Branding Blog

The Importance of Positioning Pillars

Having just completed a Brandmap for a large shoe retailer and a Communications Proposal for an up and coming car manufacturer, it was interesting to see the similarities in their situations! The shoe retailer placed a lot of emphasis on price and range and the car manufacturer focuses on features like value for money, fuel economy and safety. Both businesses could see that a higher, more emotive level of positioning was advantageous but both were also concerned about giving up their current attributes. The truth is that most of those lower level positioning elements are mandatory – most consumers seek value, quality and safety etc. We can't neglect attention to those core elements or take them for granted but because many of the competition in the retail market or car industry or FMCG markets or banking realise that to, they are not often fruitful grounds for sustainable distinctive positioning.

So, in order to have a unique position we'd prefer to position a brand, not on mere features and benefits, but on consumer experience and company attitude facets. Regardless of the degrees of focus© we strive for in a brand, we must not forget, what I call, our Positioning Pillars – the foundations for the brand. And of course without a strong foundation we can't hope to support a higher, more emotional, more connected position for our brand. The point of this blog is to remind marketers that YES OF COURSE we should retain references to price, value, range and safety because they are Positioning Pillars but if we can deliver the message in a more emotive manner we'll get a stronger emotional connection to our consumer.

Branding and advertising doesn't have to be clever or esoteric to be successful but one of its fundamental jobs is to make the brand's Positioning Pillars relevant and distinctive from the competitors.

Degrees of Focus in Sport

A few months before the Olympics I saw a TV news report that intrigued me. It was about New Zealand professional racing cyclist, Hayden Roulston. I knew that Hayden had battled with health and social issues but was now on a strong rebuilding path. In the brief interview he was quick to point out that while his PHYSICAL and MENTAL preparation had to be at their peak he was now working on higher levels of engagement. He was experimenting with alternative remedies and working on his EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL states.

I was quick to write down his comments, for his preparation structure parallels Wasabi's Degrees of Focus© model which we use to define a brand's mana and develop a highly level of positioning. The further around the Degrees of Focus' dial that we can position a brand, the greater the emotional connection we have with that brand's consumer.

We all know the lengths successful teams like the All Blacks or Team New Zealand go to find the edge over the competition. It's not just about physical fitness and technique – to be at the top of your game you have to deal to your emotional and spiritual states, just like a brand needs to develop its experiential and attitudinal degrees. Read more on Degrees of Focus here.

Hayden went on to win the silver medal in the men's 4000m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Defining a Brand’s Soul

I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend with Christian Pol Roger and his family many years ago in Epernay, France. Back then I was the brand manager for Pol Roger Champagne in New Zealand. It was quintessential rural France – among the rolling hillsides and rivers nestle vineyards planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the grape varieties from which the most famous of celebratory wines is derived: Champagne.

Before settling in to a magnificent Sunday Roast at the family mansion, Christian took me for a morning drive through the countryside in his vintage Citroen. He planned the educational excursion well – we passed the elaborate large complexes of Moët et Chandon and Veuve Clicquot and other Champagne houses in Reims before returning to the more romantic village of Pol Roger's home and as we drove back to the estate's courtyard, Christian says, "You know Phil, if Reims is the Heart of Champagne then Epernay is the Soul."

That one sentence left a lasting impression on me early on in my marketing career. Christian had driven home that the product is important but the consumer experience and brand perception is far more potent. Christian Pol Roger's presumably well practiced line squarely positioned his brand apart from the larger marquees and looked to put the brand in a unique personalised space in mine and other consumers minds. That's why defining and developing a brand's mana or essence is vital to a greater emotional connection to consumers which can only lead to a more successful brand.