Your well-honed brand positioning statement

Photo: Steven Meisel

Has this happened to you? You make a surprise connection in an unexpected place (the elevator, combing through Sephora, an intimate dinner party), and someone says, “Tell me about your brand.” 

You could falter or ramble, losing their interest. Or you could unfurl your well-honed positioning statement.

A Brand Positioning Statement is a grounded strategic statement that expresses what your brand is and how it shows up in the world. It’s often used internally to guide a consistent brand identity across all touchpoints, but the best Brand Positioning Statements are versatile enough to be wielded externally.

Nuanced, Purposeful, and Succinct

A lot of internal brand positioning strategy ends up being unusable, because it’s not crafted by writers and it’s not designed to perform. As experts at finding the sharpest, most provocative way to make a point, we often come across Brand Positioning Statements that are missing one (or more) of the following key components:

*WHO—Leaving out your target audience and how you uniquely serve them leaves you with a general brand description that does not specify the needs and desires you fulfill. The best brand positioning statements make it clear how you establish an empathetic (human) connection with your consumers.

*WHAT—Lacking a sharp, concise summary of your brand results in a hazy and unfocused statement. An elite brand positioning statement can express your brand’s reason for being in 3-4 fluff-free sentences.

*WHY—You’ve gotta have a value prop because that’s why you’re here! Concisely summarizing your benefits and value establishes and communicates your brand’s purpose.

*HOW—Succinctly highlighting your unique, indisputable benefits and value ensures you maintain your competitive advantage. Clear, uncontestable differentiation is a nonnegotiable. 

Is your Brand Positioning Statement missing any of these key strategic elements? Could it be more nuanced, purposeful, and succinct? Let’s scheme.