Create Brands that Catch Attention
By Levina Kusumadjaja
If there’s one thing that could unite the whole world, that thing would be love—or a bag of potato chips. I mean, what's not to like from a bag of potato chips? Now, imagine this. You’re walking into a grocery store and you are heading straight to aisle 10. You walk 5 meters into the aisle and behold: a galore of potato chips from all kinds, shapes and sizes. You cross your arms and stare intently at the 15 different brands of potato chips that’s right in front of you. The pinnacle moment has arrived, it’s time to choose THE ONE bag of potato chips.
The right positioning will get you to choose one brand above the rest.
If you really think about it, potato chips taste like potato chips. Physically, one brand is pretty much exactly the same as the other brands. Crispy, salty, and sometimes with fun local and fusion seasonings on them. So then what makes a customer drawn to a certain brand, even though the product is not that much different from one brand to another? When you keep choosing the same brand of potato chips again and again, there is a place for this brand in your mind that says: “this brand is the best potato chip compared to the others”. Otherwise, you wouldn't pick that brand. Even if you don't think it's the best in the world, there is still a reason somewhere in your mind why this brand stands above the rest. This is what we call as positioning.
Positioning is the art of filling a specific position in a customer’s mind that other brands cannot fill.
A brand that does a great job at positioning will stand out from other brands, thus drawing you to take a certain action towards that brand. For example, purchasing a product from the brand. If the brand does a poor job of positioning they will look like every other chip and it won't stand out. When it gets to this point, here's what customers think: “It doesn't matter which brand I buy because they are all the same”. It means customers become indifferent with the choices of brands they have in front of them. But even when they feel indifferent, they will still make a choice based on a certain level of positioning. They will most probably go with the brand that they know has a good reputation. Did you catch the positioning? The “random” brand is positioned as a reputable brand in the customer's mind, that's why the customer bought the “random” brand.
Where does the brand stand in light of other brands?
As a brand strategist, when you think about positioning, think of this question: Where does the brand stand in light of other brands? Is it the saltiest? Is it the crispiest? Is it the most unique compared to the rest? A good positioning will produce a distinctive gut feeling, a distinctive perception towards one brand that the customer cannot get from other brands. It is this perception that will catch the customer’s attention and pull them in towards making a purchase. And it is this perception that will get them to buy from this brand again and again in the future.
So, find that specific gut feeling, that specific perception. Try to define that specific room in a customer's mind that the brand can fill. It can be a specific need, a specific quality... whatever that specific thing is, it has to be the solution of a need that no other brands could offer. If customers are looking for that consistent satisfying crisp from a potato chip, then the perfect reputation and spot for the brand is to be the crispiest one.
Remember, the right positioning will get customers to choose one brand above the rest.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!