style. Your brand should consistently deliver on its promise, solidifying your market position and building customer trust.

If you’re inconsistent, you risk confusing your audience and diluting your brand’s impact. Maintaining consistency makes your business memorable and builds a strong brand identity. 

Communication Strategy

Building on your consistent branding, your communication strategy becomes the vehicle to convey your brand’s value proposition to your target audience. Developing a communication plan that aligns with your business goals is crucial.

Here are some key elements to consider:

• Defining your audience: Understand their needs, preferences, and how they consume information.
• Clarifying your message: Ensure it’s compelling, easy-to-understand, and highlights your unique selling proposition.
• Choosing the right channels: Identify where your audience spends most of their time and focus your efforts there.
• Consistency: Maintain a uniform tone, language, and style across all communication channels.
• Measuring success: Regularly evaluate your strategy’s effectiveness and adjust as necessary.

Adaptability and Innovation

In this rapidly changing business landscape, you must embrace adaptability and innovation as key aspects of your strategic positioning. As markets evolve and customer needs shift, your ability to adapt and innovate can set you apart from competitors.

Staying rigid won’t cut it. Instead, consistently evaluate your business model, processes, and offerings. Seek out innovative solutions to meet emerging market trends and customer demands. Engage your team in brainstorming sessions for fresh perspectives and ideas.

Remember, innovation isn’t just about products. It’s also about delivering services, managing operations, and engaging with customers. You’re strategically positioning your business for growth and success by fostering a culture of adaptability and innovation.

Customer Feedback and Satisfaction

Listening to your customers’ feedback and ensuring their satisfaction is pivotal to strategic positioning that can drive your business growth. It’s crucial to make your customers feel valued and heard.

This can be achieved by implementing a few strategies:

• Regularly conduct customer surveys to gauge satisfaction levels
• Establish a two-way communication channel for honest feedback
• Act promptly on the feedback received, showing customers their voices matter
• Offer personalized customer service to meet individual needs
• Regularly update your products or services based on customer feedback

Employee Alignment

As a key step in strategic positioning, you must ensure all your employees are aligned with your business goals and vision. This isn’t just about getting everyone on the same page; it’s about ensuring they understand and are invested in the direction of your business.

Start by communicating your goals clearly. Explain why they’re important. This fosters a sense of purpose and makes your employees feel valued. Next, provide the right tools and training. This empowers your team to contribute effectively. Lastly, seek their feedback.

Remember, alignment is a two-way street. Their insights could prove invaluable.

When done correctly, employee alignment can accelerate growth, improve morale, and create a more unified, productive workplace.

Effective strategic positioning isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the key to effectively planning for growth and staying ahead of the competition. Knowing your position is crucial whether you’re leveraging product, service, or price-based strategies. Remember, identifying and strategically positioning your business isn’t a one-time event but a continuous process. So, keep assessing, adjusting, and thriving. Your business success depends on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are frequently asked questions about strategic positioning to help you create a unique and valuable place within your company’s market. 

Yes, strategic positioning is not static. It can evolve in response to market dynamics, technological advancements, or shifts in customer preferences. Regular reassessment is essential for continued relevance.

 Strategic positioning influences pricing by establishing perceived value. Companies positioned as offering premium quality may command higher prices, while those focused on affordability need to maintain cost leadership.

Strategic brand positioning involves crafting a distinct image and value proposition to occupy a unique place in consumers’ minds. For instance, Apple strategically positions itself as a premium, design-centric technology brand, appealing to consumers who prioritize innovation and aesthetics. In contrast, brands like Walmart focus on cost leadership, positioning themselves as providers of affordable products for budget-conscious shoppers. Another example is the athletic brand Under Armour, which strategically positions itself as a performance-oriented option, targeting athletes and fitness enthusiasts through technologically advanced sportswear. These examples illustrate how brands strategically carve out specific niches to differentiate themselves in the competitive market landscape .

Related Posts:

• The Complete Guide to the Customer Acquisition Funnel
• How to Build a Strong Brand Foundation
• What is a DTC Brand? Definition, Examples, Strategy
• Brand Pillars: Key Components and Development and…
• How to Make Product Management and Marketing Work…

About Ron Sela

Ron is a marketing advisor to technology-driven businesses. He has 15 years of digital marketing experience and an MBA from the University of Florida. Ron helps companies grow their revenue by developing and executing integrated marketing plans that align with their business goals. He has a proven track record of success in helping companies achieve their growth objectives.

Positioning Strategy Examples

11 Top Brands Consistently Identified: Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola, HubSpot, Tesla and More

Most popular positioning strategy examples focus on the situation where a company needs to position one brand in a market space.  At times, the brand is positioned in a single product category. For example, Coca-Cola and Pepsi in carbonated soft drinks, Tesla in electric vehicles, JetBlue in air travel, Chipotle in fast food.

Other popular positioning examples are for brands that have extended across several categories, for example Nike in athletic performance apparel and shoes or Disney in movies, TV, and theme parks. Still other popular examples are for retailers that span multiple categories, such as Amazon.

What’s not often reviewed in positioning strategy examples is how a company that has several brands can position each within a similar market category or space.

In searching for positioning strategy examples, seven sources identify leading examples. These included:

• Learning Hub
• Instafollowers
• Brand Master Academy
• Segmentation Study Guide     

From the 37 brands that these sources cumulatively identified as having strong positioning strategy examples, 11 brands rose to the top for consistent performance.

Top-Tier Positioning Strategy Example: Apple

At the top tier, Apple is most consistently identified by 100% of these sources as a great positioning strategy example.  These reviews cited Apple for innovation, premium positioning, and unique end-to-end experience.  Specific taglines noted are “Think Different” and “Everything is easier on a Mac.”  Despite being relatively newer, Apple earns the top spot for positioning strategy (i.e., it was created in 1977), a few years after Nike and many years after Coca-Cola.

Apple is an example of a brand that has extended across several categories.

Second-Tier Positioning Strategy Examples: Nike and Coca-Cola

For the second tier, Nike and Coca-Cola are regularly considered to have great positioning strategies. These brands are listed among the top positionings in more than half of the reviews.

In the case of Nike, the brand (first marketed as Nike in 1971) is extended across several product categories, including athletic apparel, footwear and accessories. There is even a Nike Apple Watch , combining these two powerful brand equities.  

The Nike brand positioning strategy is identified by these sources as focused on serious athletes to give a performance edge, while also providing comfort. Despite its controversial origin , the famous “Just Do It” tagline has endured.

While the Coca-Cola company offers apparel and accessories under the Coca-Cola, the brand first created in 1886 still dominantly competes in the carbonated soft drink (CSD) category. There is no evidence of a Coca-Cola Apple watch, though there is a Coca-Cola app.

Coca-Cola’s positioning strategy focuses on positivity and positive experiences while drinking Coca-Cola. According to these reviews, over time, Coca-Cola has consistently focused on happiness, quality, the joy of sharing and friendship. These sources cited the current “ Taste the Feeling ” and historical “Always” taglines. 

The Coca-Cola company also produces a number of other soft drink brands including Sprite, Fanta, Barq’s, Fresca, and more. Each of these brands has its own positioning strategy. We will explore an example of a company with two similar sun care brands in the same category after reviewing the other consistently performing brands.

Third-Tier Positioning Strategy Examples: HubSpot, Tesla, Disney, Pepsi, Starbucks, Amazon, Chipotle and JetBlue

These third-tier positioning strategy examples are also recognized by several sources as among the top brands.

The first three names on this list are each recognized by three sources: Pepsi, Disney and Chipotle.

Like Coca-Cola, Pepsi is primarily recognized as a carbonated soft drink brand. The Pepsi brand (first created in 1886 as Pepsi-Cola) is noted for focusing on youth, as well as being forward-looking (i.e., “Choice of the New Generation”), and tasting better than the competition (e.g., with “Take the Pepsi Challenge”).  Pepsi’s 2020 “ That’s What I Like” tagline was not noted among these sources.

Similar to Coca-Cola, the PepsiCo’s brand portfolio includes several other carbonated soft drink brands such as 7Up, Mountain Dew, and Sierra Mist.  PepsiCo has 23 billion-dollar-brands including Gatorade, Lay’s, Starbucks RTD Beverages, Lipton, Aquafina, Tropicana, Soda Stream, Doritos, Cheetos, Quaker, and more. 

Initially created in 1923, the Disney brand is recognized for its magical experience brand positioning strategy. The brand was noted for family entertainment, making dreams come true and making memories. The brand is extended across:

• theme parks and cruise lines
• consumer products, including character merchandise, books, magazines, Disney Store and Disney Catalog
• studio entertainment

The Chipotle brand competes in the fast food industry and was created in 1993. Chipotle is recognized by sources for a brand positioning strategy of offering higher quality, and better ingredients (e.g., non GMO), along with customization. The tagline noted is its founding motto of “ Food with Integrity .”  Chipotle reported that digital made up 46% of sales in 2020 , and that they opened 161 restaurants and closed nine. According to analysts, the brand is positioned for continued growth .

The next set of brands are identified by two sources as top positioning strategy examples.

HubSpot is identified as a brand that “just works” and is “integrated out of the box,” offering technology that helps its customers “Grow better.”  With offerings in marketing, sales and service, HubSpot competes across several service categories.  The brand was created in 2006.

Tesla is recognized for moving the electric vehicle industry forward, and changing the future for drivers and for energy use. Tesla was created in 2003, and competes primarily in one product category, electric vehicles.

Starbucks is identified as a brand that focuses on delivering premium quality and a customized experience for each individual. The brand offers a wide variety of beverages in its retail stores, and through Pepsi, in ready-to-drink products in supermarkets.  It has also offered entertainment services and was first created in 1971, the same year as Nike.

The Starbucks brand is so well known for offering a premium experience that one large-scale, mixed-use development planner opined that having the Starbucks logo in the illustrations was helpful to getting investors interested.

In 2020 to 2021, Starbucks announced it was closing 500 stores (400 in a first wave, plus an additional 100), primarily café locations with dining rooms, to shift to more pickup and delivery. The brand has plans to open approximately 50 net new stores.

Starting in 1995 as an online bookseller, Amazon has expanded across multiple product and service categories. Amazon is now recognized by sources for a brand positioning strategy of offering everything you need in one place, quick delivery, the perception of low prices, efficiency (“One Click”), customer ratings and customization. Today, many product searches start on Amazon. Consumers also check prices on Amazon. Amazon’s dominance in online spending in the United States is well recognized.

Fourth-Tier Positioning Strategy Examples

Other brands that were identified as top positioning strategy examples by only one source included the following:

• American Express
• Burger King
• Dollar Shave Club
• Rice Krispies
• Virgin Airways
• Whole Foods

Positioning Strategy Examples: Portfolio Case Study in Sun Care

As we’ve seen, many of these examples explore a brand’s positioning in a specific product category or an overarching brand positioning across multiple product and services categories.

Brand positioning in a situation where a company has more than one brand in the same product category is less frequently explored.

This portfolio case study for brand positioning comes from Insight to Action’s experience working with the Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic brands, both of which compete in the $1B sunscreen category.

At the time we were working with these brands, they were both owned by Energizer Personal Care (now Edgewell Personal Care ). The Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat brands share a few common equity attributes from their history:

• “Tropical” / island heritage
• For sun protection
• Lighthearted

By comparison, one of the leading competitor brands in the category is Neutrogena, which comes from a more clinical, medical heritage and Coppertone, which comes from an all-family heritage. In 2019, Neutrogena had two of the top 10 sun protection brands (Neutrogena Ultra Sheer and Neutrogena Beach Defense), while Coppertone had Coppertone Sport and Coppertone in the top 10. Banana Boat had Banana Boat Ultra Mist Sport Performance, Banana Boat Sport Performance and Banana Boat Ultra Sports, while Hawaiian Tropic had Hawaiian Tropic.

We’ve provided specifics on the Banana Boat positioning strategy example, including the positioning framework and an advertising execution example. Let’s compare how the Hawaiian Tropic brand, which is owned by the same company, developed a separate positioning strategy with distinct consumer targets.

We’ll compare the classic brand positioning framework  as follows:

• To  target  [specific audience],
• For [defined]  frame of reference,
• Brand X  is the [functional/emotional]  point of differentiation
• Because [attributes]  reasons to believe

The positioning strategy statements were translated into advertising execution that reflected the different targets and brand positioning as shown below.

For more perspective on positioning strategy, visit Insight to Action’s brand positioning and messaging agency page .

• Programs & Tools

7 Powerful Brand Positioning Examples (Famous Brand Strategies)

Before we motivate you to find a unique position for your brand with these exceptional examples of brand positioning, let’s take stock of this strategic task.

When it comes to  building a brand , no task is more critical than developing the brand positioning strategy.

Think about it…

The entire end goal of branding and marketing is to show your target customers why they should choose your brand over those pesky competitors. Strong brand positioning is essential as you look to establish yourself in a space dominated by others.

Although the question “Why should I choose your brand and not the others?” is seldom asked directly, it’s most certainly asked in the subconscious of your audience before any buying decision is made.

A strong answer to this question is a competitive advantage. If you don’t have a clear and unique answer for them, you’re losing out to the competitors that do.

In this article, we’ll take a look at what makes an effective  brand positioning strategy and how some of the world’s most successful brands position themselves as the high-quality alternative for their customer’s needs.

The Video Breakdown

One-click subscribe for video updates

What Is Brand Positioning?

According to the  “Father of Modern Marketing” Philip Kotler ,  brand positioning  is:

The act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market

In other words, your positioning strategy attempts to tell your target audience (and have them remember)  why they should pick your brand over your competitors .

It’s quite simple, really. Although that is simplifying it to the extreme.

If you want to dive deeper into what brand positioning is and how to develop a brand positioning strategy, check out this article:  What is Brand Positioning?

PRO  Brand Strategy BluePrint

Build brands like a pro brand strategist.

• The exact step-by-step process 7-Figure agencies use to bag big clients through brand strategy
• How to build brands that command premium fees and stop competing for cheap clients
• How to avoid the expensive amateur mistakes that 95% of brand builders make to fast-track profit growth

Characteristics Of An Effective Brand Positioning Strategy

When developing a positioning  strategy for your brand , it’s  important  to  weave through some critical characteristics .

The position you take in the market and subsequent offers you make to your audience  must represent a sense of value . The value needs to be  clearly communicated and easily understood .

Your positioning strategy  should be unique . The best marketing strategies can’t save you if you enter the market offering  the same  products, services, pricing, quality or experience. Your brand  will fail at the first hurdle : To stand out as an obvious choice.

There is  no room for a lack of clarity  when communicating the  uniqueness  and  value of your market position .

You might have created a  truly unique position  with the  ability to disrupt your entire industry , but if your audience  can’t clearly understand  the benefit to them, it  will fail .

Deliverable

This goes without saying, but your positioning strategy is kind of a big deal . It’s the  core of your entire  brand strategy  and the rest of the entire brand strategy  will be built out from it .

If you’re not 100% confident of delivering on the  position you’re carving out for your brand ,  then pick another position . The quickest way to  kill a brand  is by  not delivering on its brand promise.

Your  brand position is  developed  with a  focus on the market landscape and its key players  (i.e. your audience and your competitors).

If you haven’t taken a customer-centric approach with your audience’s  wants, needs, desires  and  fears  or your  competitors’ strengths and weaknesses  at its core, your positioning strategy will  lack relevancy .

Explore Brand Strategy Programs & Tools

Brand positioning example #1: tesla.

Tesla’s brand positioning is  one of strength . The automaker’s brand positioning statement reads, “ the only stylish car that can go from 0 to 100 in 3 seconds without a drop of oil. ”

When Elon Musk took over in 2008, he re-positioned the electric vehicles brand as  “the new technology for clean energy.”

With  engaging  storytelling , a  prestige pricing strategy  and  target market segmentation , they created the  demand  and a  subsequent market for a premium all-electric luxury car .

Tesla is not the only brand providing luxury cars. It’s not the only brand providing electric cars. It’s not even the only brand providing luxury-electric cars.

But it is the only brand providing only luxury electric cars and in turn is setting the pace in this new industry.

Another unique aspect of the position it holds in the market is the  purpose  from which it stems.

Tesla’s mission is “ to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,”  and their new technologies are pushing the industry forward, specifically with the range their cars can accomplish.

As they move into the affordable car market, they take with them the esteem that comes from their association with  high-end exclusivity and luxury .

Tesla is the  trendsetter and pacesetter  within the luxury electric car sector and its  pioneering  spirit sprinkles an element of magic across the brand.

Brand Positioning Example #2: Apple

Apple is just about as close as you can get to the  picture-perfect example  of a  strong brand . According to its statement, the tech giant’s goal is, “ to bring the best user experience to its customers through innovative hardware, software, and services . ”

They’re not in the market competing for low prices or trying to collaborate with everyone. The Apple brand has established a position as a one-of-a-kind disruptor. With their  unapologetic premium pricing ,  innovative technology  and an  end-to-end experience  that their customers salivate over, Apple knows they are more than just a company that sells computers.

The story of Steve Jobs and  his vision of a brand that could help to change the world is now the stuff of legend and fits in, almost poetically, to the position they now hold.

Since Apple encouraged their customers to “Think Differently,” they have aligned themselves with an idea that those who think differently change the world.

By purchasing Apple products, their customers  align themselves  with the  innovative ,  imaginative  and  creative characteristics  they hold in such esteem.

Apple is the  king of technology . And although their technology has helped to change the world, it’s the  strength of their brand position  that has given them the  freedom to continue to innovate for so long.

Brand Positioning Example #3: Dollar Shave Club

The Dollar Shave Club came into the market and  executed an against position to perfection .

Without the benefit of a budget , a marketing agency or even a marketing department, the Dollar Shave Club  set in place a series of business practices  and  marketing tactics  that would  catapult them to stardom and riches .

Gillette had been sitting on their lofty perch with 85% of the men’s razor blade market when the Dollar Shave Club came along and told a frustrated market segment what they already knew and needed to hear.

They didn’t need to pay inflated prices for over-developed razors just to have a smooth shave.

There was a better, cheaper and easier way.

The Dollar Shave Club caught Gillette resting on its laurels and  went on to steal over 50%  of the  online men’s razor market  before Unilever swooped in with a $1 Billion dollar takeover.

Yep… That was  “Billion”   with a capital  “B.”

Brand Positioning Example #4: Nike

Nike was born from a competitive track and field heritage in Portland, Oregon and built on old-school innovation that involved a household waffle iron.

These  competitive  and  innovative characteristics  have  become part of the DNA of the Nike brand,  which has seen it scale to unimaginable heights.

Though the brand began as a business selling running shoes, they have leveraged their reputation of quality and association with winning to expand the brand into broader athletic wear and fashion.

Since its 1987  “Just Do It”  campaign, Nike has  transcended  beyond a business that sells running shoes and has amassed an army of loyal followers who share the same competitive “play to win” attitude, clearly represented in its positioning statement: “ For serious athletes, Nike gives confidence that provides the perfect shoe for every sport. ”

Their  alignment with the most successful athletes  on the planet in key sports such as  NFL ,  NBA ,  Tennis  and  Soccer  has associated the brand with an idea.

“Nike is a brand for winners.”

Want Actionable Brand Strategy Tips & Techniques?

100% PRIVACY. SPAM FREE

Brand Positioning Example #5: HubSpot

Hubspot began as an email marketing tool and coined a term that has now become a core practice in this content-driven world: “inbound marketing.” They’ve since integrated social media, ads, content management, lead generation, and even sales automation.

While many of us like to use the types of brands that sta y in their lane  and  don’t give us something half-baked as an add-on , on the web, the name of the game is integration.

Anyone in the online business world can attest to losing days or even weeks trying to get one piece of software talking to another so everything “just works.”

Hubspot has evolved organically to meet the needs of its customers with a software and platform that is integrated out of the box with everything from marketing automation to CRM to sales and service and features easy-to-use templates to simplify the non-expert’s work.

HubSpot’s positioning statement reflects its efforts to help companies thrive: “

Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 100,000 total customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Composed of HubSpot’s CRM, Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better.”

Additionally, their  early market advantage  has given them a headstart on competitors late to the party. And the nature of their business means their customers can’t just up and leave without some serious effort to do so.

These factors, along with their  customer-focused approach  and  ability to evolve,  have seen HubSpot’s position  grow in strength .

Brand Positioning Example #6: JetBlue

Before JetBlue, the idea around air travel was that competitive fares and comfortable travel were mutually exclusive.

You either sacrificed the comfort for the savings in cost or you sacrificed the dollars for the comfort.

JetBlue came onto the scene with a  refreshing focus  on  bringing fun ,  comfort  and  value  into the US domestic air travel market.

Their value proposition combined what users wanted most — comfort without a hefty price tag. Perks, such as  extensive in-flight entertainment ,  comfortable leather seating  and  additional legroom , flew in the face of traditional budget air travel and earned JetBlue a  reputation (and a strong position) as the go-to airline for value within the U.S.

Brand Positioning Example #7: Chipotle

For years, Taco Bell  ruled the roost of Mexican fast food restaurants  within the U.S. But then, chipotle came along with a  focus on quality .

Using the  tagline “Food with integrity” to help associate the brand  with quality and earn that position in the mind of its audience, Chipotle has been well positioned to ride the ever-increasing wave of conscious customers.

Their position-enhancing tagline is far more than just a branding message as it clearly communicated the beliefs and values of the internal brand.

From its use of fresh local products to hand-prepared meals, Chipotle is a  brand with substance  that  follows through on its values ,  earning loyal customers  and  brand advocates  along the way.

When it comes to fast food, there are many options. But when it comes to fresh, locally produced, hand-made Mexican food… there is Chipotle, sitting in a strong position.

The success or failure of any brand  hinges on the  success or failure of the position they take  in the market.

A lack of strategic thinking or differentiation is the easiest way for a brand to blend into the crowd and disappear without anyone ever knowing it existed.

Bold brands  that  capture the attention  and  imagination  of their audience are born in the strategy room from  creative thinking  and  problem-solving .

If you’re building a  brand and you haven’t yet identified the position  you want to own,  it’s time to find a strategy room .

Do you have a strategy room for your strategic thinking?

Do you have any handy hacks for creating a strategic thinking environment?

Let me know in the comments  Right Now !

On-Demand Digital Program

Brand Master Secrets

Make the transition from hired-gun to highly valued brand strategist in less than 30 days. The systems, frameworks and tools inside this comprehensive program are all you need to level up.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

Get The FREE Framework Template PDF Now!

Create Strategic Brands Like A PRO

Advisory boards aren’t only for executives. Join the LogRocket Content Advisory Board today →

• Product Management
• Solve User-Reported Issues
• Find Issues Faster
• Optimize Conversion and Adoption

What is product positioning? Examples, strategies, and template

The right positioning can transform a struggling product into one that flies off the shelves. That’s because positioning is about perception; calibrating the right perception of your product is paramount to conveying the value it brings over its competitors.

What is the definition of product positioning?

Product positioning is the act of defining where your product fits in the market relative to its competitors as perceived by your customers.

Let’s break down this definition of product positioning:

• “… w here your product fits in the market … ” — What is your product and what is it not?
• “… relative to its competitors …” — Who are your competitors and how does your product compare to theirs?
• “… as perceived by your customers …” — This last one is particularly important; product positioning is much more about the perception of your product than any kind of physical differentiation

Product positioning vs. differentiation

Product positioning is not differentiation. A product’s positioning must work with its differentiation, but the are not the same thing.

Here’s simplest way to describe the distinction between product positioning and differentiation:

• Differentiation is tangible
• Positioning is perceptual

In other words, a product’s differentiation is (more often than not) the tangible difference. For example, does your product offer better features than your competitors?

Let’s say you’re comparing the features available in a Toyota Camry versus a Ferrari:

As you can see, the Toyota is superior if you’re solely concerned about functionality and practicality.

Positioning, on the other hand, is perceptual. It has little to do with the actual features and functionality.

How is your product perceived? Is it seen as a luxury? High-end or budget? Is it seen as being of higher quality than your competitors? Or, is it perceived as fun and more innovative?

Let’s look again at the example of the Toyota and the Ferrari:

That’s product positioning — how your product is perceived by the market relative to your competitors.

Now that you’ve determined your product positioning, you can use it to differentiate your product. The two need to go hand-in-hand, but the crucial difference is that positioning is about perception, not physical differentiation.

Why is product positioning important?

Product positioning is important because, while physical differentiation is good, decisions are often made based on how a product is perceived.

Over 200k developers and product managers use LogRocket to create better digital experiences

For example, purchasing a luxury car or handbag is emotional — not because of how it looks or its design or size, but because of how it’s perceived.

After all, nobody decides against buying a Ferrari because it doesn’t have a heads-up display or wireless charging ; they buy it (at exorbitant price points) because it’s a Ferrari !

The product and brand are positioned such that they carry a certain perception, one that is highly desirable regardless of actual physical features. Leveraging the power of perception can reduce the need for physical differentiation and enable you to demand a higher price point.

Defining your product positioning strategy

The following elements should influence your product positioning strategy.

Market analysis

The first and most important step to defining your product positioning strategy is understanding your market.

While there is no single way to conduct market analysis, some core questions you might explore include:

• Who are the core demographics in your market? Are they students? Affluent families? Retirees?
• What regulations and laws do you need to consider?
• What are the market trends? Is the market growing o shrinking? Perhaps undergoing a major transformation or a period of disruption?
• How much is the market impacted by external forces? What are the political, geographical, and economic impacts?
• What the assumptions, risks, and uncertainties about the market and its future?

Competitive landscape

Product positioning is all about how your products are perceived in relation to their direct competitors. Therefore, it’s paramount to have a good understanding of your competitors.

Of course, you want to build a deep understanding of your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and differentiation. Equally importantly, you want to analyze your competitors’ strategy and how they are positioned in the market.

More great articles from LogRocket:

• How to implement issue management to improve your product
• 8 ways to reduce cycle time and build a better product
• What is a PERT chart and how to make one
• Discover how to use behavioral analytics to create a great product experience
• Explore six tried and true product management frameworks you should know
• Advisory boards aren’t just for executives. Join LogRocket’s Content Advisory Board. You’ll help inform the type of content we create and get access to exclusive meetups, social accreditation, and swag.

Building a holistic picture of the competitive landscape can help you identify positions in the market that may be saturated or underserved. A great tool for this is perceptual mapping (more on that later).

Target market segment

Defining your target market segment is core to product positioning. For example, let’s say you want to position your product as a luxury item, but your core target market are teenagers. Needless to say, few of them are likely to be able to afford your product.

Another example would be a B2B product aimed at early-stage startups versus one that targets large enterprises. The latter would be more focused on being perceived as safe, secure, and capable. The former would be more concerned with positioning itself as youthful and fun.

Company and brand values (and positioning)

Your product’s positioning will be heavily influenced by your company brand and its current positioning.

For example, Apple positions itself as innovative and creative and seeks to target that market. For a long time, Apple leveraged this reputation to differentiate itself from other computer brands and capture a customer base of creative professionals, from musicians to artists and the like.

As such, Apple’s products also live and breath this ethos: they are aesthetically pleasing, often colorful, and carry a design that is unlike any of their competitors.

Product vision and value proposition

Finally, your product vision and value proposition play a key role in product positioning. Understanding the key differentiator — your moat — is core to defining what makes your product unique in the market. An effective product position will hone in on this and amplify it.

What is a perceptual map?

One of my go-to tools for understanding the market to find the ideal product positioning is a perceptual map .

Perceptual mapping, also known as market mapping, is a diagrammatic technique used to visualize the relative positioning of competitive products. Typically in the form of a 2×2 matrix, perceptual maps seek to map out direct competitors’ positioning relative to each other.

Perceptual maps can help you identify gaps in the market, crowded positioning, and when it may be time to reposition.

The axis on a perceptual map will vary depending on your market, products, and customers.

For example, you might map your products based on whether they are perceived as:

• Cheap <> Expensive
• Low- <> High-quality
• Youthful <> Mature
• Fun <> Serious
• Small <> Large
• Common <> Rare

There’s no perfect science to creating a perceptual map. However, a perceptual map should be informed by research — namely, competitive analysis and customer research. Using this data, you will need to determine what attributes are important for your customers and how they perceive products in the market.

If you wish, you can also validate your perceptual map through perception-based questions as part of customer interviews.

Examples of successful product positioning

In her book Obviously Awesome , April Dunford shares a personal story about the impact that the right positioning can have.

Working in a startup for a B2B database product, the company were struggling with sales. Although the product was superior to its competitors, the company found that customers often did not understand the value the product would bring over their current database solution. Finally, Dunford’s team met with a prospect who argued that the product was not a database at all, but a business intelligence tool.

By repositioning the product as a business intelligence tool, the sales team saw immediate results. Once prospects stopped comparing the product to their existing database, they began to understand the problem the product was designed to solve and the value it could bring.

As you can see, positioning your product correctly can be a game changer. Apple , Nike , Lush , and Patagonia are all examples of companies that have done product positioning exceptionally well.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into each product positioning example.

Apple (MacBook)

Apple positions itself toward creative individuals by leveraging its reputation as an innovative company. It dominates this position in the market so well that you would be hard-pressed to find a designer who doesn’t use a MacBook.

This positioning translates into all aspects of the MacBook — from the applications aimed at creative industries, such as Final Cut Pro for video editing and Logic Pro for music, to its sleek design and unique features that challenge the norm.

Nike positions itself as brand for elite athletes. From its tagline, “Just Do It,” which models its positioning to push the limits of human performance, to the products themselves, which are frequently the go-to choice for athletes.

Lush is famous for their handmade, animal- and chemical-free products. They position themselves as a sustainable and ethical company that does not do animal testing and creates products that are not only good for you but for the environment too. This translates to Lush’s unique shop designs and the products themselves.

For example, you will find no packaging in a Lush store besides being wrapped in recycled paper at payment. The products themselves are imperfect and fragile, often sporting blemishes. This doesn’t detract from the product; in fact, it plays nicely into its positioning, promoting the fact that products are handmade and chemical-free.

Patagonia made headlines a couple of years ago when they launched an ad campaign Black Friday titled “don’t buy this jacket.” The campaign was a lobby against fast fashion and to promote sustainability.

Patagonia’s company mission leads the company to participate in activist and sustainability work. This translates into their products and services, from 100-percent recycled material to their free repairs service.

Product positioning template

Defining your product positioning strategy starts with critical consideration around the following elements:

• What is the long-term vision for your product?
• What is the frame of reference for the product?
• What industry does it belong to?
• In what category within your market/industry does it sit?
• Who are your direct competitors?
• What are their strengths?
• How are they perceived?
• Who is your target market segment?
• What are some key attributes of that segment that your product will tap into?
• What attributes are unique to your product?
• What is your product’s value proposition?
• How do you intend to differentiate your product?
• What is your company known for?
• What are the key attributes that your brand is associated with?

Download a customizable Google Sheets version of the product positioning template below:

Product positioning can make or break your product. If your position is poor in the market, your product will sink.

Remember that to obtain the right positioning, you need to have a good understanding of your market, customers, and competitors. A great tool to help you visualize this is known as perceptual mapping. It can help you identify saturated positions in the market and underserved ones, helping you find the ideal positioning for your product.

Featured image source: IconScout

LogRocket generates product insights that lead to meaningful action

Get your teams on the same page — try LogRocket today.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• #market analysis
• #product strategy

Stop guessing about your digital experience with LogRocket

Recent posts:.

Drive growth with these 7 customer feedback tools

A customer feedback tool is a software solution or platform designed to collect, analyze, and manage feedback from customers.

Leader Spotlight: Motivating teams to hit customer-centric outcomes, with Kristina Bailey

Kristina Bailey discusses the careful balance of knowing the business outcomes you want to achieve while balancing customer outcomes.

Exploring augmented products: Beyond the core offering

Augmented products leverage technology and additional services to provide enhanced functionality, convenience, and value to users.

A guide to acceptance test-driven development (ATDD)

ATDD is an agile methodology involving collaboration to define acceptance criteria before starting any development.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Segmentation, Targeting, & Positioning (STP Marketing): The Marketer's Guide

Published: December 06, 2023

As a content strategist, I like to ask my clients a lot of questions, starting with, "Who’s your target audience?"

But do you know what answer I always dread hearing? "Everyone"

While it’s nice to believe that everyone would be interested in purchasing your product or service, this definition (or lack thereof) creates way more work for you and also does a disservice to your actual target market. This is where segmentation, targeting, and positioning come into play.

We developed this guide to help you understand how and why you should invest time into STP for better, more effective marketing. Let’s dive in.

What is segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP Marketing)?

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (often referred to as segmentation-targeting-positioning or STP marketing) is a consumer-centric approach to marketing communications. The STP model helps deliver more relevant, personalized messages to target audiences.

Free Product Go-to-Market Kit

Free templates to ensure that your whole team is aligned for your next product launch.

• Product Launch Template
• Product Roadmap Template
• Sales Plan Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

At its core, STP marketing helps you to better target your marketing messages and better serve your customer base.

Here's an example: I once created a marketing strategy for a fitness apparel brand. Rather than appeal to all fitness enthusiasts across the board, the brand wanted to target a specific segment within their target market: female yoga fans in their 30s and 40s. 

Ultimately, our marketing campaign was much more efficient and cost-effective since we knew our audience, where to reach them, and what messages would resonate.

Conducting an STP Marketing Analysis

STP allows you to take a large, anonymous audience and define how your different products (or different components of the same product) relate to specific consumer segments within that larger audience — thus understanding how to position your product(s) and messaging to grab the attention of each segment.

Let’s unpack each part of the segmentation-targeting-positioning model.

1. Segmentation

Segmentation refers to the process of dividing your audience into smaller groups based on certain characteristics. This process allows you to group your individual audience members into similar groups so you can better communicate your products, features, and benefits that may be most relevant to them.

You can segment your audience based on one or more of these criteria:

• Demographics , which typically answer the question of who your buyer is (e.g. age, gender, education, location, and profession)
• Psychographics , which answer the question of why your buyer buys (e.g. priorities, personality traits, and beliefs and values)
• Lifestyle traits , such as hobbies, entertainment preferences, and non-work activities
• Behavior , such as brand loyalty, channel preferences, and other shopping habits

Segmentation may sound a little familiar to another process we often discuss here on the HubSpot blog — creating buyer personas .

While the two are very similar,  buyer personas help you create a handful of customer profiles that represent your broader audience. Segmentation allows you to split your audience into countless groups, each of which you can uniquely target.

For example, let’s say Paws & Tails is a Chicago pet-sitting company that offers pet-sitting, dog walking, and boarding services. Given the vast number of pet owners in the city, they need to segment their audience into smaller groups to better understand how to position their services.

Based on their research and current customer base, they split their audience into three main segments:

• Segment A is made up of high-income pet owners who work often and need daytime dog walking and pet pop-in visits.
• Segment B is made up of middle-class individuals and families who travel and need overnight boarding or pet-sitting services.
• Segment C is made up of older pet owners and retirees who need help caring for their pets.

2. Targeting

With your audience segments in hand, it’s time to move on to the targeting phase. First, however, you must decide which segments are worth targeting with your marketing. To decipher this, I like to ask myself the following questions about each segment:

• Is this segment composed of enough potential customers to justify targeting? Would it yield enough profits if the segment were to convert?
• Is it measurably different from the other segments?
• Is it accessible by all members of Marketing and Sales?
• Is your company equipped and able to serve the segment? Are there any physical, legal, social, or technological barriers that could prevent that?

Choosing what segments to target is a strategic decision. Thankfully, certain strategic planning models — the PESTLE analysis is a personal favorite — can help you better understand the viability of each segment.

It takes a lot of work to successfully target a segment of your audience. But from my experience, whether you’ve identified two segments or ten, don’t feel the need to target more than one segment at once. In fact, I've found that targeting one at a time can help you better position your marketing for each specific segment.

Following our example from before, Paws & Tails conducts research to better understand its Chicago audience. Paws & Tails finds that Segment A makes up 60% of its market size, Segment B makes up 30%, and Segment C makes up 10%. Moreover, Segment A has a higher average income and is willing to pay more for pet-sitting and walking services. Because of this, they choose to focus on Segment A.

3. Positioning

At this point, you should understand the demographics, psychographics, motivations, and pain points of the segments you’ve chosen to target, which can provide a place to start when it comes to positioning your product or service.

First, take a step back and examine your product or service through the perspective of your chosen segment. If you were in their shoes, why would you choose your product over a competitor’s? What features or benefits are most relevant to you, based on the motivations and pain points you’ve identified?

This information is important to defining your brand positioning and understanding how it stacks up next to your competitors. One way to understand where you, well, stand is by building a positioning map , which is “the visual plotting of specific brands against axes, where each axis represents an attribute that is known to drive brand selection.”

The segment you choose to target should dictate what two attributes you plot on your positioning map. For example, let’s say Paws & Tails decides Segment A selects pet-sitting brands based on two attributes: service area and reliability.

By understanding 1) what the target segment deems most important for brand selection and 2) where its competitors succeed (and fall short), Paws & Tails is able to identify an open market opportunity and position its marketing to best fit the needs and goals of its audience.

Using Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning in Marketing

The STP model is a priceless addition to any marketing strategy, regardless of your industry, product, or audience. It prioritizes efficient and effective marketing and ensures you’re delivering only the most relevant, targeted messaging across the board.

It also plays an important role in developing other strategies, such as your buyer personas, customer lifecycle stages, and core brand proposition.

By leading with a consumer-centric approach like STP, you can be sure that every inch of your marketing is relevant to your audience — thus, increasing the likelihood that they convert, purchase, and become lifelong customers.

Examples of Great Market Segmentation and Positioning

Brands are segmenting, targeting, and positioning their audiences and marketing constantly, oftentimes without us (consumers) even noticing. Ever seen a brand or product and thought “Huh, that’s perfect for me” or “Wow, right place at the right time”? Yeah … you’ve been subject to the STP model.

Let’s review a few examples of great marketing segmentation and positioning.

1. Panera Bread

Panera has successfully cornered the “health-conscious” and “ climate-conscious ” segment of the fast casual dining industry. Is Panera’s food so different from other fast casual options? Not entirely.

But by branding themselves with the perspective that “we believe that good food, food you can feel good about, can bring out the best in all of us”, Panera remains top-of-mind as a place to get high-quality food, fast.

2. AllBirds

How did AllBirds position itself to set itself apart from the competition? By elevating its eco-consciousness and placing that front and center in its marketing. According to the AllBirds website, the brand “crafts with planet-friendly natural materials, like merino wool and eucalyptus trees, because they're our best chance for a sustainable future.”

At first glance, AllBirds shoes don’t look too terribly different from other running or walking shoes. However, its audience segment that cares about sustainability and earth-conscious products knows the difference.

No longer can businesses simply segment their audiences by “men” and “women” — the individuals within each broad gender group vary too much, and razor brand Billie took note of this.

In an effort to extinguish the “pink tax,” Billie markets cost-friendly razors and associated products. Moreover, they work to normalize body hair and other forgotten or shamed parts of women’s bodies.

Through this positioning, Billie is able to set their products apart from competitors and create a strong, positive community around their brand.

The world of online dating is a busy, strange place. From Tinder to FarmersOnly.com, there seems to be a place for everyone to meet, well, anyone. Hinge came on the scene only a handful of years ago, yet it has skyrocketed to the top of the list of the most popular and reliable dating app.

Time and time again, I’ve heard that Hinge is a favorite because it works — meaning it helps people meet people and make real relationships. You wouldn’t think a dating app would position themselves to eventually be unnecessary, but that’s exactly what Hinge has done. In fact, its mission statement is to “[build] an app that’s designed to be deleted.”

By putting the needs and desires of its audience front and center, Hinge has created a more trustworthy, in-demand online dating experience and set itself apart from its competitors.

The Case for Using STP Marketing

The segmentation-targeting-positioning model is designed to help you better target your marketing messages and better serve your customer base. It’s a win-win for you and your customers!

This article was originally published October 29, 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing: How to Market a Product in 2024

Product Launch Checklist: How to Launch a Product, According to HubSpot's Experts

The 6 Stages of the Product Life Cycle [+Examples]

What Does Product Marketing Do?

Product Classification: What It Is & Its Impact on Marketing Efforts

How Benefit Segmentation Will Take Your Marketing Campaigns to the Next Level

How to Build a Product Ecosystem Buyers Will Want to Be In

9 Product Category Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Own

Product Attributes: What Marketers Need to Know

5 Things Gen Z Will Spend Money On & Why Marketers Need to Care

Free planning and communication templates align your team for your next product launch.

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

• Strategy Explained
• Business Strategy
• Creating a Successful Strategy
• Corporate Strategy
• The Role of Leaders
• Related Topics
• The Five Forces

Strategic Positioning

The value chain.

• Operational Effectiveness vs. Strategy

A company’s relative position within its industry matters for performance. Strategic positioning reflects choices a company makes about the kind of value it will create and how that value will be created differently than rivals. Strategic positioning should translate into one of two things: a premium price or lower costs for the company.

Achieving Superior Performance Within an Industry

It’s possible to compete on low cost and be differentiated at the same time—but companies that try to be all things to all customers can wind up getting stuck in the middle, a strategic mistake that Michael Porter calls “the kiss of death.”

Seeking out Competitive Advantage

The role of the strategist is to engineer superior performance within a given industry. How can a strategist increase profitability? The answer lies in having a competitive advantage. Companies must search out “white space” in the industry, which usually means competing on one of two fronts.

Driving up prices is one way to increase profitability. To command a premium price, a company must deliver distinctive value to customers. This is differentiation .

Driving down costs is another way to increase profitability. To compete on cost, companies must balance price with acceptable quality. This is cost leadership .

Strategists aim to shift relative price or relative cost in a company’s favor, to achieve competitive advantage. But how? By making choices about the hundreds of activities companies perform as they compete.

Categories:

Stay current. Get our newsletter.

Positioning strategy: guiding perfect value propositions.

When a new company first appears on the market or launches a new product or service, there is plenty to get done — and to communicate. Read on to learn the benefits of a strong positioning strategy.

In addition to investing to discover how their product/service can deliver value, organizations need to clearly define their positioning strategy , as well as the value proposition of each solution.

Luckily there are marketing tools that can lend a hand in this fight when communicating a brand’s position in the market. And when it comes to doing the above, we should call upon the services of a solid positioning strategy to market a brand to a desired segment of customers .

A solid positioning strategy can translate into elements such as a premium price , lower costs or company culture & values . It must reflect a company’s choice about the kind of value it will add and how it will be unique.

Read on to learn and see: • What a strategic positioning is • The benefits it offers • And how it facilitates the communication of your value propositions Bonus: Keep an eye out at the end of this article for a few tips on how to write an attractive value proposition

What is a Positioning Strategy?

A positioning strategy is a strategic marketing plan that helps determine where your business stands in the market and how it should be positioned to attract more customers. It is a marketing strategy focused on distinguishing a brand from its competitors.

A positioning strategy aims to establish the defining characteristic of a brand in the consumer’s mind to influence customer perception to communicate a brand’s competitive advantage effectively.

It’s all about showing the audience how a brand wants to be perceived in the mind of customers relative to competing brands.

What it brings to the table? The benefits of Strategic Positioning

Effective positioning strategies consider the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, the needs of the customer, and the claims of competitors.

Effecting Growth: Effective strategic positioning ensures that an organization’s marketing tactics have an impact on customers instigating them to take action.

Without communicating a product/service’s best qualities to a customer segment, an organization can’t grow.

Product positioning allows a company or brand to illuminate areas where it can eclipse the competition, but this can work both ways:

A poorly positioned product will never reach its full potential, no matter how well it is marketed. In contrast, an excellent positioning strategy can be all that stands between failure and profitability.

Positioning strategies help companies become an authority in their field, distinguish themselves from competitors for better brand recognition, or even create new markets by identifying unmet needs among consumers. More specifically, businesses may use this approach when going up against established players who have been around longer.

A good brand positioning creates a unique space for the product or service in the customer’s mind. It can do this in various ways, one of which can subtly attack the competition. Another can be making the product unattractive to the right audience or targeting the wrong audience.

How about an example to drive you in the right direction.

Uber vs. Lifts: same service, different position

Lyft & Uber are ride applications that offer similar services yet have radically different brand positioning.

Uber pioneered their market – with their jet black branding and sleek logo. Their vision was clear from the start: exclusive and luxurious. Whereas Lyft cars were bright pink, and drivers were billed as being “fun and interesting.”

Essentially, Lyft understood they had to be different, and although they followed much of what Uber had pioneered. They took their branding and culture in the opposite direction. You see, positioning influences pricing, marketing, and sales strategy. But to be truly successful, the strategy needs to make sense to different target groups of customers.

What if a company copy your solution? Well, then you’re the reference .

TIP. Focus on being unique, not better: Unsuccessful positioning strategies focus on proving a company is better than the competition rather than different.

An organization needs to tell a story about its unique brand and find the most effective ways to share that information with others. And when you have the story figured out, It’s essential to maintain consistency and not deviate from the original story, as that is what initially gained customer loyalty in the first place.

The Pillars of Positioning Strategy

Successful branding hinges on a company’s understanding of the market and its target audience. And in our view, three key components make up an effective positioning strategy:

1. Channel: Your channel is how customers interact with your brand. Use market research to collect consumer desires and behavior metrics, then leverage this information to best connect with your customer.

Your channel is also central to understanding customer needs and is where you will likely find the majority of information for successful positioning. It is a direct connection to the consumer; you can get information such as the customer profile, customer problems, competitive intelligence, and the purchase process. Channels help identify brand strengths to effectively focus your positioning strategy on what you do well as a brand.

2. Customer: Knowing your focus is crucial for positioning. This is done by identifying what the buyer wants and needs. Knowing your target demographic will help guide decision-making when developing marketing plans. This understanding is essential for ensuring that you’re using the correct pricing strategy to maximize profitability.

Research to see if there is a problem customers need a solution for and what needs they might report via surveys, interviews, and reviews. Listening to buyer needs and placing a high importance on those needs is pivotal in getting customer attention and loyalty.

3. Competition: A final step in formulating a product position is paying attention to your competition and its position. Evaluate your market position relative to your direct competitors. If yours is unique and easily differentiated from what is on the market, then your positioning statement is effective. TIP: A positioning map can help visualize where your company stands in customers’ minds and can be a key tool for informing your overall business strategy.

Beat out the Competition: How to Consolidate a Positioning Strategy

Competing against other brands is an integral part of positioning strategy, which means understanding what makes your product better than theirs and positioning it accordingly.

The best way to ensure a position that sets you apart from the competition is by ensuring your products stand out from what’s already on the market.

TIP: make sure not one aspect of your offering can be replicated easily or made cheaper.

The key again is doubling down on strengths. But how does all this integrate into helping form the best possible Value proposition? To answer that, let’s refresh our memories on:

What is a Value Proposition? (quick recap)

Value propositions describe the functional and emotional benefits of companies and their brands. Functional benefits are linked to specific product features, while emotional benefits refer to positive feelings that customers experience when using a company’s products and services.

A value proposition should tell customers why they choose your product or service; it communicates what lies in store for them. Value propositions should speak to customers’ pains and place your company as the remedy.

A good value proposition highlights what sets you apart. Without a strong value proposition in place, customers will not understand what you can offer them, leading to a lower conversion rate.

Value propositions are not necessarily about offering the cheapest products; they are about convincing customers that they are getting value for their money .

Positioning Strategy at the core of Value Proposition

Value propositions and positioning strategies are both designed to differentiate companies from their competitors. A company’s value proposition describes the benefits of its products and services. Value propositions flow from the positioning strategy as the two should always reflect each other. A basic value proposition strategy only focuses on a product’s features and benefits.

To build a competitive customer value proposition, you need to win over the market.

Brands need to go deeper with their value propositions, explaining the problem the product or service solves and how it can create positive gains and improvements in its customers’ lives. Many businesses fail early on because they haven’t thought through their brand proposition strategy to clarify what makes them unique.

How To Write an Attractive Value Proposition

So enough of the setup, it’s time for action. What are the keys to creating a value proposition that stands out from the crowd? Here at MJV, we believe there are a few major factors that a crucial to making your value proposition shine through:

• The language: You have to use the same language as your audience; basically, the magic here is to use the language of your current customers to attract your future ones. Use surveys to reach out to your existing customers and ask them how they describe your products and company.

• Clarity: We all like a bit of flair from time to time, but with a value proposition, first and foremost, the goal needs to be clear over creative. Your VP needs to be crystal clear and easy to understand. No more than three or four sentences, right?

TIP: When writing drafts, ask yourself whether or not the value proposition answers the following questions: – What do you sell? – Why should people buy your product or service? – How does your product or service make your customers’ lives better? – Why should someone buy from you over your competitors?

• Benefits: IT’S MONEY TIME; this is what it is all about, your moment to comment on your offerings, but, unless you are already a market leader, nobody is going to really care about your product’s features; what will pique their interest, though, is its benefits. TIP: Focus on benefits, not features. Highlight the distinct value your product promises to deliver. What are you offering, and what makes it special? This is your chance to wax lyrical and make a difference.

• The Aesthetics: Now just cause you need to be clear in conveying your message, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make it look great. Use visual elements to make your message come across attractively.

TIP: In some cases, a video, infographic, or image may convey your value proposition better than words alone can. Enhance your message with these visual elements to capture your audience’s attention.

Example: Apple

It’s a classic example, but a good one. I’m sure we are not breaking any ground by sharing this with you, but Apple knew how to set its iPhone apart from the many competing devices on the market.

In their value proposition, you got what you’d expect from Apple; they communicated their commitment to sleek, elegant product design. And specifically about the device’s design, they highlighted its ease of use and the aspirational qualities that an iPhone supposedly offers the user. Apple’s value proposition states that it believes a phone “ should be more than a collection of features ” – despite the fact that this is precisely what a smartphone is.

Apple’s remarkably effective approach has helped them remain at the top for more than a decade in an incredibly competitive market.

When to Write a Value Proposition?

As Soon As Possible! Once you understand who you are and your public, your value proposition needs to be out there for the world to see.

A value proposition can enable a brand to sharpen and improve how customers perceive them increasing the likelihood of gaining market traction. But developing this requires an understanding of your customer’s issues and needs. To best understand these factors, a sound positioning strategy can be a big game changer. If your company does not already have one in place, you should start now and begin understanding how to build the best possible positioning strategy. Need help? Contact us!

Final Tip: Helps find the right staff: Clear proposition strategies and value propositions help persuade new staff to join your team. When you clearly state what is expected from potential new team members and what your company stands for, you ensure new colleagues already understand your fundamental values.

At the end of the day, companies need to be doing everything within their grasp to convey the best possible value proposition, as ultimately, it shows how the brand will deliver on the customer’s needs better, cheaper, and faster than the competition does.

For a more comprehensive vision of value propositions, check out our Value Proposition Roadmap .

Forward Thinking: How To Build a Resilient, Forward-Driven Company

How platforms became the norm in digital—and why you need a platform strategy, innovation strategy: unleashing growth through strategic ingenuity.

500+ business plans and financial models

Competitive Analysis for a Paintball Business (Example)

• May 10, 2024
• Business Plan , Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis is not just a tool for gauging the position of your paintball business in the market and its key competitors; it’s also a fundamental component of your business plan.

This analysis helps in identifying your paintball business’s unique selling points, essential for differentiating your business in a competitive market.

In addition, the competitive analysis is integral in laying a solid foundation for your business plan. By examining various operational aspects of your competitors, you gain valuable information that ensures your business plan is robust, informed, and tailored to succeed in the current market environment.

Paintball Business Plan

Fully editable 30+ slides Powerpoint presentation business plan template.

Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template

Identifying Your Competitors in the Paintball Industry

Begin by identifying both your direct and indirect competitors. This includes other paintball fields, laser tag arenas, and outdoor adventure parks that cater to a similar audience. For instance, if your business specializes in realistic military simulation paintball games, your direct competitors include other venues that offer tactical paintball experiences. Consider indirect competitors such as video game arcades or any activity centers that might attract people interested in team-based competitive activities.

Utilize tools like Google Maps to visualize the geographical spread of these competitors. Customer review platforms like Yelp and TripAdvisor can offer customer reviews and ratings, providing insights into competitors’ strengths and weaknesses . For example, if many reviews highlight a competitor’s well-maintained equipment and diverse game scenarios, these are notable strengths.

Paintball Business Competitors’ Strategies

Analyzing the strategies of these competitors involves looking at several areas:

• Game Formats and Scenarios: Examine the variety of game formats and scenarios provided. If “Action Paintball Park” nearby is known for its zombie apocalypse night games, this might suggest a consumer interest in themed paintball events.
• Equipment and Safety: Consider the quality of equipment and safety measures in place. A competitor like “Elite Combat Zone” that offers top-of-the-line safety gear and high-quality paintball guns might appeal to a more safety-conscious clientele.
• Pricing Strategy : Review how your prices compare with those of your competitors. Are your session fees similar to those at “Budget Battlefields,” or are they aligned with the more premium experiences offered at “Tactical Adventures”?
• Marketing Tactics: Assess how competitors promote their businesses. Do they rely on social media campaigns, local advertising, or partnerships with schools and corporate groups?
• Customer Experience : Evaluate the overall customer experience. For instance, “FunShoot Arena” may be popular for its friendly staff and excellent customer service, enhancing its appeal.
• Operational Efficiency: Check if competitors use technology or innovative processes to streamline booking, registration, and equipment handling, such as “Streamline Paintball” with its online booking system.

What’s Your Paintball Business’s Value Proposition?

Reflect on what makes your paintball business unique. Perhaps it is known for its extensive and creatively designed playing fields, or maybe it offers exclusive night games that aren’t available elsewhere.

Identify market opportunities through customer feedback and industry trends. For example, the increasing interest in immersive and physically active experiences could be a significant market opportunity if your competitors focus mainly on traditional paintball games.

Consider your location: A paintball business in a rural area might focus on large-scale, immersive game environments, while one in a more urban area might emphasize accessibility, quick play sessions, and corporate team-building events.

How To Summarize It All In Your Business Plan?

Competitors’ strategies and market positioning can be superposed with your own paintball business’s value proposition by laying out on a page (or a presentation slide) the main differentiating factors. These factors will show investors and banks:

• How each competitor is positioned in the market
• How your paintball business  compares vs. competitors (what’s your value proposition )

In a competitive analysis, various parameters are used to compare and contrast your paintball business  with its competitors. The parameters listed below are examples of what you might include in your analysis. 

They are not exhaustive but serve as a guide to help you understand key aspects to consider. Each parameter provides insights into different facets of the competitive landscape, helping to paint a comprehensive picture of where your paintball business stands.

The location of your paintball facility influences its accessibility, visibility, and the type of clientele it attracts. A facility located in a rural or suburban area may offer more extensive outdoor fields, appealing to enthusiasts looking for a more immersive experience. Conversely, a more urban setting might attract casual players or corporate teams looking for accessible team-building activities.

Approximate Square Footage

The size of your facility impacts the number and size of fields you can offer, as well as additional amenities such as staging areas, parking, and customer service facilities. Larger spaces allow for more elaborate and diverse game setups, potentially attracting a broader audience.

Number of Fields

The number of paintball fields available dictates the variety of games you can host simultaneously and accommodates different skill levels and preferences. Multiple fields can reduce wait times and offer varied environments, enhancing the player experience.

Types of Games Offered

The variety of paintball games, such as capture the flag, elimination, scenario games, or speedball, defines the play experience and can attract different types of players. Offering unique or themed games can also set your business apart from standard offerings.

Special Features

Unique features such as themed fields, night games, tournament hosting, or high-quality rental equipment can distinguish your facility from others. These features can enhance the appeal of your facility and could be marketed as premium options.

Target Audience

Identifying your target audience—whether it’s competitive players, recreational groups, corporate teams, or families—helps tailor your marketing strategies and facility offerings. Understanding the demographics and preferences of your audience is key to aligning your business with customer expectations and needs.

Being part of a franchise can offer brand recognition and operational support, which might attract customers familiar with the brand. Conversely, operating as an independent facility allows for unique branding and possibly more flexible pricing and promotional strategies.

Other Comparison Factors

Consider adding these additional elements to your competitive analysis:

• Safety Standards: Evaluating the safety measures and staff training at competing facilities can provide insights into industry standards and customer safety expectations.
• Marketing Strategies: Analyzing how competitors market their facilities, including promotions, partnerships, and social media engagement, can offer valuable lessons for your own marketing efforts.
• Pricing Strategies: Understanding the pricing of games, equipment rentals, and memberships among competitors helps to position your offerings competitively.
• Customer Reviews: Assessing online reviews and customer feedback for other facilities can highlight areas for improvement and potential advantages.
• Community Engagement: The extent to which competitors engage with local communities and participate in local events can influence public perception and customer loyalty.

Privacy Overview