Hey, friend, welcome back to another week amazing to have you here. I am really looking forward to diving into today's topic with you. I can't believe that I've not spoken about this before, I feel like I have maybe mentioned brand position in a number of earlier episodes. But it has been a while since I have talked about this. And I have had a number of potential clients and clients come to me and talk about the fact that they want to shift their brand position that they want to shift the way that they're seen in the market, what they're doing. 

A lot of times shifting their brand position cannot align with shifting their business model as well to be seen in a different way by their audience and potential clients. And so I really wanted to talk today about all the different elements that go into shifting your brand position. And the great thing is that this is something that I intentionally did last year. And just some of the things that I did to really help me shift the way I'm seeing in the market, the level at which I'm operating, and some of the more tactical things that I did as well. So that is what we're going to be going through. Apart from that, I just wanted to let you know, and remind you to subscribe to my beautiful email community. I've got some really awesome things coming up like free trainings, master classes, etc. And if you want to be the first to know about those and grab them, then head over to www.suzchadwick.com/subscribe. And you can come join my gorgeous email community as well and get love letters for me every single week with new podcast episodes, great business and branding tips and teachings as well as any new free content free training that is coming up as well. So head over there, jump on, and let's dive into this week's episode. 

So let's talk all things brand positioning, I love to talk about brand positioning, because I see it in action all the time. And so when you're looking to shift your brand position, there are a few key things that you have to do. But I want to talk about what brand position is the elements of brand positioning. And then we'll talk about how to shift yours if that's something you're wanting to do. 

So the first thing I want to say is why would you shift your brand position. If you are currently in a particular space, and you're wanting to either shift your business model, you're wanting to increase your prices and be seen at a different level in the market exactly what it says on the tin brand position, then these are some things that you want to be thinking about. If you want to refresh everything. If you want people to see you in a different light, then you would be working on your brand position. So I talked about this in a number of master classes. So if you've been in any of my master classes, you may have heard a little bit of this. And I give the example of IU Chanel, or are you Kmart. And so for example, I'm not going to walk into Chanel and expect to pay $5 for something, and I'm not going to walk into Kmart and expect to pay $5,000 for something, I have a perception of the quality that both of those particular retail stores have. 

I know what price point they're at. I know who their target audience is, and I therefore know where they are positioned in the market. And so one of the examples I give in my masterclass is that I have a picture or two pictures of gray leather pull string bags. Yeah, so I've got one on one side. They are both grey, they are both leather. They both have metal hardware on them. They both look fairly similar. There's a few design elements that are different, but one is $199 from country road, and the other is $3,990.90 $9 from Chanel. 

So I just really want to reiterate that both leather, both Gray, both pull string bags, both fairly similar, but a massive over $3,000 price difference. And the reason for that price difference is because of the brand position because I I know that if I buy the one from Chanel, there is status attached with it, there is quality attached with it, there is uniqueness attached with it. And so brand position is much higher for a brand like Chanel than it is for a brand like country road all came up, obviously, those brand positions are very different as well. And so let's start off with what Google says. So Google says a brand position refers to the unique value that a brand presents to its customer, it is a marketing strategy brands create to establish their brand identity while conveying their value proposition, which is the reason why a customer would prefer their brand over others. And I think that word prefer is a really important one. Because I say this all the time when your customers buy from you, when I buy from a brand. It reflects who I am and who I see myself being. And so if I prefer one brand over the other, it's because it's speaking to me in a different way. It's saying I'm for you, if you buy me, this is what people are gonna think. Or if you buy me, then you really value this particular thing. It could be quality, it could be uniqueness, it could be whatever it is, whatever your values align to, then you're going to find brands that have a similar values alignment. 

The other thing that I think is important to talk about as well before we dive in is what is a good brand position. And so I went back to the Googles. And I asked the question, and it says effective brand positioning happens when a brand is perceived as favorable, valuable, and credible to its customers, the sum of those three becomes unique to your business. And as a result, your customers carve out a place for you in their minds. 

So just really want to go back on that favorable, valuable and credible to the consumer. Now, if you have a business and you're finding that you're not getting customers, you're not attracting the right people, you're not finding people who are willing to pay what it is that you charge, then there may be a misalignment around your brand position. Because the people that have come to you, they may have an expectation of paying a certain price of getting us getting a certain result or a product or service. And that when they finally come to you, there's a misalignment there. And so it's really important to understand what a brand position is, and understand the elements that contribute to your brand position as well. And so I go through a 11 key things, there's really 10, the 11th one is kind of you know, a collective, but 10 key things that you need to look at if you want to shift your brand position. So let's go through these 11 things and you can absolutely, like reflect on this in your own business, and think about what that is to you. 

• Visual Brand

So the first one is the look or visual brand. So the look of your business matters we buy with our eyes, and we also make split second decisions. So I do this all the time with shops, cafes, restaurants, if I'm walking around looking for somewhere nice, I make an instant decision based on how a place looks what's in the window. If they have customers, the decor, they may have the best coffee and the best food in the world. But if it doesn't look good, I'm not going in your business is exactly the same when I think my of my first version of visual branding that I did myself in PicMonkey. For those who can remember PicMonkey all those years ago, I cringe. But everybody starts somewhere. So that's okay. And as they say when you know better, you can do better. So last year, I made a conscious decision to raise my brand position and have a new logo created new photos taken. I cleaned up my website, some of my products and services. I wanted it to look clean, classy and premium. Those were the three words that I was focused on. Did my logo look clean? Did it look classy? Did it look premium? Yes. Was what I was wearing in my photos and the locations of my photos. Was it clean? Classy and premium? Yes, it was. Now I also want to say that this wasn't a huge project for me. I think sometimes people think, oh my gosh, I've got to go on this massive journey in order to shift my brand position. And I just want to say that it doesn't have to be bigger than Ben Hur. I asked my designer to create my new logo and my brand assets. I have been working with her for years. Shout out to AB harbor from Abba Harper designs.

I had a photoshoot. June whilst I was away on a speaking gig with my photographer Jess from the WHO photography and design, she did a shoot for me when we were out and about and I was just really fortunate the hotel we were staying in, also the shop jumbled, which is in orange in New South Wales, they are in the most incredible building and have the most incredible interiors. And I was very lucky enough to have my photoshoot in there. And so my photos were exactly what I wanted them to be. But the one thing that made the big difference is that I knew what I wanted, I knew what I wanted the brand shift to be. And I knew how I wanted it to look. So we were able to work with that. And I think that if you're just starting out with looking at your brand, reposition, then just getting really clear on where is my position right now? And where do I want it to be? And are there other brands not talking about competitors, other brands in the market that you look at, and you're like, I want my brand to look like that I these are the things that are important to me for this reposition. And these are the things that I really love. And so if you can get clear on that, then it can be an easy thing to start putting those elements together. I didn't do it all in one big bang, I kind of did it over a couple of months, I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself, and we made it happen. And I love it. And I have clients that come to me all the time. And they're like, oh my god, I went to your website, I absolutely love it. It's so clean, and it feels so nice. And all the rest of it. And so it does what I need it to do, which is the perfect thing. 

• Brand Feel

The second thing is how does your brand position feel? So obviously, your visual brand will contribute to the feel of your business. So when I look at something, I like I get a feeling a feeling like this is going to be good. It looks so nice. If you're talking about service based businesses, then somebody's content is going to make you feel a certain way. Is it building trust? Is it building confidence? Do I feel like this is for me. And so a lot of times when we talk about brand position, and we talk about brand values, alignment, then when somebody comes to me engage with you, there, they either love what you're saying how you're showing up what you're doing, because it really speaks to their pain point and their needs and what they're really looking to achieve. But also, it could be aspirational. You know, I talk about aspirational desire when it comes to magnetic branding, and aspirational desire is looking at somebody and going, I want to work with that person, like I may not be able to do it now. But I want to work with that person that looks amazing. What they do is amazing. And I'm in. And so that feeling that somebody gets and the feeling that you create. That's something that I really want you to think about. You know, when we're doing events, I spend a lot of time on the feeling, what is the feeling I want people to have, I want them to walk into beautiful natural light spaces, I want them to see the beautiful flowers on the table, the printed color workbooks, the things that they can hold up and have when they're doing their Instagram reels or their socials etc. I want them to have a beautiful, like lunch, something that's like a feasting menu. Like there are specific things that when I think about that, it is about brand positioning. When somebody comes in and has a premium experience, which we're going to talk about in just a second, they get a feeling. And so what is the feeling that your business is creating? 

• Brand Experience

What is the feeling that you're giving your clients, which leads to number three, which is experience. So brand experience? Yeah. And so one of the things that I talk about, and it comes from Marty Neumeier, who I always say is the godfather of branding is that businesses, the nuts and bolts of what you do, and brand is the collective experiences that your customers have when they come in contact with you. And so experience is a massive part of brand positioning. So every time somebody sees you online, they engage with you. They read your blog, they listen to your podcasts, they go to your website, they work with you, they have an experience. Remember, this impacts people who are clients and those who want to be clients. Yeah. So at all stages of the customer journey from the minute that they find you. They're having an experience and my question is have you crafted that experience? Have you thought about that experience? When you show up online? What is the experience you're giving them? Is it light? Is it heavy? Is it fun? Is it informative? Is it something that you know, you're really proud of like what is the experience that you're giving somebody? When I once again when I walk into Kmart, I have a very different experience to if I walk into Chanel, and so crafting you're excited perience and crafting all of the experiences that your clients have, also then helps them to understand what your price point might be, what your quality might be, what the what else they're going to do with you what the outcome might be. And so really think about how am I creating an experience that aligns with the position in the market that I want my business to be at. And so for example, if you're like, Well, I'm going to charge $10,000 For or $20,000, for a client to work with me, and then the experience is not a great one, then they're obviously not going to feel that there's a brand position alignment, they're not going to feel like what they're paying is worth what you're creating and giving them. So really think about how that experience aligns. 

• Consistency

Number four is consistency. Now, this may not, you may not think that it's around brand position, but it is, if I went to, I'm just gonna use Chanel, I don't know why but I am. If I go to Chanel one time, and then like, I get one experience, and then I go another time and I get a different experience, then that's gonna be that's gonna feel a little bit weird to me, where I'm unsure that I can trust this process, I'm unsure I can trust, you know, coming back and having the same experience. It's like when you maybe go to a restaurant, you have an incredible experience, and then you go back and it's not very good, the likelihood is, you're probably not going to go back again. If you go every time and there's a consistent quality of experience, then you're going to be like, This is great, I will recommend it to other people. And so the consistency of you showing up the consistency of the quality of what you're putting out there is really important. 

• Brand quality

And so that goes with number five, which is quality. So, you know, what is the quality of your products and services? What is the quality of the content that you put out? What is the quality of the freebies, that you have your opt ins, your lead magnets, what is the quality of all of that. And if you can honestly say, this is like the best quality that I can create, this is the best quality that I can produce, then that's amazing. But you've just got to make sure that the consistency and the quality of what you're putting out, once again, aligns with the position in the market that you want to be. And so you've got to ask yourself, what is the quality need to look like? What are all the additional things I need to think about and do in order for me to hold this brand position. Now, for example, my retreats, they are something that I once again, brand experience, think about the quality, the quality and the consistency. So the quality is like five star and the food is five star and I make sure that there's gifts, and I make sure that they're in beautiful surrounds, and we go to five star restaurants for our Friday lunch, and they have massages in their room, things like that, like there is a level of quality, which is really important. And now it's about keeping that consistency so that people who come to one retreat, if they come to another, they know what to expect. They know the quality that they're going to get when they come. Once again, if you can create amazing experiences that are consistent at a high quality. Number one, people will talk about it, they will let other people know how great it is. But it also aligns with the sixth thing around brand positioning, which is price. 

• Price

If I know that I'm going to get an exceptional experience, it's going to be beautiful, it's going to be lox, it's going to be fantastic, then you can charge for that. Like you can charge well for something that is at a premium. If you're looking to shift your brand position. One of the biggest reasons that people want to shift their brand position is because they want to shift their pricing as well. Now you can't keep everything as is I don't think unless you're under pricing at the moment. But I don't think that you can raise your prices without shifting a few things in your business like the consistency, the quality, the brand experience. So just think about what is the price say about my business? What does the price say about this particular product or service? And so when we're under charging, sometimes we can we can be communicating with our potential clients that maybe this isn't very good. That's why the price isn't very high, because it's not great.

So I think it's really important to really think about where do I want to position myself as this position in the market? What would my price be? And think about it in a really strategic way as well. Obviously, one thing we talk about in VBA is that your price needs to be profitable. So obviously you actually need to price to a point Right, where you're creating profit in your business, but your price also reflects your brand position as well. 

• Differentiation

Number seven, when it comes to your brand position is differentiation. So if you're if you've got something really unique if you do something really unique and and the way in which you talk about it, the way you deliver is different than obviously that's going to position you in your space as somebody who is different, where you're not just going to be lumped in with everybody else who does what you do. And so I really want you to think about that, like, how can you differentiate yourself? How can you articulate what it is that makes you different and makes you stand out from the crowd. And one of the things that I've really worked on and focused on for myself, is the fact that I'm a certified mindset and life coach. It's something that I knew I wanted to do, I'm so glad that I did it. Because after 1520 years of business sales strategy, I always knew like, I would be working with clients, I would give them the strategy, I'd give them the tactics, and then they sometimes it just wouldn't do it. And it's got nothing to do with the business. It's got to do with the mindset. So for me being a certified mindset and life coach, who is a business and branding coach, that is one of my differentiators. And it's one of the reasons why a lot of clients come to me is because of that mix. And so really taking a look at how do I use that as part of my brand position? How do I use that to elevate what it is that I'm doing the results that my clients get, how I can show up for them and support them to have really deep shifts in their mindset, their beliefs, so that they can build the profitable business that they want. And so really think about what is your differentiator? What is it that you can really bring to the table, that's going to help your clients to know that this is why you're different. One thing I'm going to say don't be shy, like this is where you have to kind of Blow Your Own Horn identify like why you're great at what you do, and then talk about it. 

• Brand Desire

Number eight, when it comes to brand positioning is desire. Now this is something that I feel like, we have to talk about more. Because when you want to have a higher brand position, and when I say hire more exclusive, more polished, more expensive, etc. Desire is one of the biggest things that you have to think about. And this comes down to the aspirational desire that I talked about when I talk about magnetic branding, is that you want to build something where people are like, I know that one day I'm coming for you one day, I'm going to work with you one day, I'm going to like you're the person who I'm going to hire, you're the person whose calls I'm going to buy, you're the person who I want to coach with, you're the person who I want writing my copy, etc. And so really thinking about how you factor in desire when you're looking to do your brand positioning, when you're looking to shift your brand position is something that is so worth doing. What are the desire factors. And the only way that you're going to understand the desire factors is to know your audience really well know, your ideal client, your dream, and your cream client really well. And what I mean by that if you know that the clients that you want to work with, they want to be seen in a certain way. They want to achieve a certain goal, they want to accomplish something, then you'll understand what their desires are. Yeah. And so if you can understand that, then you can add it to your copy, you can create experiences that speak to their desires. You can have visuals that speak to those desires as well. And that will also help you to reposition your brand. Because those people are saying, I want you you're at the highest level, you're the person who I want to work with the most and I have the desire to do that. So tapping into brand desire. I actually think number one, I think it's super sexy. I don't know. I don't know why, but I just do. It's like with any of the luxury brands, their whole thing is desire. Yeah, their whole thing is seduction, desire, quality, exclusivity, etc. And so I just think that if you want to have a sexy brand, I think desire has to be really like one of the key things. 

• Exclusivity

Number nine is exclusivity which just sits so well with desire. So if you're a fair everybody yeah for nobody. If you've been around the entrepreneurial space, you would have seen that Quiet at least a million times. But I think that it's important like who is this for being really like specific about who this is for. And if you can create exclusivity, and can I say this is going to not be for every brand, but there might be elements of your business, there might be specific products and services that might be exclusive. And exclusivity could be, it could be pricing, it could be around a number of people that can get into something. And so, you know, that's why, after COVID, all of the luxury brands kept their, you know, golden ropes outside of their stores, because they were like, Well, that makes us feel more exclusive, people have to line up and wait to go come into our store, even though there's no you know, number or cap on how many people can be in a store now after COVID. But the luxury brands decided to keep it because they felt like that added to their brand position of desire. And exclusivity does say I love it when I can give you a real time example of how that's working in the world today. And so you might take a look at some things in your business. And there might be exclusivity around. So for example, with my retreat, there are only a certain number of people that can come along. What number one, we do want to keep it exclusive as far as like we don't want to have loads and loads of people that these ones, we want the brand experience to be one that's close and connected. It's you know, for them, it's a smaller group, which can feel really luxurious as well, especially with the five star quality food and accommodation and spa and all the rest of it. And so thinking about are there particular things in your business that you could make exclusive, and you can decide what that looks like as well. 

•  Connection

Number 10 is connection. Now when you want to shift your brand position, I think a mix of desire exclusivity, but with the connection piece can work really well. And what I mean by that is that you can be connecting with more of the clients that you really want to have in your business that you want to attract to your business. Yeah, so you're connecting with that type of client who desires what you want, what you have, and where there might be an exclusive element to it sometimes. The other thing around connection is that you can really add up the connection you have with clients who are the best clients in your business. So we take a look at lifetime value of a customer. So for example, our customers who have been with us maybe for a while, or the customers who spent the most with us. And so they could be clients of mine who maybe have done one on one coaching, they went through BBA, they joined amplify, they came to the retreat, they came to magnetic mastery, whatever it is like they've kind of bought everything. And so really taking a look at what is the connection piece, what is the thing that we might want to do for those types of clients as well. And that can really help you with your brand position. Because if you are creating special moments, which can sit with exclusivity, special moments for your clients, I can guarantee you they will talk about it. Yes. So really think about how are we connecting? And for the position that we want to have in the market is our connection strategy. And yes, it can be a strategy is my connection strategy, one that is reflective and in line with the brand position that I want to have in the market around my quality and my price and my differentiation and the desire we want to build and the exclusivity we want to create.

11) Collective

And then number 11, as I said, there's really 10 Because number 11 is the collective of all of these things. So if you are wanting to shift your brand in the market right now, if you're like Suze, I'm ready to level up. And I really feel like that's actually what level up means. Like why not when I talk about leveling up? I'm like, how do we take you from where you are now to where you want to be, which is that next level up that jump. And so if you want to make that jump, then usually there are things that need to shift and change. There might be a look and feel that needs to be like up level there may be a consistency content piece that needs to be up leveled, you need to mentally make the decision that you are actually going to be shifting your brand position. And I think that that's something that is an important decision to make. So when I work with my one on one coaching clients as well, you know, I've had this conversation several times in the last couple of weeks is actually I asked the question, are you willing to be a leader in your industry are you Are you willing to be the face of what it is you want to talk about? Are you willing to be known for what you want to be known for in your industry? And in your business? Yeah. Because it's really important. You've got to make the decision. Yes, I want to be known. Yes, I want to be a leader. What that looks like, as far as my brand position goes, is this, this and this, and being really deliberate and strategic, when it comes to how you're building your business. And that's something that we talk a lot about in amplify. So amplify, which is my mastermind, which is opening up in June. That is something that we're talking about how to shift your brand position, how to really take a look at how you are up leveling, how you are creating premium opportunities, differentiation, desire, exclusivity, that can be in shifting your business model, it can be shifting your brand position, it can be shifting what you want to be known for those sorts of things. And so I think that's just a really important conversation for us to have. Because I think it's important for you to make the decision that you're going to shift your brand position, and then strategically, look at how you're going to do it in a very deliberate, targeted and measurable way as well. And so those are some of the things that I think can really help you to shift your brand position in the market right now. If you've got any questions, then let me know. I would love to hear from you. You can always DM me at Suzanne Chadwick on Instagram. If you're not following me there, then obviously come over and follow. But yeah, this is something that I think needs to be a lot more of a strategic conversation that I feel like not enough people are having so I wanted to have it here on the podcast. And I hope that that gave you a really good overview of some of the things that maybe you can be thinking about if you're wanting to shift your brand position. But listen, until next time, have an amazing week and I'll speak to you soon

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