How and Why Brands Position Themselves

Note to Mentors

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Unit Purpose and Aims

The purpose of this unit is to;

The aim of this unit is to equip the learner with an understanding of how branding works both historically and in the new interactive age. It will also enable the learner to understand how branding is being changed and affected by new technologies.

Learning Outcomes

Learners will;

1. Understand the development of branding as a discipline and industry

Learners can;

1.1 Research and present examples of historic brands and how their visual identities have changed.

1.2 Describe what a Brand Experience is,

1.3  Explain how the early focus of branding practitioners relate to today’s products and services

2. Understand how contemporary branding works.

2.1 Demonstrate how branding is changing and the nature of the forces that are driving this change

2.2  Explain how the branding a service company differs from a product company

2.3  Explain how customers are actually now shaping brands through brand “wikization”.

2.4 Present your findings to a group of your peers and mentors.

 

 

Learning Tools, Resources & Links

Things that will help the learner develop understanding of this unit;

Mentors please add your ideas, examples, case studies, links to articles, videos, etc. here.

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Malcolm Gladwell wrote a fantastic article called True Colors which discusses the thought processes that went into positioning Clairol and L’Oreal.

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Is there a better and more approachable book on Positioning than Al Ries’ Positioning:The Battle For Your Mind?

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A great place to start researching brand history is your local supermarket. Here, you can not only pick up classic brands to start researching how they’ve evolved over the years but it helps in realising that no brand is an island. Every brand, every product, exists amongst its competitors. So while you’re thinking about the brand itself, take a look at why it might have had to change.

It is very important to understand the difference between a tag line in an ad. an a brand statement. ‘every little helps’ and ‘We are the peoples supermarket’. two different audiences, the first is for the audience to interpret to their likings, and the second is for everyone else to deliver the right service through the companies name.

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Student blog entry on Brand, Positioning, and brand wikization.

Excerpt:

“Brands must today cater to the individual need of the customer as much as they can; targeting a particular set of consumers is no longer applicable as the consumer today has differing needs, and does not by rule share the same consumer values as another from the same target audience. Social groups are becoming increasingly intertwined, and a large aspect of (or reason for) this is the growth in social media, or what is being called ‘wikization’. More and more information is shared online, news, stories, opinion, jokes, music, film, art; and this is reflected in the behavior of the consumer. Brands who are successful at this are listening to this consumer-created content, and engaging with them through blogs, microsites, social media, created content, mobile apps and other devices, allowing them to then assess and record data to then adapt their product or service. The consumer now has the power and the voice to directly influence and shape brands around them. This is not something that could have been predicted in the baby-boom  years of paternalistic advertising. Service brands and product brands differ in the way they manage their brands. Services tend not to offer a USP or differentiation as marked as a product might, and so need to consider more thoroughly its positioning. Instead of going for a big mass market campaign, service brands  employ more subtle, less in-your-face nudges, and focus on relevance to the customer rather than differentiation; combining the needs and desires of the client with the character and values of the brand. This of course is still relevent, but today brands can no longer depend solely on those traditional modes of communication. In addition to ads that share data, and outlaying aims in the media, brands are now creating and sharing online content. To be a successful brand you must drive perception, preference, and top of the head awareness, and to achieve this you must ensure a deeply client centric approach.”

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Why and how?

Positioning, along with branding and direct response, is one of the three types of strategic communications.

How you position your brand, product, or company might be the most important aspect of a marketing communications plan.

Read here how some brands positioned themselves.