Don't skip the hard stuff.

Thomas Edison sketched an idea for a lightbulb and his invention now illuminates billions of rooms around the world.

James Dyson sketched out an idea for a bagless vacuum, and now his creation is considered by many to be the gold standard in the category.?

Leonardo Da Vinci scribbled down ideas for the ball bearing, roller bearing, and needle bearing, which now help to power everything from computers, to bicycles and airplanes.

Stories like these are super inspiring aren’t they?

But what they gloss over is the sheer amount of dogged determination and perseverance that went on behind the scenes to bring these realities to life.?

In fact, Dyson went through 5127 prototypes before he finally cracked the bagless vacuum.?And I'm sure Da Vinci and Edison had clocked up some pretty hefty experience before they changed the world.

All of us are guilty of looking for shortcuts.?

It’s why we sometimes click on ads showing us “the silver bullet you’ve always dreamed of.”

But the problem with silver bullets is that they don’t really exist.?

You can’t become a world-class athlete within 30 days.?

You can’t invent a winning product on your first try.?

You can’t build a company overnight.?

“I’d love to skip over the hard stuff, but it just doesn’t work. We don’t change, we don’t grow, and we don’t move forward without the work.” ― Brené Brown

And it’s no different when it comes to defining your brand positioning.?

Sure you can get together with your team for half a day and bash out a poorly thought through positioning statement but if it lacks any real insight from your market, your wider employees, or your competition, it’s likely to fizzle out within a few weeks of going live.?

Brand positioning seems simple because ultimately it boils down to a focused statement which may only be a few words.?

But to find brand positioning that truly stands the test of time, and truly makes you the obvious choice in your market, you’ve got to do the hard work.?

Don’t skip the hard stuff. Do it properly now and your business will see the benefit for years to come.?

Thanks for reading! Let me know below any other tips you have for brand positioning and check out the links to previous editions of On Brand at the bottom of the page.?

P.S. - If you’re battling with brand positioning right now, or just feel like your positioning needs revisiting, I’ve pulled together a short video that outlines how to do brand positioning research properly, and how to use this research to help you define powerful positioning that your customers can’t ignore. Give it a watch here: https://youtu.be/ILNHSk8LIQo?