THE SAVORY OBSERVATIONS AND USEFUL ANECDOTES OF AN
Artful Realist
My name is LAURENCE VINCENT. I'm a brand strategist, author, speaker, photographer and lovable nerd based in Los Angeles, California. When I'm not writing here about brands and things that inspire me, I look after The Brand Studio at United Talent Agency. I believe brands must stand for real value; and that people value brands that fulfill a promise through artful experiences.
Posts on brand promise
Stake Promises, Not Positions
A brand promise is not the same as a brand position. It is a common nugget of brandlore that the two phrases mean the same thing. They do not, though they are related to each other. A position asserts a line of argument (as in “what position shall we take in this message?”) or it pinpoints a location in perceptual space (as in “which position do we or shall we occupy in the mind of the consumer?”) Positioning thrives on “open space”—perceptual territory that your brand can claim because it is unclaimed by competitors. Imagine you operate a brand in an environment where every competitor uses a red logo. To effectively position your brand, you might choose to make your logo blue because that color is “ownable.” This example is a gross oversimplification of positioning, but it illustrates one reason a position is different from a promise. You position to be different and to stand out. It’s an essential activity, indeed, but it is possible to reposition a brand by focusing on purely cosmetic changes and not deliver any real, incremental value. In contrast, when you make a brand promise, you still stake a position, but you also create a covenant with consumers. You commit to deliver value.
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Copyright 2012 by Laurence Vincent
