141 9.4 Brand Positioning and Alignment

It is clear that brands are valuable assets that benefit organizations and their customers. Building brand loyalty is an important goal for marketers. But what does it take to build a brand?

Brands are shaped by many different activities. As a marketer, you can control some of these activities, but not others. For instance, you can put together an amazing product design, a fabulous brand name, memorable packaging, irresistible marketing promotions, and delightful customer service—those are all things within your control. But you can’t control how customers actually react to and use the product, despite your best efforts to direct and influence them. You also can’t control what they write in online reviews.

In order to optimize the success of your brand, you should become very good at aligning all the activities you can control, so that the brand experience you provide is consistent for the customers you care about. Consistency and alignment are essential for building strong brands.

Brand positioning is an ideal tool for creating this alignment. It’s how you figure out what your brand really means to you. It’s the yardstick you use to figure out which messages and activities will communicate that brand most effectively. It provides the pattern for helping customers understand what to think about your brand and decide whether it matters to them and they can trust it.

In the end, brand positioning is the clearest path toward creating brand-loyal customers.