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brand positioning: the art of capturing customer attention

How much does a world-class violinist earn? It depends on how they market themselves. Joshua Bell plays on a 1713 Stradivarius violin worth $3.5 million. At the peak of his career, The Washington Post asked him to participate in a social experiment. The world's best violinist played on the most beautiful violin in the world... outside a metro station. Thousands of people passed him by and he earned only $32 per hour. A few days later, he played at the Boston Concert Hall and earned $60,000 per hour.

So, it turns out that the same musician played the same music on the same violin with such different results. What influenced the outcome? In one word, positioning. If you are a professional musician but position yourself as a wandering artist playing in the subway for pennies, your "clients" will treat you accordingly.

Companies must clearly articulate the position they want to occupy in the consumer's mind, without using confusing metaphors. A concert performer or a wandering artist? Truly successful brands can be easily described with one sentence, and some with just a couple of words. The clearer we understand the role of a brand in our lives, the more often we turn to it and choose it.

Let's figure out how positioning can help a brand take its place in the minds of consumers.

What is brand positioning?

Positioning is a set of company attributes that answer the question of why a product or service should be purchased from your company. In simpler terms, it is the process of creating your brand in the minds of your customers.

Is it necessary to define your positioning? After all, everything seems to be clear. You sell carpets, we do branding, and the third party sells milkshakes. But if you don't do this - define your clear position - then the customers will do it for you. You will remain just a carpet seller among thousands of others, we will be just one of hundreds of branding agencies, and milkshakes are already sold everywhere - why should people come to you? The absence of a position is also a position, but it is weak and losing.

There is one more thing: you may have a weak position, an unclear message, and while you think everything is great, you spend money and time on advertising and promotion, losing both. Imagine that marketing is an amplifier. You told one person about your idea and they didn't understand what's so special about it. You told ten, and they also didn't scream with excitement. What do they understand? And then you take a marketing amplifier, spend money on it, and tell the same thing to 10,000 people. Their reaction is unlikely to be different.

So your positioning should be:

  • - clear and straightforward,
  • - well thought out,
  • - preferably tested and confirmed by research.

What will thoughtful positioning give you?

At worst, you lose money and time. But what do you get if you formulate and broadcast your position correctly?

Disassociation from competitors: allows you to stand out and be remembered.

People may not come to you for carpets - but they will come if you position yourself as a carpet manufacturer with naturally dyed threads.

Synchronization of all communication: employees responsible for creating communication materials will be on the same wavelength, which saves budget and time for implementation.

They come to us not just because we are a branding agency, but because we specialize in research - each specialist in their expertise and all in a complex, which minimizes incorrect hypotheses in project development.

Simplification of brand perception by the audience: we occupy a shelf in the consumer's mind as "the cheapest," "the most useful," "the first," "the assistant," and it is much easier to remember and associate at the right moment.

They will drive through traffic jams and around corners for milkshakes because only you make them according to original American recipes.

What positioning to choose?

Unlike the popular misconception, brand positioning is more than just a catchy phrase or a bright logo. It is a strategy that allows you to distinguish your company from competitors. In your strategy, you can focus on different components.

Price. This strategy means prevailing over competitors in the price range. And here, the point is not only to offer the lowest price; it can be about the highest price and "fair prices for fair goods" in the average price segment.

American giant WalMart chose a price positioning strategy in its time. Its strategy includes such components as the maximum range and minimum, striving for wholesale, prices. To achieve this goal, the company's founder, Sam Walton, tried to avoid intermediaries by purchasing goods from the manufacturers themselves. In addition, he reduced prices, earning less profit than competitors. Walton believed that in the long run, this would be compensated. And so it happened, and the company became one of the largest in USA.

Innovativeness. If you base your product on innovative technology, then your positioning strategy should also be built on promoting your technologies. However, there is one small caveat with an asterisk: you must either be confident that your technology cannot be replicated, or be prepared for a constant technological race with your competitors.

Faberlic built its strategy on innovativeness — "the world's number one oxygen cosmetics," Geox — "breathable shoes," and Tesla's security technology for cars.

Audience. This strategy shows your audience that they are unique and in a way, chosen in the context of your product.

Pepsi demonstrates this position coolly with the slogan "Next generation." And a noteworthy archival example of such audience positioning appeared in 70s car advertising: LADA — for a young and active audience, Moskvich-Kombi — for families thanks to its spacious trunk, and as for Volga — for a conservative but fashionable audience, close to the Soviet nomenclature.

Uniqueness — the fastest way to create a special image in the minds of buyers. However, today, creating a unique product is difficult due to an overabundance of similar offerings in a developed market.

But once upon a time, a small soda production company decided to make a unique taste for their drinks and position their product as unique, attributing it to healing properties. Now, the Coca-Cola brand is one of the most recognizable and popular in the world.

Benefit in money, time, or sensation — such as "first month free" or "turnkey assembly + delivery." But there is also a caveat here — your competitors can easily copy this strategy, so you must always be on guard or make your benefit unique.

The chewing gum Orbit positions itself as providing a snow-white smile and protection against cavities, the chocolate bar Snickers satisfies hunger, and Tele2 encourages customers to "exchange minutes for GBs".

Competition. The main goal of this positioning strategy is not only to differentiate oneself from the competition based on some characteristic but also to divide the audience into followers of one's brand and others. This can involve trolling and teasing competitors, veiled comparisons in advertising, and even explicit claims of superiority.

Burger King's pursuit of its main competitor, McDonald's, has already become commonplace. For example, Burger King cleverly used McDonald's advantage to its own advantage in one of its ads. In France, there are only 45 Burger King restaurants compared to more than 1300 McDonald's. It would seem that the latter are in the lead. But Burger King released a video encouraging people to drive to their restaurant while stopping at McDonald's on the way, since Burger King's products are worth it.

The Hidden Factor in Successful Positioning

The human factor always remains one of the most important in branding and communications. And it's not just about accurately targeting the audience or communicating with customers, it's about the team.

Half the battle is coming up with positioning and developing a strategy for it. The success of implementing this strategy will depend directly on the efforts of the entire team. Do you think a football team will win a match if the defender's task is to run six laps around the football field, the goalkeeper's task is to catch four balls, and the striker's task is just to be handsome and move photogenically in front of the camera?

Choose a team with a common goal and shared values, but it's also important that the people working on the brand's development believe in the chosen position.

So what's the bottom line?

Companies often work separately on their visual image, reputation, and product quality. Positioning is designed to bring all of these elements together. Only by adhering to a unified position or idea can a strong, competitive brand be built that will stick in consumers' minds and resurface when they need to make a choice.

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1. General Provisions

This Personal Data Processing Policy is drafted in accordance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 152-FZ dated July 27, 2006, “On Personal Data” (hereinafter referred to as the Personal Data Law) and defines the procedure for processing personal data and the measures taken to ensure the security of personal data by LLC “AISIU+” (hereinafter referred to as the Operator).

1.1. The Operator considers the observance of human and civil rights and freedoms during the processing of personal data, including the protection of the right to privacy, personal and family confidentiality, to be its primary objective and essential condition for carrying out its activities.

1.2. This Policy of the Operator regarding the processing of personal data (hereinafter – the Policy) applies to all information that the Operator may receive about visitors to the website .

2.9. Personal data made publicly available by the subject of personal data – personal data to which the subject has granted access to an unlimited number of persons by giving consent to the processing of personal data made publicly available, in accordance with the procedure established by the Personal Data Law (hereinafter – personal data made publicly available).

2.10. User – any visitor of the website.

7.2. The Operator is also entitled to send the User notifications about new products and services, special offers, and various events. The User may at any time opt out of receiving such informational messages by sending an email to the Operator at hello@icu.agency with the subject “Unsubscribe from notifications about new products, services, and special offers.”

7.3. Anonymized data of Users collected through web analytics services is used to gather information about User behavior on the website, improve the quality of the website, and enhance its content.

8. Legal Grounds for Personal Data Processing

8.1. The legal grounds for the processing of personal data by the Operator are:
– Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” No. 149-FZ dated July 27, 2006;
– federal laws and other regulatory legal acts in the field of personal data protection;
– the Users’ consent to the processing of their personal data, including the processing of personal data permitted for distribution.

8.2. The Operator processes the User’s personal data only if it is provided and/or submitted by the User voluntarily through special forms available on the website . By filling out the relevant forms and/or sending their personal data to the Operator, the User consents to this Policy.

8.3. The Operator processes anonymized data about the User if this is permitted in the User’s browser settings (such as enabling the storage of cookies and the use of JavaScript technology).

8.4. The personal data subject independently decides to provide their personal data and gives consent freely, by their own will, and in their own interest.

9. Conditions for Personal Data Processing

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9.2. The processing of personal data is necessary to achieve the purposes provided for by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or by law, as well as to fulfill the functions, powers, and duties imposed on the Operator by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

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9.5. The processing of personal data is necessary for the exercise of the rights and legitimate interests of the Operator or third parties, or for the achievement of socially significant goals, provided that this does not violate the rights and freedoms of the personal data subject.

9.6. Personal data is processed that has been made publicly available by the personal data subject or at their request (hereinafter – publicly available personal data).

9.7. Personal data is processed that is subject to publication or mandatory disclosure in accordance with federal law.
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The security of personal data processed by the Operator is ensured through the implementation of legal, organizational, and technical measures necessary to fully comply with the requirements of current legislation in the field of personal data protection.

10.1. The Operator ensures the safekeeping of personal data and takes all possible measures to prevent unauthorized access to personal data.

10.2. The User’s personal data will never, under any circumstances, be transferred to third parties, except in cases related to the fulfillment of applicable legislation or if the personal data subject has given the Operator consent to transfer the data to a third party for the purpose of fulfilling obligations under a civil law contract.

10.3. If any inaccuracies in the personal data are identified, the User may update them independently by sending a notification to the Operator at the email address hello@icu.agency with the subject line “Personal Data Update.”

10.4. The period of personal data processing is determined by the achievement of the purposes for which the personal data was collected, unless a different period is specified by contract or applicable law. The User may withdraw their consent to the processing of personal data at any time by sending a notification to the Operator via email at hello@icu.agency with the subject line “Withdrawal of Consent to Personal Data Processing.”

10.5. All information collected by third-party services, including payment systems, communication tools, and other service providers, is stored and processed by those parties (Operators) in accordance with their own User Agreements and Privacy Policies. The personal data subject and/or User is solely responsible for reviewing such documents in a timely manner. The Operator is not responsible for the actions of third parties, including the service providers mentioned in this clause.

10.6. Any restrictions established by the personal data subject on the transfer (except access), processing, or conditions of processing (except access) of personal data permitted for distribution do not apply in cases where personal data is processed for state, public, or other socially significant interests as defined by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
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10.8. The Operator stores personal data in a form that allows identification of the personal data subject for no longer than is necessary to achieve the purposes of personal data processing, unless a longer storage period is established by federal law or a contract to which the personal data subject is a party, beneficiary, or guarantor.

10.9. The grounds for termination of personal data processing may include the achievement of the processing purposes, the expiration of the data subject’s consent, the withdrawal of consent by the personal data subject, or the identification of unlawful processing of personal data.

11. List of Actions Performed by the Operator with Collected Personal Data

11.1. The Operator carries out the collection, recording, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, modification), retrieval, use, transfer (distribution, provision, access), depersonalization, blocking, deletion, and destruction of personal data.

11.2. The Operator performs automated processing of personal data with the receipt and/or transfer of the obtained information via information and telecommunication networks or without such transfer.

12. Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Data

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12.2. Cross-border transfer of personal data to foreign countries that do not meet the above requirements may only occur if there is written consent from the personal data subject for the cross-border transfer of their personal data and/or for the execution of a contract to which the personal data subject is a party.

13. Confidentiality of Personal Data

The Operator and other individuals who have access to personal data are obligated not to disclose or distribute personal data to third parties without the consent of the personal data subject, unless otherwise required by federal law.

14. Final Provisions

14.1. The User can obtain any clarifications regarding the processing of their personal data by contacting the Operator via email at hello@icu.agency.

14.2. Any changes to the Operator’s personal data processing policy will be reflected in this document. The Policy is valid indefinitely until replaced by a new version.

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