Your Key to Success: Align Your Brand Elements, Positioning, And Personality
Brands serve several functions; brands are an identifier, a promise, an asset, and a set of perceptions. Together these elements serve as a stimulus that prompts a consumer to associate all of their thoughts about a brand with the attributes and benefits of the brand. The goal of branding is to integrate the many tangible and intangible components of a brand to establish a positive brand personality through the implementation of brand positioning strategies.
Brand elements are communication tools and collateral materials that enhance the brand’s appearance and distinctiveness but building a positive brand image requires more than designing recognizable brand elements. It requires the brand’s elements to align with the brand’s positioning and personality. But how can you ensure your brand elements align with your brand’s positioning and personality? Let’s take a look at the components that constitute a brand.
Brand Identity, Brand Image, and Brand Positioning
While brand identity and brand image are two opposing things, the goal is to position the brand in the unique spot within the minds of your target market that enables them to think about the brand in the intended and differentiated manner you desire.
Brand Identity
Brand identity is the aspirational way the company views the brand and want to be seen by the consumers. Brand identity includes all aspects of a brand from the language and messaging used to the symbols, fonts, and colors. It is the way you want your company to be perceived by your consumers.
Brand Image
Brand image is very similar to brand identity yet very different because brand image is the actual way that consumers view your brand. It is the consumer’s perception of your brand based on their past experiences with your brand.
Brand Positioning
Brand positioning is the way that a product is perceived or defined by a particular target segment, the space that the brand occupies in consumer’s minds relative to competitors. Simply put, it is the process of positioning your brand to reach the unique spot in the target market’s mind that enables them to think about your brand in the intended manner while magnifying specific attributes of the brand that differentiate it from the competitors.
Branding adds personality, differentiation, and value to a product or service, and it also offers risk avoidance and trust. To develop a positive brand personality, it is essential to ensure that the brand personality is relevant, unique, honest, and informed by the brand positioning. So, how do you align your brand elements with your brand positioning and personality? Simple! You need to make an impression in a relevant market, and your brand needs to stand for something.
Brand Positioning and brand personality make up a brand’s identity. The brand’s elements are used to create brand recognition. Clear positioning is critical and requires a clear positioning statement, a positive brand personality, and the use of brand elements to identify and differentiate the brand because character identification has value.
Write A Positioning Statement
First, you must determine what makes your brand unique and write a clear positioning statement. A positioning statement is a brief description of your product, service, and target market, and how they fill a specific need in the target market. A positioning statement is used to align your marketing efforts with your brand image and personality. An effective positioning statement concisely states the target market, the competitive set, the points-of-difference (POD), the brand’s reason to believe (RTB), and the points-of-parity (POP). You should establish your positioning statement using the template below.
Positioning Statement Template
For [your target market] who [target market need], [your brand name] provides [main benefit that differentiates your offering from competitors] because [reason why target market should believe your differentiation statement.]
Add Your Heading Text Here
In order to develop a positive brand personality, it is essential to think about your brand as it if were a person. What kind of person is your brand? What would your brand say or do? How would your brand do it? The brand personality is the characteristics that contributed to the brand name and is the characteristics in which the customer can relate to and recognize. The personality shapes the tone of voice for the brand’s language and communication methods.
Choose Brand Elements
When choosing/designing brand elements, it is crucial to ensure the basis of these elements are memorable, meaningful, likable, transferable, adaptable, and protectable. The goal is for these elements to be easily recognized, persuasive, interesting, flexible, and competitive. Like any brand, it is essential to choose elements that help consumers recognize and remember your brand even when they cannot remember your brand name. Choosing/designing brand elements that meet the above criteria will earn positive customer-based equity that establishes brand recognition and differentiates your brand from your competitors.
All of these components are connected, so it is important to align them appropriately to build brand equity. Your brand image, identity, positioning, and elements all play a crucial role in the success of your brand, so be sure to follow the above steps to ensure your aligning your brand fittingly. If you are interested in defining your brand’s positioning, image, identity, or correcting its alignment, contact me today for a consultation.
