Positioning

What is the role of brand identity in your positioning?

What is the role of brand identity in your positioning?

The starting point of positioning lies in the tension between internal and external factors; identity and perception. We juxtapose these factors in the positioning matrix. In this piece, identity takes center stage; what sets it apart from culture, and why is it important to incorporate identity into positioning?

Many people don’t recognize themselves in the identity of an organization (brand). If there is indeed a defined or tangible brand identity. In such cases, the question arises as to what extent this identity is embraced throughout the organization. Unfortunately, for many organizations, their identity consists of repeatedly mentioning buzzwords such as customer-centric, reliable, results-oriented, or innovative. Often without providing any further substance to these concepts. Just open any corporate website and read the “about us” section. Mostly, you’ll find generic and meaningless pieces of text. It’s not surprising, then, that employees have no idea what this adds or what behavior it entails. An incomprehensible concept in the form of a vague and overly general statement often does more harm than good!

When presenting a good positioning, you’ll encounter the “hey, that’s right, that’s us!” effect. Energy is released because there’s finally something that makes employees feel like an integral part of the bigger picture. A compelling story with each employee having their own leading role. The interesting thing is that the atmosphere in which the story unfolds was always there. It’s just that time or effort was never put into translating that atmosphere, bundling all the stories, and organizing the chapters.

A good positioning consists of different components. While culture is often used to answer the positioning question “who are we?”, we prefer to look at the identity of brands. Culture is often just the current situation; a statement you frequently hear is: we are who we are. We view identity as a movement because, in addition to culture, it also embodies the ambition of an organization (of its people).

So, a good positioning not only tells us who we are but also where we’re heading. An identity isn’t just about who you are but primarily indicates what behavior you exhibit to get somewhere.

De externe factoren van de positioneringsmatrix bespreken we hier, voor een verkenning van de spanning tussen beiden kunt u hier de uitleg van onze Merkelijkheid smatrix lezen.