A Complete Guide to Strategic Brand Positioning

About this guide: first published on the Pivony blog in 2022; updated in 2026.

What makes a brand unforgettable? Not the logo or the slogan on their own. Brand positioning is about where your mission, offer and identity sit in a crowded market, and above all, how customers see you compared with the alternatives.

What is brand positioning?

Philip Kotler defines it as "the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market". In other words: how your brand differs from competitors, and how customers perceive that difference.

Why it matters

• It sets you apart. A clear position is why people remember one brand in a category and forget the rest.
• It supports your pricing. When you know where you stand against competitors, you can explain why you cost more, or less.
• It makes your marketing better. A brand that knows what it stands for can be creative with confidence instead of copying others.
• It makes buying easier. People don't want to compare endless options. A clear position gives them a reason to choose you.
• It lets you compete on value, not only price. Positioning explains what you give customers that alternatives don't.

Types of positioning strategies

• Characteristic-based: built on product attributes. Two shampoo brands can position on shine and softness, or on solving dandruff.
• Customer-based: built on how the product fits into customers' lives and what it means to them.
• Competitor-based (differentiation): built on how you win against specific alternatives. A useful formula: "For [customers], we are the [category] that [benefit], because [reason to believe]."
• Price-based: being the most affordable option. It attracts a large audience but is hard to defend.

Two examples from the original guide: Glossier positioned itself on natural beauty, simple products, minimalist packaging and an inclusive community; Abercrombie & Fitch, known for athletic-model advertising aimed at young people, widened its sizes and campaigns to respond to customers' expectations on diversity and inclusion.

How to write a positioning statement

A positioning statement says what you do, for whom, and what makes you different. To write one:

1. Look at how competitors position themselves.
2. Put yourself in your customers' shoes.
3. Describe your customers in detail.
4. Keep it short.
5. Build it on your brand's principles.
6. Be truthful.

Customer feedback is the best input: compare how people talk about you and your competitors, category by category, and look at sentiment. That shows where you are actually different, not where you hope to be. A SWOT analysis also helps.

Test the result:

• Does it set you apart from competitors?
• Can it adapt as the market changes?
• Does it leave room to grow?
• Does it speak to your target market, and will they find it appealing?
• Is it believable?

See how customers position you

• Competitor analysis in Pivony compares how people talk about you and your competitors.
• Pivony Market Intelligence tracks competitor reviews and category trends from app stores, social and public data.
• If you'd like to see it on your own brand, book a demo.