Brand repositioning 101: Free outline

Recently I developed this outline to help someone better communicate how to go about repositioning a brand. I hope it's helpful to you and please pass it on. And hey, if you need a new brand, think of Namaro ;)

Simply, brand positioning creates a specific place in the market for your brand and product offerings. It reaches a certain type of consumer or customer and delivers benefits that meet the needs of key target groups. The brand positioning of a company seeks to further distance itself from competitors based on a host of items.

1—Determining the Current Status of the Brand:
• Understand the company and brand
• Explore key issues, opportunities, and challenges
• What differentiates your company and brand from the competition?
• What are the equity drivers of the company and brand?
• What are the historical ways to communicate the company and brand equity to consumers and customers alike?
• Who is the current target customer base?
• What is his/her profile?
• What are the reasons for being a customer?

2—What Does the Brand Stand for Today?
• Understand current consumer perceptions and needs of your brand.
• Determine how far to move your brand without alienating customers and loyalty base.
• Identify how to position your brand to attract new users and ultimately convert them into loyal customers.
• Direct-to-consumer interviews "Why do they select your brand?" and "What was the key decision-making element?"
• Identify needs, both unmet and met in industry, determine the delights and dissatisfiers of your brand.

3—Developing the Brand Position Platform: Where Can We Take It Tomorrow to Grow the Brand?
• How far to grow, expand, and stretch the brand?
• Who do we want our brand to be?
• What is its personality?
• How do we want consumers to think and feel about your brand?
• What benefits will it deliver to the consumer?
• How will we promote the brand?
• Carefully review brand to ensure that it maintains the core values and essence of your brand.
• The new brand positioning will be:

1. Ownable: Unique to the brand
2. Leverageable: Important and relevant to the target
3. Sustainable: To other categories in the future
4. Extendable: Partnership marketing and other marketing programs

• 2 components:

1. Strategic: Developing the brand vision: Today, tomorrow and for the future
2. Creative: Review consumer insights with the goal taking your brand where it should go

• Determine four to five key benefits and potential platforms that are agreed upon by the entire group.
• Go back to key consumers and customers with the purpose of checking back with them to validate the new brand positioning.

4—Refining The Brand Positioning and Management Presentation
• Review and refine the new brand positioning and communicate to all function departments in order to align efforts.
• Incorporate all feedback from consumers, customers, vendors and agencies, to ensure achievable positioning vs. aspirational positioning.
• Present new brand positioning to senior management.
• Endorse the new brand positioning.
• Create brand identity manual which provides a clear direction on the new brand positioning to anyone in the company.
• Bring the new brand positioning to life and apply to marketing, and communications.
• Ensure consistent communication of the brand equity across any medium and by any partner.

5 —Design and Deployment:
• Use four to five key benefits and brand position manual to develop concepts for logo creation.
• Engage senior management in concept development.
• Refine logo concepts to 3 choices and apply to sample marketing vehicles.
• Attain feedback from consumers.
• Present 3 logos and feedback to senior management.
• Refine logo concepts to 2 choices.
• Attain feedback from consumers.
• Present 2 logos and feedback to senior management.
• Refine one logo.
• Apply logo to sample marketing vehicles to present to senior management.
• Endorsement from senior management.
• Incorporate logo into brand identity manual.
• Create database of copywriting, photography, etc.
• Create templates for marketing vehicles.
• Layout, production and deployment of brand.