How do you measure brand differentiation and positioning through communication?

Imagine brand differentiation as the art of crafting your brand's superhero cape—unique, powerful, and perfectly tailored. It's about infusing your identity with strengths and benefits that resonate with your audience's cravings. Now, brand positioning? Think of it as your superhero's grand entrance, confidently showcasing that distinct cape to the world. It's all about communicating and delivering your brand's uniqueness with a crystal-clear, unwavering message across every channel. Together, differentiation and positioning choreograph a symphony that echoes in your customers' minds, creating an unforgettable brand melody.

Let us first understand brand positioning using an example. Take the cola category. Coca-Cola positions itself as a timeless classic, fostering emotional connections through iconic red branding. In contrast, Pepsi positions as the choice of the new generation, projecting a dynamic and youthful image. This strategic positioning sets Coca-Cola apart with a sense of tradition and nostalgia, appealing to a broad audience. Pepsi, on the other hand, targets a younger, energetic demographic. This example emphasizes the significance of brand positioning in shaping consumer perceptions, especially in markets where product differentiation is limited, emphasizing the power of emotional associations and targeted appeals.

Brand differentiation is what makes your brand special. It's about showcasing why you're different from others, whether it's your quality, features, or customer experience. It's all about being unique. Positioning is where your brand fits in your customer's mind. It's about owning a specific place in their thoughts – being their go-to for something specific. The prompt "Our offering is the only category that benefits" is like a key to unlock what your brand is truly about.

Every consumer has a distinct set of needs and emotional drivers. Positioning is the process of aligning the key benefits of your product with a consistent set of user needs to create a relevant and credible brand. If you have recently welcomed a new child into your family, for example, safety is likely to be a high priority. For decades, Volvo consistently communicated a message of safety. However, a brand that is safe and dependable cannot also position itself as fun and impulsive. Without a major rebrand, a Volvo will never be an Alfa Romeo. Ultimately, therefore, positioning is about choices. It involves deciding where your biggest strengths lie relative to the competition and building your brand around those user needs and emotions.

Brand Differentiation is on the lines of ‘what’ is different. A brand aims to highlight the necessary points of differentiation that a user would value. Brand Positioning is ‘how and why’ that differentiation is communicated to the end user. It is the association that a brand wants to build of themselves with the user!

If your brand feels a bit like a Swiss army knife, you probably need to put more thought into your brand positioning. A Swiss knife promises to do many things, but doesn’t do any task exceptionally well. You could cut your bread with it, but it is unlikely to be the best tool for the job. The same rule applies to branding. If you position your product as the lowest cost option, you can't also credibly claim to be the most environmentally sustainable. If you claim to be the most advanced and sophisticated, you can't also be the most simple and intuitive. Consumers have a sixth sense for inconsistency and inauthenticity. This is why “do everything” brands rarely work and measuring brand communication is so important.

Measuring your brand communication after having creating a differentiating strategy allows you to see whether your efforts around your brand assets were successful. These KPIs are not always easy to measure, so looking at your social media metrics and marketing campaign overall returns give you a good indication whether you've increased loyalty, awareness and trust to your brand.

Brand communication is definitely a two way street. As you broadcast your brand’s identity, you adapt based on the information that comes back to you. Measuring your impact regularly helps determine your brand’s approachability and appeal to the people that matter most. Ask the hard questions. Is your message converting visitors into return visitors, browsers into buyers? If the impact’s not there, it’s time to clarify your message and refine the way it’s being communicated.

If we are talking about differentiate and positioning a brand... then you need to measure the communication to know what is the level of impact in your target? If they know your brand and make a good brand recall (one of the KPI′s), then you will see your communication strategy is effective. The opposite is if your target or users doesn′t rememeber you or recognize your benefits, insights and the whole brand. The brand equity and value will be impact through communication process.

Brand communication is how you talk about your unique brand and tell people why it's great. It includes your name, logo, how you speak, and what you show. This is super important to make people know, trust, and love your brand. But don't forget to check if your talk is actually working – see if people get it and like it. It's like making sure your brand message hits the bullseye.

To see if your brand talk is doing well, set SMART goals – they should be clear, measurable, doable, fitting, and time-limited. Match these goals with your big brand plan. Use metrics (like reach or mentions) to track how you're doing. For example, if you want more people to know your brand, check things like how many see it or talk about it. If you're after better brand feelings, look at sentiment or what people say about you. And if you're into people engaging with your brand, count clicks, views, likes, and comments. Lastly, if you want loyal fans, keep an eye on how many stick around, buy again, and tell friends. It's like having a scoreboard for your brand game!

One thing I've found helpful is to be specific. Clearly define what you want to achieve with your brand communication, like boosting awareness or increasing engagement. If you're not quite sure what you're after, figuring out the metrics for that could get a bit tricky.

I follow a 13-step process: 1. Start with Business Goals, 2. Define Target Audience, 3. Establish SMART Goals, 4. Select Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), 6. Consider the Marketing Funnel, 7. Benchmark and Baseline Measurement, 8. Set Realistic Targets, 9. Prioritize Metrics Based on Goals, 10. Align with Overall Marketing Strategy, 11. Regularly Monitor and Adjust, 12. Seek Feedback and Learn, 13. Document and Communicate By following these steps, you can establish clear and measurable brand communication goals and metrics that contribute to the overall success of your marketing efforts. Regularly assess your performance, adapt to changing circumstances, and refine your strategies based on the insights gained from your metrics.

1. **Media Mentions:** 2.**Brand Sentiment:** 3.**Share of Voice:** 4.**Message Penetration:** 5.**Employee Engagement:** 6. **Social Media Engagement:** 7.**Website Traffic:** 8.**Email Metrics:** 9. **Crisis Response Time:** 10.**Employee Advocacy:** 11.**Event Attendance:** 12.**Shareholder Value:** 13.**Customer Feedback:** 14.**Thought Leadership Recognition:** 15. **Community Impact:** 16.**Internal Communication Surveys:** 17.**Brand Recall:** 18.**Cost per Impression (CPI):**

Track brand equity metrics, such as brand recall, awareness, and preference. These metrics provide insights into how well your brand is positioned in the minds of consumers. Set Quantifiable Targets: Example Goal: Increase website traffic by 20%. Metrics: Use website analytics to track the number of visitors, page views, and time spent on the site. Enhance Brand Perception: Example Goal: Improve perceptions of brand reliability. Metrics: Conduct surveys to measure perceived reliability and trustworthiness.

A quick-and-dirty way is to survey customers with whom you have frequent contact. Ask them three questions > - Imagine our company as a person and describe us in 3-5 words - What problems do you believe we solve? - If we were to disappear tomorrow, what would you miss the most? What you measure here is the impact on memory structures. And that's what we aim for in the first place, right? Ideally, you'd want these surveys done before and after campaigns, but I guess just a quarterly check-in is fine even if nothing changes in brand comms. For more insightful results, of course, hire professionals and/or research & insight agencies.

If you do a proper market research, using the brand funnel, you can easily see the impact of the communication on your brand. You can see if your brand awareness/consideration/trial changed. Remember that each campaign should aim one of those... If you try to uplift all the indicators at once, you will problably not obtain the results you expect. Focus on one! For example I want to increase P12M Trial from 5% to 10%. ;)

Ask people easy questions about your brand, check what they remember and how they feel, then use that to make your brand talk better. Do this regularly to keep getting better at talking to your audience. You can easely ask these questions in your survey: "What words come to mind when you think of our brand?" "How well do you think our brand values align with your own?" "Is there anything specific you think we can do better in terms of how we communicate?"

Surveys are like your brand report card – they let you directly ask customers what they think. Use them to check brand awareness, what people feel, and if they're sticking around. You can even compare how you're doing against others. Pick a good survey tool like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms, set clear goals, and ask the right questions in a simple way. Don't play tricks with your questions – be straightforward. After collecting answers, crunch the numbers to see how well your brand is really doing. It's like getting the inside scoop on what people really think about your brand.

This is really just simple brand tracking. Good brands do some form of brand tracking annually. You might have a survey that has 10-15 basic questions that you know can tell you whether or not people are picking up on what you are trying to tell them about your business. You should ask these questions every year so that you know from year to year if things are working, staying the same, or slipping. You can then add a few questions or adjust things to meet the current trends or challenges of your market so that you are always on the pulse of the people around you.

Content analysis is what I call a content audit. It means looking at everything your brand says across various platforms and asking, 'Are we really saying what we think we're saying?' It’s about checking to see if your message is clear and consistent, and that it truly reflects what makes your brand unique. Often times when it comes to smaller companies, brand messaging can get muddled, especially when there are different copywriters in the mix. That's why conducting a content audit periodically is crucial to ensuring the brand's messaging is still clear and effective.

Content analysis is a research method that involves systematically analyzing the content of communication materials, such as text, images, or audiovisual content, to draw meaningful insights. Content analysis provides a systematic and structured approach to evaluating brand communication, offering valuable insights into the effectiveness of messaging and visual elements. It is a versatile method that can be adapted to various communication materials and channels, providing a comprehensive view of your brand's communication landscape.

Think of content analysis as checking if your brand talks the talk everywhere. It helps see if your message is solid and makes sense across websites, social media, emails, and ads. Grab a bit of everything your brand says and analyze it. Look at things like how your brand speaks, what it says, and if it matches your plan. Use both quality and quantity methods, like checking the style or counting things. Then, turn your findings into easy-to-understand tables or charts. It's like making sure your brand message is loud and clear in all the right places.

Content analysis is a must for measuring brand communication. It empowers data-driven decisions, ensures consistent and quality messaging, gives a competitive edge, enhances audience engagement, uncovers opportunities, and boosts efficiency. As a LinkedIn digital marketing top voice, I highly recommend using content analysis to strengthen your brand's impact.

The key aspect of utilizing content analysis for brand communication is active listening - continuously monitoring and rapidly adjusting strategies. This approach means not just evaluating the consistency and quality of your message but also staying agile in response to evolving audience needs and market trends. Constant measurement of key performance indicators is crucial. As you analyze content across various platforms like websites, social media, and ads, focus on how well your communication aligns with your brand's voice and value proposition. Be prepared to swiftly adapt your strategy based on these insights.

Experimentation in brand communication is akin to a scientific inquiry for marketers. It's the microscope through which subtle variations in messaging become apparent, allowing for strategic optimization of differentiation and positioning. These controlled tests, reminiscent of a laboratory setting, enable a precise measurement of the resonance and impact of your brand on the audience, ensuring a calculated and informed approach to communication strategy.

Content without data is always a dud! At ORIGIN, we have launched the Middle East first of its kind brand lab, where we use Neuro-technology (dich as the EEG machine) to measure people’s reactions to copy, design, and comms. in general. It has been an eye opener to see how various elements cab affect different emotions and trigger different responses.

I think leveraging AI-powered experiments to measure brand communication is an increasingly important tactic. We can begin by defining clear objectives and KPIs that align with the communication goals. We can implement natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to analyse consumer sentiment across various channels, gauging the effectiveness of the messaging (content) and platforms. Continuous monitoring and analysis enable rapid adjustments, ensuring a data-driven approach that enhances brand communication and fosters long-term brand engagement.

Aligning your brand with a specific archetype, such as "Hero" or "Explorer," adds a deeper layer to differentiation. Utilize experiments not only to measure but also to refine your brand's archetype alignment, ensuring a resonant and consistent narrative that appeals to your target audience's emotions and values. This holistic approach can fortify your brand's identity and strengthen its connection with consumers.

Understanding cross-cultural nuances in brand communication is crucial. I've learned that adapting our messaging to align with cultural values and norms can significantly enhance brand resonance in different markets. This involves not just translation, but a deeper adaptation of our brand story to reflect local sensibilities.

Sometimes it can be hard to try to put a ROI on this kind of these intangibles ... In that case, I like to use the ROX (return On Experience). You can track for example how much it costs to move 1 point in your awareness KPI and decide if it is worth the effort and so on... This will help a lot to convince finance of your efforts!!

Making sure that the brand says the same clear thing in all the different places it talks is really important. When the brand tells a consistent and unique story, it becomes strong and easy to recognize. The success of making the brand different and putting it in the right place in people's minds through communication is seen in how well people remember and like the brand. Imagine the brand is like a friend who tells a cool story – it's about creating a good and lasting connection. This helps the brand stay in people's minds, making it strong against other brands in the market.

There are many methods for understanding how a brand becomes different after talking to customers. - Surveys can show what impressions of the unique brand stay in people's minds. - Focus groups help dig deeper into why some things catch attention more than others. - Tracking over time how awareness, favorability, and other feelings change demonstrates the effect of communication. - On social media, seeing what posts about the special qualities get many likes and shares provides insights. -Testing different promotional versions against each other, like one ad emphasizing differences versus one that does not, shows what encourages people to buy more.