Confusing Brand Positioning with Brand Purpose

You have probably heard the terms “brand positioning” and “brand purpose”. Question: Do these concepts remain too abstract and unclear? If so, you run into a risk of communicating both of them wrong and driving your audience away. This article will explain the difference in simple words and give tips on how to use these strategies to create a powerful brand.

What Is Brand Purpose?

Brand purpose sets the intent of why a brand exists beyond making money. For example, the Body Shop’s purpose is “Enrich, not exploit”, which is a venture to empower consumers with luxurious all-natural products, free from chemicals and animal cruelty.

This term also describes the mission statement or the company values, and, from what we’ve seen in recent years, more and more consumers are paying attention to it. In a survey, 79% of consumers said they had a deeper personal connection to brands with values similar. And 72% said they seek to buy from brands that reflect their values.

The idea behind the brand’s purpose is to convey the desire to do good to a wider community. But what about the desire to bring value to each consumer?

What’s Brand Positioning?

Now let’s talk about the process of positioning your brand in the mind of your customers. 80% of people said their loyalty to a brand depends on whether it helps them achieve the Good Life. If this sounds odd, let us elaborate. It means they choose brands that fulfill their need for meaningful connections, personal achievement, money and status, and balance and simplicity.

Brand positioning is about influencing how your customers perceive you. It should explain what makes you different from competitors and why consumers should care. And while there are numerous strategies developed by marketers, we’ll look into six brand positioning types:

Value-based positioning relates to what tangible benefits customers will receive, e.g., making tasks easier, getting it done quickly, etc.
Features-based positioning means highlighting certain characteristics that make the brand stands out, like price, quality, or other micro features.
Problem- and solution-based positioning demonstrates that a brand can relieve customers of problems they may be facing.
Lifestyle positioning is about figuring out who or what your customer wants to be in the future and offering them a product to achieve that goal.
Parent brand-driven positioning builds on the reputation of the parent brand, so it gives consumers a vision they can stand behind.
Experience-based positioning implies that it’s not the product or service itself that offers the ultimate value but the overall experience; for example, in restaurants, hotels, or resorts.

Why Brand Positioning Is Important

Most companies agree that branding is critical to growth. How exactly can brand positioning strategies benefit a business? We’ll focus on these four ways:

Market differentiation – This means showcasing what makes your products or services unique. What makes you different in solving customer problems, and what do your competitors fail to offer?
Value confirmation – Instead of just pitching one product after the next, pause and tell the customer how it would help them. It’s not just about the price, it’s also about creating additional value for these customers.
Easy purchase decisions – When the customer knows what benefit they will get from purchasing, it takes the guesswork out of the process. As long as you address what customers are looking for, they will be more willing to choose you.
Magnified messaging – Focused brand positioning helps you build a strong, compelling message. This will inform customers of your specific area of expertise that will appeal to your targeted audience.

Best Practices for Writing a Brand Positioning Statement

Crafting a brand positioning statement takes a long time. Especially when you know how important it is to get it right. Here is how brand positioning can be used to its full potential:

Make it brief, unique, and memorable.
In the statement, include brand and its category, target, point of difference, end benefit, and a reason to believe.
Come up with more than one positioning statement for market segments or brand personas.
Promise what you can deliver.
Make sure it’s in tune with your brand personality.

Think of good brand positioning statements as phrases that you would place on a retractable banner to grab passerby’s attention. For example, Verizon Wireless states they are America’s Largest, Most Reliable 4G LTE Network.” This clearly communicates why it surpasses the competition and what consumers will get from buying the service.

Two other brand positioning statement examples are Blue Apron’s “Food is better when you start from scratch,” and JetBlue’s “Our standards beat their extras.” Both are great examples of how you can tick multiple boxes with just one sentence.

Wrapping Up

It’s admirable when a brand declares its values and what mission they stand behind. Fair enough, but it doesn’t mean you communicate what you can do for your customers. When a brand’s purpose is confused for a position, it becomes hard to differentiate it from other alternative companies in the market. Now that you know what brand positioning means, you can present your business based on a customer-first perspective.

Do you know other great examples of brands excelling at brand positioning? Or perhaps, you have your own experience with it. Share your thought below!