How to Build a Frame of Reference into Your Brand Positioning Statement
What is a Frame of reference ? To start with a frame of reference is one of the four elements that comprise of a brand positioning statement .
Your Business Brand Positioning statement becomes an internal document that you, the business owner, should use to align all consumer-facing decisions related to the brand or business. The choices include but are not limited to brand design elements, social media posts, website design, branding of content, etc.
The role of the frame of reference plays in the Brand positioning statement is to inform your dream audience about the purpose of using the brand or your Online Business. It answer the ‘WHY” question in your customers mind.
Read on to explore more of how to frame your own frame of reference for your online business brand.
Recap of Brand Positioning
In the previous blog we established the importance of creating a Brand positioning statement for your Business.Brand positioning is the foundation for building a solid Business. In developing a strong brand positioning, the following two elements are vital, i.e., the product (whatever it is that you are selling) and the customer (your Tribe, your Niche). The brand positioning simply verbalises how the company would like consumers to think about the brand.
The brand positioning simply verbalises how the company would like consumers to think about the brand
The power of brand positioning, therefore, lies with the owner of the business. The business has to depict its products to the world in a remarkable way and emphasise its superiority to competitors.
The beauty of marketing, as previously mentioned, is that marketing is an art and science; there is more than one way of positioning your brand in the minds of your target audience. You must craft one that endears itself to your customers and separates your business from others in your category.
Elements of the Brand Positioning Statement
In the last blog, we mentioned the four elements that the business owner must include in the formal positioning statement, these are: –
- A target
- A frame of reference
- A point of difference
- A reason to believe
It is important to note that this brand positioning statement becomes an internal document that should be referred to and used to align all consumer-facing decisions related to the brand.
The decisions include but are not limited to brand design elements, social media posts, website design, branding of content, etc.
This statement becomes an internal document that is used to align all consumer-facing decisions related to the brand
The Four Elements of The Brand Positioning Statement
Target
The target consumer, the ideal customer avatar (ICA), the brand persona (BP ) is selected based on many considerations. In a previous blog, you can read about how to craft an ICA and the importance of attracting the correct target to your small business.
Hippos to Horses Marketing has written in a previous blog, “that brands don’t sell products, they sell benefits”. In your communication to your ICA, make it a point to show them the benefit they will acquire by using your product.
…that brands don’t sell products; they sell benefits!
The Frame of Reference
What role does the frame of reference play in the Brand positioning statement? It is relatively simple the frame of reference informs consumers about the goal of using the brand. In general, there are roughly three ways of conveying the purpose of using a product:
Specify the category in which it holds membership
Let us continue with the analogy of the iPhone. iPhone launched in 2007; Apple had been known as a company that makes Macintosh computers. As you can see from the advert below, Apple had the audacious task to communicate to the world that it was now entering the telephone segment. Click on picture below to see the advert
The frame of reference can also be conveyed by comparing the brand to a different range of products.
Brands that pioneer a new category employ this approach to help consumers understand a new concept by relating it to a familiar one.
Uber is a good example. Uber used an alternative category, i.e., taxi, as a frame of reference when it launched the ride-hailing concept. Lyft was launched into this new category after Uber. It benefited from the fact that Uber had already established a ‘ride-hailing category’.
Lyft was therefore spared the expenses associated with building a new category.
Coke shows this concept really well; in launching Coke Zero, they used an alternative category by comparing itself to the flagship Coke brand in taste rather than the diet Coke brand.
Coke Zero Sugar’s frame of reference may be that of diet soft drinks, but when it comes to taste! It is at parity with the Original Coke ( always Coke a Cola ). Suggesting that the point of difference with other diet brands is taste. Click on picture below to see the advert
Did you know that? Now you know that Coke Zero Sugar is Coke Original without sugar and Diet Coke is… well … Diet Coke.
Do you agree that the difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar is the taste!
Post your views on our Instagram page.
Do you agree that Coke Zero Sugar tastes just like the Original Coke? Also, let us know if you are a Diet Coke or Coke Zero Sugar person.
Thanks in advance. We shall reveal our Diet Coke preference on our Instagram page.
A frame of reference can be communicated by showing the goal achieved by using the brand.
Look at this eBay advert, click below to see the advert. You will understand what eBay is!
Next article , we shall look at the Brand Positioning statement’s final elements, i.e., The Point of Difference and Reasons to Believe.
Conclusion On How You Can Build Your Business Frame of Reference into Your Brand Positioning Statement.
Remember the role does the frame of reference play in the Brand positioning statement as mention above.
It is relatively simple the frame of reference informs consumers about the goal of using the brand. The clearer your message the easier it will be to draw in your customers and consequently grow your business.
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