Stephen Denny makes a great point about brand positioning.
The positioning statement isn’t ad copy. It isn’t “Be All You Can Be”, or “Just Do It,” or anything that remotely looks like either of these two taglines. A positioning statement is a verbal schematic of your brand:
[BLANK] is the [BLANK] that [BLANK] because [BLANK].
You fill in the blanks.
It’s worth reading his entire post at Note to CMO.
He also makes the point that branding is also about defining what your brand is not. Reminds me of the actor’s theatre show I saw the other night interviewing Eddie Murphy about his quote in the High School yearbook. Eddie spontaneously said (and it sure seemed like without any prior knowledge that he would be asked):
“In reality, all men are (we are all) sculptors, constantly chipping away the unwanted parts of their lives, trying to create a masterpiece.”
Quote found at Nels Lindahl’s blog.
Knowing what should be in the negative space is important…probably more important than knowing what goes in the positive space. It’s the end of 2007, time to declutter and make room for the new. Trying to figure out exactly what should be chipped away is the trick, isn’t it?
Tags: Marketing Branding Rebranding Brand Positioning Positioning
Thanks for tipping me off to “Note to CMO,” and this particularly insightful entry.
Chris: thanks for the plug! I took a early stage company through this process (on New Year’s Eve, no less) for about six hours and the lights went on like they usually do — this process helps define who you are, who you’re not, and what’s important.
Thanks!
Regards,
S. Denny