The power of brand positioning.

Knowing your position in the market and who you’re targeting will empower your marketing and brand.

Let’s face it, when most of us set up our businesses, we did so because we had experience in that field or knew the market in some way. We went from working for someone else to running our own thing doing the same or similar. If this sounds familiar, there’s a good chance you paid little notice of your brand positioning.

What is brand positioning?
It’s the marketing strategy that will help you stand out in a crowded marketplace. You already offer a product or service, but strong brand positioning will help focus your offering, clarifying to your customers what you do and why it’s right for them.

The importance of brand positioning
We rarely offer something 100% unique, so we compete with all the other players out there, who are all trying to sell something similar. If you position yourself correctly, you can target a more focused area, but as we mentioned earlier, these things might not have been taken into account when the business was in its early stages.

Why a rethink could be on the cards:
Maybe business is good, but it could be better. Or there’s a chance you could be missing out on new work and clients due to how your company or product is perceived in your industry. It could also be that things are changing in your industry, and you want to get out in front of that change.

Reassessing who and what you’re targeting doesn’t always require a rebrand. Thinking about positioning an existing brand or business creates several easy wins. Here are some simple tasks that can be completed in-house to help refocus your purpose and goals.

1: Brand Positioning Statement
What do you want to change, and what will you offer that’s new or different? If you’ve decided to work on your brand positioning, we want to take that reason and turn it into our Brand Positioning Statement.

2: Define your positioning: Quality, Price, Convenience, Service.
Brand positioning can be as straightforward or as complex as you want. But any plan to identify your positioning will help. That’s why narrowing your offering down using these four directions can make it easier.

Quality: Are you offering a high-end product or service with superior skills or delivery?
Price: Will the positioning be price-focused with an emphasis on cost-effectiveness?
Convenience: Can you make the life of your customer or client easier?
Service: It’s not just what you deliver but how you provide it. Quality service or aftercare can be a brand-defining offering.

3: Focus on your target market
Knowing your target audience is essential if you’re looking to diversify or pivot what you’re doing. You could speak to a new market with little knowledge of you or your company, so your messaging has to be spot-on.

4: Look at your marketing
How do you market yourself? What does this marketing say about you? And most importantly, can the message be adjusted to deliver your new market position?

Having a new theme or defined purpose can re-energise your business. If you have taken time to think about your brand positioning, everything else can fall into place.

Want to learn more about how to create your own brand positioning strategy? Get in touch.

Is your content just clutter?

It comes naturally to some people. Creating content. Blogs, LinkedIn, Instagram or anywhere else.

Personally, as a recovering creative, I overthink things to the Nth degree, and it takes me ages to get anything out there.

When it comes to my social media, I’m more likely to be looking through DIY reels than building a personal brand. And I’ll be honest: I begrudgingly admire those who can create posts at the drop of a hat.

But with the prolific posters, how much of it is actually effective? How much is just clutter?

Global PR agency Havas has released its annual ‘Meaningful Brands’ study. According to the results, 60% of brand content is ‘just clutter’, having little or no impact on business results or people’s lives.

What content works?
Content that educates, inspires and entertains. It can be light-hearted or serious, feel-good or industry-specific and technical. But if it enriches the target audience’s life, even for a short while, you’ve done the job.

How can you show the benefit your products have on the lives of your customers?

Nicorette shows videos of what can be achieved when you stop smoking, inspiring others. Waitrose has a live feed of cows grazing. There are many answers, but one truth: create what brings value to your potential customers.

When working with clients, we always consider developing themes that align with their brand strategies. If your content aligns with your goals, it will align with your customers’ needs and aspirations. And when you create content that provides a service AND promotes your product, surely that’s better than just posting for the sake of posting.

Where do you start?
Do you have a brand strategy, and have you identified your target audience?

After that, think about what you sell. Think about what this product or service does. Now, think about what benefit it brings to the end user. How does it enrich the lives of your customers? This is your starting point.

We’re not all selling cool products to the masses. Most of us are creating industry-specific offerings. But that intangible end benefit is out there.

And remember to have fun finding what makes your company unique. You can still upload pics of your new branded polo shirts if you want, but remember, this type of content isn’t going to have the kind of impact you’re looking for.

If your brand strategy includes creating value, that should be your focus. Create the value first, knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing, and then worry about selling.

The same Havas survey also mentions that British consumers would not care if 94% of brands disappeared altogether.

Think about that next time you post. Are you part of the 6%?

Are you creating value, or are you just adding to the clutter?

Want to know more? Get in touch.

Who cares about brand strategy anyway?

In our experience, only a few people do. Which makes sense as most people don’t know what strategy actually is.

When branding your business, how often do you think about what you’re trying to achieve outside of the creative process? And, more importantly, who are you trying to attract?

Sevenfive has been lucky to work with several large organisations and prominent brands. They have the vision, experience, and resources to create a strategy and see it through—sometimes. But at the core of our expertise is building brands for SMEs.

For most managing directors, owners/managers, and marketing managers who spend their time at the coal face, brand strategy isn’t a priority. Some don’t even have a plan.

Is it OK to just have a plan?
Only if the plan has a goal. And if you have the goal first, maybe we’re halfway to creating a strategy.
But strategy is hard, and having a plan is not a strategy—even if you tell yourself that it is. If your plan is a list of actions with no real point to them, and you lack any idea of how to achieve your goal, then your strategy is missing in action.

So, what is brand strategy?
This is the crucial bit. Your strategy is a way to position yourself so you can win.

You need to establish the Why: Why does your brand exist? Not what it does, but why it does it?

The How? How are we going to deliver this message to the customer?

The What? So, what actually is it you’re selling? A service, software, a product?

And Who: Who is the target market? Because everything needs to be aimed squarely at this market.

When combined, these elements build the foundations for a strong brand strategy.

This is boring; how does it help me?
Just planning to do stuff is comforting because you’re the customer. You control the situation, and you’re happy if you get what you want. Do you want to post three times a week on Instagram, take out some ads? Go for it. Because when you do it you’ve followed through on your plan and you’ve pleased the customer, you.

However, a strategy identifies a specific outcome that makes customers want you or your product, which is essential. Planning the three posts a week comes later.

You can’t guarantee it will happen, but you can put actions in place to help it happen.

Do you want to make a plan, or do you want to win?

To use a phrase coined by Roger Martin (@HarvardBusinessReview), don’t just ‘play to play’. Create a strategy that makes you better. Play to win.

We help SMEs build brands, and the ones where we can develop a strategy first are always the most successful.

If you only plan, you could lose. If you have a strategy, you have a better chance of winning.

Want to know more? Get in touch.

Illustration in Branding

We all know the saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. So, what does your imagery say about your brand?

Creating imagery for your brand is tricky; it should resonate with your audience and represent your brand and its values. If done right, it will visually differentiate your brand. Creating something memorable and distinct.

Illustration, with its diverse and expressive styles, can bring out a brand’s personality and add character and feeling. It can communicate humour and playfulness and set a mood that photography and type can’t always express. So, why is illustration often overlooked when it comes to the visual elements of a brand identity?

As an essential part of many successful modern brands, let’s explore the reasons many use illustrations and offer insights for those who are new to illustrations.

Why Use Illustrations?
Illustrations can play an essential role in a brand’s communication and how it talks to its audience. It offers many advantages that contribute to the success and effectiveness of a brand’s communication.

Visually Different
Creating unique and bespoke brand illustrations helps differentiate your brand and stand out from your competitors. A distinct and memorable illustration can set a brand apart, contributing to brand recall and making it easier for customers to remember and recognize your brand over time.

Storytelling
Illustrations can tell the story of your brand and its products. This lets your brand communicate its narrative and values visually, creating a deeper and more emotional connection with the audience.

Expressing Brand Personality
Illustrations enable brands to express their personality in a visually striking way. Creating illustrations with a brand’s values in mind can bring them to life, and the style of illustrations can embody the brand’s values, making it feel more authentic.

Creative Freedom
Using illustrations brings creative freedom not found in photography and provides a different perspective on your branding. Illustrations can express feelings, concepts, and ideas, especially useful when representing services or benefits of a product.

Global Appeal
Visual communication using illustrations is universal. It transcends language barriers and makes your brand globally accessible, benefiting brands with diverse and global audiences.

Versatility
Illustrations can be easily adapted and scaled across different mediums, whether on social media, digital platforms, print materials, or merchandise. This ensures brand consistency across all brand touchpoints.

Branding Evolution
When evolving your brand and message, illustration can be developed to complement your existing visual language and imagery. This provides flexibility in brand communications and allows for rebranding efforts without starting from scratch.

On Trend
Illustrations can be easily adapted to incorporate design trends or respond to changing consumer preferences, keeping the brand current and relevant.

Using illustration helps differentiate your brand and tell its story uniquely and compellingly. Illustration provides versatility in communication and audience engagement, not always found in other brand elements like photography. It is a valuable tool for building and maintaining a robust brand presence.

Want to know more? Is it time to consider using illustration in your marketing? We’d love to be involved and help elevate your brand.