Brand Positioning vs Brand Identity

Brand Positioning Vs Brand Identity

When you consider your brand positioning vs your brand identity, they are two different things. What is most important is that they work in tandem with each other.

Brand positioning is the act of creating a unique market position for a brand, while brand identity is the visual expression of that brand positioning. In other words, brand positioning is the strategy that a company uses to make their brand stand out from the competition, while brand identity is how that company communicates their unique position to consumers through visuals, branded elements and the overall creative suite and teams in charge.

Brand positioning is often thought of as the more abstract and strategic element, while brand identity is the more concrete and tangible expression of that positioning.

Creating Your Brand Positioning (Simplified)

Pillar I – Gap Analysis

What is the current gap in the market place that is not being solved, that your company is bringing a solution to? Often, we solve a big hairy problem, but never really define what that problem or solution is that we are bringing to the market place.

Pillar II – Unique Promise

What is a unique promise that your company promises clients? What do people believe they will get by working with you? Believability is key.

Pillar III – Benefits

List out your top benefits, instead of features. Many companies we observe often want to ONLY highlight features. What really matters to your customers, is the benefits that your product brings to their lives. They don’t care nearly as much about your widgets and “things” you do, vs what they are getting themselves.

Pillar IIII – Unique Mechanism

What is the mechanism or “thing” that you use to get a result, that differentiates you from the crowd? This will help you craft a killer big idea on your campaigns.

Unique Mechanism + Promise = Big Idea

The Difference Between Brand Positioning And Brand Identity

Now that you see the above, written out in detail, I don’t have to explain to you why your brand positioning would influence your brand identity. As we’ve discussed in another article, your Brand Identity for the most part will be your visual palette. For example, your naming, your colors, your font palettes, your languaging and your imagery.

Conclusion

Brand development often gets confused with “just” imagery, but in reality it is the strategy behind your company, that is the driving force for all of your media, and your promotions. Companies that invest in branding, often come out ahead of the pack vs companies that are only direct response driven. If you’d like help with your brand positioning, please hit the apply button and fill out and application.