What's Your Favorite Position?
If you ask marketing folks their favorite position, the answer is always the same. ‘On top.’
But most brands hang out somewhere between the middle and ‘new phone, who dis?’
Their prospects have never heard of them, and their customers hardly remember them.
At fault is the lack of contrast between their brand and their nearest competitors. I’m talking about brand positioning.
In highly-competitive industries, defining your place is a double-edged sword. Japan has a famous idiom, in English it reads, “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”
By blending in, we secure some immediate safety. But by hiding, we take an even greater risk.
Marketers prefer to live in their safe space: features and benefits. Features are dolled-up facts, and benefits their second-cousins.
A Mercedes S-Class stores up to three driver’s seat configurations (feature). And thanks to the S-Class, the next time you “forgot to put the headrest back!,” you won’t have to dodge that flying garden brick (benefit).
Sticking to your feature list is a $0 bet. And as you get cozy, the competition reads your list and releases your features in their next product. Two-months later, you return the favor.
In due time, the prospect looks at you both and sees double. At that point, it’s a race to the bottom — on price.
Betters win. And betters who bet bigger, win bigger. To stand out, you have to stand up… for something.
In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout, they discuss brand attributes at length. I cannot recommend the book enough, and I only summarize their brilliance here.
In this post, you will discover how brand attributes help you define your position. And you will learn three ways to begin generating those attributes today.
The Art of Attribution
A brand attribute is an adjective your customer relates to your products.
Some attributes are great, most are benign. See if you can pick out which is which in the following list: fast, honest, slow, tasty, strong, muted, gentle, reliable, vibrant, and effective.
Did you spot the rotten eggs? If not, you’re in good company — marketers the world-over shoot attribute blanks every day. Here’s one I hear on the radio every week:
“At {brand name}, we put clients first.”
Poor attributes make a prospect say, “duh?” We react that way because their attributes have no rivals. Read through the list again and see if you can spot them.
How many customers want to do business with a dishonest bank or eat tasteless food? And are you interested in unreliable customer service after buying an ineffective product? Big fat no.
A fast sandwich from Jimmy John’s attracts people on the go. A slow sandwich invites a shrewd palate. If your opposing team has no chance, you’re not playing the game.
And therein lies the risk. By picking a side, you make a promise.
If Jimmy John’s has me checking my watch, they break their promise to me. And as marketers, if we break enough promises, our pitches turn into punchlines.
A brand attribute is a promise that must have, as its rival twin, an equally-viable promise.
Who Benefits From Attributes
Companies between the middle and late-stages of their industry must position themselves. Yesterday.
At that time, competition is rife and every player aims to establish market dominance.
Much like products themselves, attributes are a gamble. They can strike your market like a lightning bolt. Or they can strike you out.
But one thing is certain. If you delay choosing a powerful attribute for your brand, the market will choose one for you. But hey, at least that’s something you can work with!
To be an also-ran is a fate even worse. Avoid that fate. Here are three ways to begin defining your brand attribute.
1. Hear The People
The first and most direct way to muster up some adjectives is by asking your biggest fans.
Find your six-star customers and have them paint you a picture of your industry as they see it. And keep things positive.
Ask them to list your competitors in order of popularity. Then have them assign each some positive attributes. Finally, have them do the same for your brand.
Focus on the unique terms linked to your brand and work from there.
2. Basic Bs
If your customers fail to describe you in a unique way, you have work to do.
Study your lists and the commonly-held opinions of your top competitors. Find out what everyone says about them.
Rather than lean in to try and steal their mojo, look for the unpaved roads. If the top-three all vie to be ‘stylish,’ ‘vibrant,’ and ‘chic,’ can you be ‘simple,’ ‘understated,’ or ‘pure?’
Even with great adjectives in your pocket, your customers failed to attach them to you.
You will need buy-in from the product folks and a new marketing plan to help your brand commit to new promises.
3. It’s Crowded In Here
If your brand faces a dirge of competitors, consider the nuclear option.
In their classic marketing Bible, Jack and Al suggested a rule, and Steve Jobs lived by it. That rules was this: Competition is for suckers.
The Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad had no competitors. They defined their own categories.
With the right tweaks, your also-ran brand can become a category unto itself. That has as much to do with marketing as it does product.
Richard and Maurice McDonald did not reinvent the hamburger, nor french fries. Instead, they tweaked the kitchen. They sped up production, cut needless menu items, and served food quicker than ever before. In so doing, they birthed fast-food.
The delivery of a novel attribute gives rise to categories. Steam locomotives, digital news, and social media come to mind.
By defining a new category, you make a new list where you are the one and only option. ‘On top,’ baby.
If you fail to choose an attribute, your competitors will choose one for you. Or worse, your lack of distinction leaves you awash in the sea.
A strong attribute guides your marketing efforts. It helps you make meaningful promises. And it focuses your product development on that which sets you apart.
Choose wisely and your loyal customers won’t live without what you provide, nor how you provide it. Brand on.