The New Era in Brand Positioning: The Power of Databased Creativity
Why Has Positioning Become Vital in a World Where Brands Are Similar?
The essence of communication lies in leaving a residue in the mind. However, brands today often ignore this basic purpose. Brands that fail to make a difference in the eyes of consumers and become the same are remembered not for “what they offer” but for “how they are presented”. This makes strategic positioning one of the top priorities of marketing again.
The vast majority of brands in Turkey have still not fully internalized the concept of “brand positioning”. However, this is the strategic compass of the brand. While positioning models are evolving globally, even its more basic definition is still debatable in our country.
Being a brand is being able to create a box in the consumer’s mind. Feelings, experiences and images are placed in this box. This box becomes a mental shortcut that kicks in the moment of purchase; in other words, a decision algorithm.
Seeking a New Balance Between Data and Intuition
The classic positioning approach asks the brand five basic questions:
- Where are we?
- Why are we there?
- Where can we be?
- How can we get there?
- Are we reaching our goal?
These questions are still valid. However, the answers now need to be found not only with insight, but also with databased analysis. In the new age, brand managers are expected to have both creative intelligence and analytical thinking.
At this point, perhaps a field such as “brand engineering” should be defined. Because defining a brand today should be done not only with observations of consumer psychology, but also with artificial intelligence-supported data analyses, consumer behavior maps and gap analyses in the market.
New Generation Consumer Expectations in Positioning
New generation consumers expect not only products from brands, but also a positioning. For Generation Z, ethics, environmental awareness, inclusiveness and social benefit; while price and quality are at least as decisive in choosing a brand, Generations X and Y still prioritize reliability and stability. These expectations are leading brands to more principled and value-oriented positioning. In short, being popular is no longer enough; being meaningful is also necessary. Being a brand in the new age does not only mean making your voice heard, but also choosing the right tone of voice and showing what you are speaking for.
New Generation Positioning Strategies Bringing Creativity and Data Together
The only way for institutions that want to be successful in the brand communication of the future is to transform creative stories into strategy by supporting them with data. In order to take a place in the consumer's mind map, it is as important to show how much data you feed on as how much you can transform that data into a meaningful narrative.
A good strategic positioning;
- - It extracts insight from data,
- - It simplifies this insight,
- - And transforms it into an expandable brand narrative.
These three steps; defining, simplifying and expanding, should be a roadmap for the communicators of the future. However, both intuition and data should work together on this journey.
The Positioning of the New Age Cannot Be Written with Old Rote Memories
Today's brand positioning necessitates an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond classical marketing rote memories. Brands that give meaning to data, discover insight, establish a strong bond with creativity and see technology not only as a tool but also as the building block of strategy will be able to exist in the future. Because the issue is no longer just being visible; to leave a lasting impression.
As a result, brand positioning is no longer just a matter for marketing departments; it has become the center of business strategy. Brands that want to survive in today’s competitive environment should bring creative teams and data analysts together at the same table and not just make the brand look “beautiful” but also position it strategically “correctly”. In this new era, success requires deepening in the mind as much as increasing visibility. In other words, branding is no longer a showcase, but a holistic mental engineering job, and this engineering will be the success of those who can bring intuition, data, and creativity together in the same equation.
