Brand Positioning · Points of difference · Component
The accepted trade-off
What the brand deliberately does not compete on — because a position with no trade-off is not a position.
The deliverable
What it is
Trying to be strong on every dimension produces a brand that is adequate on all of them and preferred on none. The trade-off is what makes the strength possible.
Trade-offs erode by reasonable steps. Each individual decision to close one looks sensible, and the sum is a brand that resembles its competitors.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The given up
What the brand accepts being ordinary or worse at.
3 attributes: Given up · Bought with it · Reason
LearnThe cost
What the trade-off actually costs in demand.
3 attributes: Demand forgone · Segment lost · Confidence
LearnThe drift check
Whether the organisation is quietly closing its own trade-offs.
3 attributes: Checked · Still held · Pressure source
Learn
A trade-off with no measurable cost in lost demand is probably not a real trade-off.
The other components in points of difference
The parity points
What the brand must be credibly adequate at to be considered — because most positioning failures are parity failures.
LearnThe differences
What the brand is meant to be believed better at, tested on all three criteria — matters to them, deliverable by us, hard for others to claim.
Learn