TRANSCRIPT:
What Is Brand Positioning & Why Is It Important
00:00 Hey, it's Brandon Sobotka and you’re watching Noble NonConformity TV, welcome and thank you for being here. As always, I appreciate you. And as you already know... I'm here to help YOU Position YOUR ambition and build a boundless brand for the modern marketplace. Today we're going to talk about arguably the most important part of a successful brand building strategy…
00:29 Ok, so I'm sure you're wondering what I'm speaking of, what is the successful brand building strategy I'm talking of. Well, I'm going to give you a second to think if you haven't thought of it already...tick, tock...tick, tock...tick, tock...3, 2, 1. I'm talking about POSITIONING. Now, I'm sure you've heard plenty of definitions of what positioning is and there's a variety of ways to do it. However, this is how I kinda do it in or this is how I define it in Layman's terms...
01:04 This is you, and when I say you I'm speaking of you as a personal brand or you as an organization. Ok. So this is you, confidently (key word there), staking a claim to your place in the marketplace. Remember that. But more importantly, you are staking a claim to your audience’s hearts...so you want to get in here and you want to get in here, their minds. Alright?
So you are the person they think of when they need your "thing". Right?
When they need the solution that you have they think of you because your brand stands for something, because your brand rejects conformity, and time after time your brand rises above the fray. In all the times they've experienced you, you just seem to either do it different or better or in more depth or something else that is uniquely...opposite. (You know, it doesn't have to necessarily be opposite) of your competitors.
02:14 Basically what I'm saying, is defining a clear position allows you to control how the market perceives you. And better positions your products and services to be more convincing and attractive than other options out there; than your competitors.
Many experts believe positioning is the single largest influence on the buying decision, so a lot of experts are saying that positioning is the final decision between, "Do I buy? or Do I not?"
I think you get that it's pretty important and we’ve seen this time in and time out in our own businesses when it comes to attracting partners, when it comes to getting clients, we've even seen it in our client’s results...
03:14 I mean clients who were struggling when they met us and who were battling and scratching and clawing in the red sea of sameness or that red sea of sameness out there in the marketplace. Prior to going through our positioning principles they were experiencing that, but then once they went through it they are experiencing the benefits of a clear market position. So what do I mean by that?
Well, put simply, they are getting or experiencing enthusiastic engagement from their audience, from their customers, and as that continues to build momentum they have experienced an intense appeal from now new and even hard to reach potential partners, clients, etc.
So, if you've listened to me for awhile, or if you've worked with me, or you've seen me somewhere you've probably heard me say that strategy is truly important. But, strategy without positioning doesn't work well. Is it possible? Yes. Cuz anytime you do strategy you can make things happen. But...POSITIONING is a big key.
3 Reasons You Don't Have Strong Brand Positioning
04:31 That being said, we still get a lot of questions of...If positioning is so important and entrepreneurs know that then...
Why is it still so hard to stand out?
Why am I struggling to grow even average client engagement?
Why is getting paid a premium so difficult?
And so on, so on, and so forth.
Well these are great questions and there's three obstacles or struggles or reasons behind the...I don't want to say failure, but the lack of a good position.
05:19 Number 1...
You haven't done the "soul searching"
Right? It takes a lot of TRUE soul searching. When I say soul searching, from a personal brand standpoint it's you doing some deep introspection. Getting in here (points to the heart), getting in here (points to the head) saying what is it that you really truly want. Right?
And if this is an organization, it's getting the leadership team together and putting the truths on the table. Sometimes those are hard truths that we have to look at. But, you have to take that time and put the attention to truly understand how you create unique value for your customers. Ok?
And as I was digging into this stuff, there was a study, a recent study, that says US companies that stand for something bigger than what they sell and “tune in” to consumer beliefs connect on a deeper level. That is why doing that soul searching is so important. If you can dig in here (pointing at head) and understand what you really, truly believe at depth, then you are more likely to put out a nice message that then resonates at a deeper level with the audience.
That's what we're all looking for. That's how brands are started and grown. So number 1 is you're not taking that time to do that true soul searching.
06:43 Number 2 is...
There are trade-offs
and you're not doing those either. Right? So with positioning comes trade offs. Meaning...
you're either modern or you're traditional,
you're strategic or you're tactical,
there could be several trade-offs you have to make in order for you to stand out.
What I'm basically saying is that you cannot be all things to all people. You know, all too often in marketing you hear it...if you're marketing to everyone, you're marketing to no one. So what I'm saying is focus is the key here. Ok. So number two is you have to make those tough decisions, make those trade-offs so that you can really streamline and focus your positioning strategy.
07:34 Three...
Failing to articulate
So maybe you've already done the soul searching, maybe you've made the trade-offs and you think you have a great positioning strategy. And maybe you even do. But you're failing to articulate that strategy. Alright? Or maybe you're even articulating it at a basic level, but hint, hint, you're not being different. You have to be different when it comes to articulating your positioning strategy. At minimum, you have to be hitting the typical points of parity.
Another study I stumbled upon in doing this is nearly 60% of High Growth Brands are focused on defining what sets them apart as their top marketing priority. You hear that? A large percentage of the best brands out there right now are focused on defining what sets them apart as their TOP, #1, marketing strategy. Remember that. It's key.
08:46 So if you're struggling...if you're a leader, a consultant, a coach, entrepreneur, speaker, trainer, etc.., etc. etc. And you're struggling with this. Odds are is you just haven’t moved past those typical expected points of parity, like I just mentioned, and therefore you are competing on price.
What does that mean? It means you're a commodity. And fighting that commodity battle is a losing battle.
If this sounds like you, you're struggling with some of these. You’ll be excited to watch the rest of this video because you can win the fight before the battle even begins. And I’m going to show you how to do that right now by build a solid positioning foundation you can use today to help you separate from the noise, clear the clutter that's out there or clear the clutter that's within your brand and define a distinct competitive advantage. All without conforming or becoming just another cookie cutter or copycat company, like so many are doing right now.
If that sounds good...we're going to switch over so I can show you the Prosperous Positioning Principles framework. What that is is it's the 5 keys to getting noticed by qualified customers without being another "me too" look-alike company. Let’s run through them and then I’ll come back and break them down further. Ok?
The 5 Keys To Getting Noticed
10:29 Alright, so what you're looking at here is what I call, "The Prosperous Positioning Principles" framework. It's the five keys to getting noticed by qualified customers without being another "me too" look-alike company. And so this is the framework that I walk through with all of our clients, no matter if you're big, you're small, somewhere in between. This is what we do to help you get a clear and different brand positioning. So, let's jump right in and...
the five steps, or five keys, five pillars. Whatever you want to call them are right here. In no particular order...just as long as you get all five in place that's what matters. And really taking the time to think about each one of these. So let's just go ahead and start from the top and work our way down.
Why-Form a purpose
11:25 First in why. You know you've probably heard this a lot. it's almost cliche these days. Simon Sinek built a business on it; built around "Start With Why". And why just means to form a purpose. To get a little bit deeper into what "form a purpose" means...well it means to promote your unique worldview. You know, what is your unique brand perspective? Your unique outlook on life? Or hope for the future? Or the change you want to see in the world?
Whatever it is...this purpose, is the thing that drives everything that your brand does.
Alright? So that is one piece, the why; form a purpose.
Who- Fitting & relevant
12:12 Next, is who. When I'm talking about who, I'm specifically speaking about is the audience. And what I'm asking is, is it fitting and relevant? Is what you are doing fitting and relevant? Because if you’re not relevant, you DO NOT have a business these days. What I mean is, you have to have the key points of parity covered first right? We've talked about that. I always focus on getting CLEAR on the things you absolutely need to serve your audiences wants and needs in that particular niche. And then we work towards the how and being fresh and different. So, what I'm talking about here is really focused around being relevant to a specific audience. Ok?
How- Fresh & different
13:01 Next, is the how. How I just mentioned that is, are you fresh and different? You know blending in doesn’t get you noticed. I think we've all learned that or we all understand that. And the idea is how can I be different? And that's something we work through when you work with me. At some point in time, if you go through any of our systems we definitely talk about differentiation. But the key here is to attract a strong following you HAVE to be different. Right? This is what kind of pulls peoples attention away from the usual, away from the status quo, is that you're different.
Well, that difference starts to create curiosity and people want to know more. And then when you deliver value, now they're like whoa! And if it's different AND better, now you get more attention. And that attention, as we talked about earlier, we call it "enthusiastic engagement". And that enthusiastic engagement turns into an intense appeal and so on and so forth. Those people become customers and you WOW them. And then they become consistent customers who buy over and over and over, and raving fans, and you know the pattern. Right?...
How are you fresh and different?
What- Focused on a need/niche
14:44 Next, is the what. What is all about focus. Are you focused on a need or a niche? Focus requires those trade offs we talked about or, some people call it a sacrifice. Some type of a sacrifice, you have to let go of something in order to do and be very specific. And the reason we do that is so that you're not seen as a generalist. But instead, create a very strong appeal because you’re a specialist. And a specialist is focused on being narrow and deep. Right? And if you have a special expertise that solves specific problem, then to an overall, highly desired end result then you are a specialist. And that's what we want to get to. Ok?
Where/When- Forge your future
15:36 Next is, last, but not least, is where and when. Where and when is really the places and times that your brand does it's thing. And I call that, "forging your future". If you've seen any of our taglines I specifically talk about forging your future because once you have all these things in place, really standing out takes this where and when. From a strategic perspective, every touchpoint matters. You've probably heard me sat that. And that's what I like to point out...the where is a touchpoint. And the when...are you going to interact at that touchpoint.
So, I think you get it. Those are the 5 steps.
16:28 Getting precise on your positioning is the FOUNDATION of a strong brand building strategy that we mentioned earlier, however an important thing you have to understand is that it’s only a piece of scaling a stand out, sustainable brand...What your looking at here, as I morph over to this, positioning lies in this piece of the model that we work people through. And as you can see, there's several more steps in order grow that brand that I'm talking about right?...this radically recognize, revenue producing, profitable brand.
That's the brand that stands out, that's the brand that sustains time. And this is what I call, "The Noble NonConformity Code" framework. We use it to help Coaches & Consultants, and several other of the entrepreneurial business models that we talked about simply scale their brand without sacrificing profits or spending 3-5 years (or more) trying to figure it all out or piece it all together.”
….If you want to get explicitly, excitedly, and inspiringly clear on the ONE THING you should be doing right now to build a radically recognized, revenue producing brand. Right? I think that's what we want, I think that's why you're here.
Then I recommend checking out the link below. It's for a free training that will walk you through the steps that you should be doing right now to get more clients and increase your monthly revenue.
With that said, take a look, think about it, absorb the information, apply it. I hope that it helps you create that clear and different brand your looking for, that clear and different positioning that will help you stand out and excel in your marketplace. And until next time, I'm out...deuces!
