Brand Positioning

The Association for Qualitative Research (AQR), a UK professional body, defines it as how a brand differs from its competitors and where it sits in its market (AQR glossary). Positioning is how buyers see you, not how you describe yourself.

The three parts of a brand position

Every position has three parts:

• The comparison set. The alternatives a buyer weighs you against. If you do not choose them, the buyer does.
• A difference that matters to them. Something the client cares about, not something you are proud of.
• A reason to believe it. Evidence a stranger could check.

Here is how a well-known teaching example fills those parts: "For upscale consumers looking to make a design statement with their water choice, Voss is the only brand among all bottled waters that offers the purest, most distinctive drinking experience because it derives from an artesian source in southern Norway and is packaged in a stylish, iconic glass bottle" (HBS Online). An expert version has the same shape.

Positioning is the perception a buyer holds, and you control only the words that feed it. A headline is a draft of your position. The position is what a buyer repeats.

Brand positioning is confused with a tagline, a logo, a personal brand statement and a price claim. Each expresses or supports a position, and none is the position. The test is simple: a position still stands if you remove the logo and the tagline.

• Tagline and logo. These carry a position to the market. They cannot create one.
• Brand identity. The look, voice and tone come after the position is chosen.
• A personal brand statement. This is the positioning statement written for an individual expert, as one line. Your About page and website then carry it.
• "Cheapest" or "most affordable". A price position is best avoided by an expert, because a rival can undercut it immediately.

Run four pass-or-fail checks on your first screen, then ask five buyers to say your position back. If at least four of the five name the same client type and the same reason, the position is working. If not, rewrite the line, not their answers. The four-of-five rule is a rule of thumb, not a published standard.

Does your headline name a specific client?

Pass: you could list five real people it describes, and it clearly excludes someone. Fail: "leaders", "individuals" or "everyone".

Does it name a problem or outcome?

Pass: it states a result the client gets. Fail: it describes only your method, your values or your journey.

Does it state a difference without a superlative?

Pass: remove "best", "top", "#1" and "leading", and the line still separates you from another coach. Fail: nothing is left.

Can a stranger check your proof?

Pass: a named client, a credential with its awarding body and level, or a dated award a stranger can look up. Fail: "100+ clients" with no names.

Ask three current clients, one person who chose someone else, and one stranger who fits your client type. Ask each:

1. "In one sentence, what do I do, and for whom?"
2. "Who else would you have considered?"
3. "Why me instead of them?"

Count how many give the same client type and reason. Include someone who did not hire you, since clients alone will flatter you.

Related terms are target market (the buyers you aim at), value proposition (the benefit you promise) and niche (a narrow market you serve).

Rohini Mundra helps speakers, trainers and coaches build a brand that clients know and trust. Brand New Brand You is a 40-day programme for new speakers, trainers and coaches, and it starts with a stage called Decode Yourself. Its page currently shows registration only; as of 23 October 2026 the listed price is ₹1,50,000, reduced from ₹1,99,000. It is built for people at the start; experts who already have clients can read about personal branding services.