A simple positioning statement
A common format fills in the blanks.
For [who you serve], [brand] is the [type of business] that [main benefit], because [proof or reason].
Write it for your team, not for your customers. The final ad copy can sound different. The statement is the inside rule that keeps all copy pointing the same way.
A made-up example
Say a small school-uniform maker in a city competes with big sellers and tailors. This is a made-up example.
- Who: parents in the city whose child needs a full uniform set before school opens.
- Benefit: ready within a week, with free fixes if the fit is wrong.
- Reason: it stitches in its own workshop and keeps common sizes in stock.
- Statement: For city parents with a tight deadline, this maker is the uniform supplier that delivers a full set in a week, because it stitches and stocks in-house.
Notice what is left out. It does not claim to be the cheapest or the biggest. It picks one clear strength it can prove.
How to build positioning, step by step
- Know your buyer. Talk to ten real customers. Ask why they chose you and what nearly stopped them.
- Know your rivals. List what they say they stand for. Look for a gap they leave open.
- Find your proof. What can you show, such as speed, a process, a track record or a service no one else offers?
- Pick one idea. A brand that tries to stand for five things is remembered for none.
- Use it everywhere. Put it on your website, boards, sales talk, packaging and social posts.
Common mistakes
- Trying to appeal to everyone.
- Copying a bigger rival's claims.
- Making a promise you cannot prove.
- Changing the position every year, so no one learns it.
- Writing it once and not telling the team.
Positioning feeds into brand equity, the extra value people give a brand they know and trust. A company with many brands also needs brand architecture, which sets how their names fit together.
Related terms
- Brand equity: the value a known brand name adds to what you sell.
- Brand architecture: how a company's brands and sub-brands fit together.
- Share of voice: your part of all the advertising and talk in your category.
- Go-to-market: the plan for taking an offer to its first buyers.
To work out and write down your position, see our brand strategy work.
