It was Ries and Trout way back in 1969 that came up with the most succinct way of summing up the objective of business brand positioning. It was Law 5 of their now very famous set of 22 brand and positioning immutables (or laws to us), the law of focus. A little bit buried and distinctly fanfare-light considering the claim, it simply states that:
'The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in your prospect’s mind.’
Essentially, when I think of X I think of ….
The most powerful concept in marketing is quite a claim but the commercial benefits of association are clear to see although devilishly hard to achieve.
Wandering through Interbrands 'Best Brands Guide' 2023 top 10 … Apple / Microsoft / Amazon / Google / Samsung / Toyota / Mercedes-Benz / Coke / Nike / BMW … the best I can could make an argument for was 'Convenience' for Amazon and 'Answers' for Google. Not a shabby result for either of them bearing in mind that is the point of them and you would think what they would precisely want to be associated with.
And these are the behemouths of the brand world with scale and marketing budgets to blow everyone else out of the water. Is anything like this possible for say even a fraction of the UK’s 5.5m SME’s (0 to 49 employees)?
Working closely with a number of start-up and small businesses I think the answer is absolutely.
The process of brand positioning start-ups and small businesses starts with a very clear idea of what you want to be known for. This simplicity and clarity of message is key to positioning your brand and once in the locker, your comms strategy should initially aim to build awareness before evolving into education and understanding (appreciation).
It is a process; clear message, achievable target audience group, simple and relevant comms, consistency applied.
In this way, planned, implemented and reviewed over manageable timeframes it is possible to build a positioning strategy that delivers the right associations in customers and prospects.
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Sable&Hawkes are a brand consultancy based in Cambridge UK. We believe if organisations place positioning, design identity and communications at the heart of their products, servics and brands – then they automatically become more effective and more successful organisations
