What You Can Learn From Companies With Great Brand Positioning Statements

Brand positioning statements are more than marketing slogans. They are about the core of what you believe.

What is a Brand Positioning Statement?

A brand positioning statement clarifies what your brand represents, and should be a guiding principle in the way you do business and should make it clear to everyone what you believe.

To be effective, however, it can’t just be something to print on a poster or showcase on your website. A brand positioning statement needs to be embedded in your company’s culture and lived by employees. Every employee needs to embrace the position and use it to govern how they conduct business.

The best brand positions will occupy a place in the minds of customers. You’ll need to live up to the ideals you set if you want to maintain that position.

Brand Positioning Statement Examples

Branding positioning statements can be short or long. They’re used by companies both big and small.

Here are some examples of brand positioning statements across various industries that embody the spirit of their message.

Salesforce Example

Salesforce is one of the world’s leading CRM software platforms. Its brand positioning statement revolves around creating meaningful connections with customers.

We build bridges between companies and customers.

Every product the company builds relates to enhancing that connection.

Accenture Example

Accenture is a multinational company that provides business consulting services. It leverages technology to processes in order to harness change and solve problems.

We embrace the power of change to create 360-degree value for our clients, people, and communities.

The company also publishes a set of core values that drives how it wants to act and make decisions, based on client value creation, respect, integrity, and stewardship.

S.O. Creative Example

S.O. Creative is a Houston-based branding and marketing agency focused on integrated B2B marketing solutions. It positions itself to demonstrate what’s unique about the way it approaches B2B brand positioning.

For medium-sized to large businesses looking to grow their revenue, S.O. Creative is a strategic creative partner that collaborates with our clients to help them reach their business goals. Unlike other creative firms, S.O. Creative combines elastic expertise, white-glove service and strategic business focus to apply the perfect amount of creative and strategic horsepower necessary to help our clients achieve their business goals. Our owner is active on every project, so our clients get great service and creative that is on target.

When businesses work with S.O. Creative, clients get leadership and involvement right from the top of the organization.

IBM Example

A good example of how brands can evolve is IBM. Once known as a mainstream provider of computing power, it’s immersed itself in artificial intelligence.

Designed to power deeper relationships.

While it is still a hardware provider, its focus is set on using the IBM Watson technology to help customers make smarter business decisions using predictive analysis.

Kinematics Example

Kinematics is a Phoenix-based manufacturing firm. It is the world leader in smart torque technology and slew drives. Here is their business-to-business brand positioning statement to serve its customers.

KMI is the leading supplier of smart torque technology solutions for the Solar, Industrial, and Healthcare markets. KMI relentlessly drives continuous torque technology improvement through innovation and using scientific methods to test, validate, and deliver, at scale, products that offer the highest field performance and lowest cost-of-ownership.

With Kinematics, you get proven expertise, performance, and value.

Intel Example

Even as a consumer, you may be familiar with the Intel brand because of the company’s relentless branding with consumer products. They are, however, a B2B brand that targets manufacturers to include their products within consumer products. Their brand positioning is simple and straightforward while reinforcing their primary objective.

Powered by Intel^®

Its core values center on constantly evolving technology to make things easier, smarter and more connected. It’s taken a slightly different approach in marketing, which is to distinguish itself as a high-quality product to attract consumers and to entice manufacturers to include its chips in their products.

Adobe Example

Adobe is probably most well-known for its Adobe Acrobat Reader, but it’s also one of the world’s largest B2B brands. Adobe Creative Cloud is a staple for designers, developers and editors.

Changing the world through digital experiences. We help customers create, deliver, and optimize content and applications.

Adobe’s diverse product line reflects its mission and helps ensure alignment between product and marketing.

Lockheed Martin Example

Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company. While its tag line is Your Mission is Ours^®, its brand positioning goes deeper than that and acts as a guide for its internal stakeholders.

Customer focus, innovation, and purpose are built into everything we do. When millions of people are counting on you, you can count on us.

It provides a clear sense of mission for its employees.

Short and Sweet Brand Positioning Statements

Brand positioning statements don’t have to be wordy. Some of the most effective positioning statements can be summed up in a sentence.

• SAP: Run simple with the best in cloud, analytics, mobile, and IT solutions
• Oracle: Help people see data in new ways, discover insight, unlock endless possibilities
• Cisco: We make amazing things happen by connecting the unconnected

How to Build Your Brand Positioning Statement

As you can see from the examples above, there’s not necessarily a right way when it comes to drafting your brand positioning statement. Your statement can take various shapes, but most address these four common areas:

1. Customers/Audience
   How will you address the problems, desires, or concerns of your customers or stakeholders?
2. Competitors
   How can you position yourself differently from your competitors who may be offering similar products or services?
3. Uniqueness
   What is it that you provide that sets you apart from anyone else and makes you stand out in the marketplace?
4. The Payoff
   How do these things add up to solving your customer’s problems, help them achieve their goals or align with their beliefs about the way things should be?

Your brand positioning statement should answer these questions.  They become the filter through which every business decision you make flows.