What Is a Global Brand Positioning Statement?
Clarke Ricks School of Business,
Liberty University
BUSI 690: Policy and Strategy in Global Competition
Dr. Hicks
May 7, 2022
What Is a Global Brand Positioning Statement?
Implementing a brand position for your business all begins with a statement. A brand
positioning statement is a description of your target market that also includes a holistic picture
of how you would like your brand to be perceived by customers (based on research and data).
Simply put, this statement is the who, when, where, why, and how of your brand’s identity.
How Important Is Brand Positioning?
With 89 percent of brand marketers concerned about creating engaging brand experiences
and 77 percent of B2B marketing leaders convinced that branding is critical to growth, it is clear
to see just how important brand positioning is. In addition to the critical element of customer
recognition, brand positioning is important for your business in these four ways:
Market differentiation: Showing the uniqueness of your product in any industry creates
a major advantage. When you use your brand positioning to celebrate how your product solves
a particular problem or need differently than your competitors, customers will take notice.
Easy purchase decisions: By clearly defining your product and how it can benefit your
customer, you take the guesswork out of the purchase process. When you give customers the
answers to questions they are looking for, they will be quicker to trust and buy.
Value confirmation: A strong brand doesn’t have to rely on pricing wars with
competitors. Instead, great brand positions establish the high value of their product, making
customers want to buy it no matter what (even if it isn’t the cheapest on the market),
Magnified messaging: A clear brand positioning statement gives you a springboard for
compelling creative storytelling. By having a concrete vision, you can elevate each additional
piece of marketing to further solidify your place among the competition.
How to Create Strong Brand Positioning
Any skilled marketer can develop a brand positioning strategy. The real challenge? Making it
lead to real business results and resonate with your target audience.
You’ll need more than a carefully created statement. To create strong brand positioning,
you’ll need research, customer data, authenticity, and flexibility.
Here are three tips to help you along the way:
Do your research: Benchmark all of your competitors to determine what their brand
position is, how well it is doing, and how you can outdo it. By constantly knowing where you
stand among your competitors, you’ll be able to position yourself in a way that makes
customers pay attention.
Be authentic: Your brand positioning is what you want people to think of when they see
your company, so be sure it’s authentic. Develop a story that captures your mission as a
company and incorporate your own values so that you can always be relatable and trustworthy
when speaking to it.
Adjust accordingly: Having a set brand position doesn’t mean that it can’t change.
When you identify flaws in your statement or uncover less-than-stellar customer feedback,
don’t be afraid to adjust your messaging accordingly.
Brand Positioning Examples
From behemoth companies to growing startups, any business in any industry can benefit
from brand positioning.
These three companies prove that a great story can help accelerate your brand and
establish your place in the market:
1. Cell phone company Verizon Wireless has established themselves as “America’s Largest,
Most Reliable 4G LTE Network.” Emphasized through billboards, television ads, and more,
Verizon has backed up their claim with countless data points that are not only impressive, but
also gain the trust and dollars of many Americans.
2. A niche online marketplace, Etsy has made it their mission to be the go-to place for all
things handmade, vintage, and unique. Etsy has set themselves apart in the market through
clever partnerships and ad placements, as well as regular appearances on television shows like
NBC’s reality craft competition “Making It.”
3. A nonprofit organization, The Ellen Degeneres Wildlife Fund, has positioned themselves
as a way to help protect endangered gorillas in Rwanda. This organization is committed to
following through with their brand positioning statement by supporting the Dian Fossey Gorilla
Fund through money raised in their online shop and donations page.
How to Improve Brand Positioning
Your brand positioning should be dynamic and fluid. This doesn’t mean you have to do a
major overhaul every year, but you do need to revisit it at least every quarter to see how you
can make it better.
Here are three ways to improve your brand positioning:
Listen to your customers: Don’t create your brand positioning in a vacuum. In order for
it to resonate with your customers, make sure you are listening to what they have to say. Set up
focus groups, send surveys, or simply talk to customers at events and use all those insights to
improve your message.
Refocus your statement: Does your brand positioning try and do too much? Have you
lost sight of the one or two things that truly make you unique? If your statement has lost its
focus, get back to the basics by revisiting your initial research (or conducting new research) to
see if your statement is still effective.
Create some buzz: If you’re a small company just starting out, you may not have a large
enough following to test your brand positioning. If you need more eyes on your messaging, run
some paid adsto A/B test a control statement (perhaps a generic statement about your
business) against your brand positioning statement to see how people react.
