Every day, people are confronted with hundreds of commercial stimuli and messages. Our filter bubble keeps getting smaller. For brands, the battle for a unique number-one market position is becoming increasingly fierce. But how do you make sure people connect with your brand?

The foundation lies in your brand positioning. Brand positioning is nothing more than the place your brand occupies in the minds and hearts of your target audience - preferably a unique and valuable place. To achieve this, it’s essential to create a deeper connection by charging your brand with positive emotional associations. The stronger these associations, the stronger the connection.

A strong brand positioning sets your brand apart from all other players in the market. Your positioning fits your organization, guides everything you do, fulfills a customer need, claims a distinct place in the market, and makes your brand recognizable.

There are many different ways for a brand to differentiate itself. Most commonly, this is done through Unique Selling Points. These are tangible or qualitative characteristics that set your product apart from similar offerings, such as quality, functionality, and/or price.

Increasingly important are Emotional Selling Points. These are emotional triggers that influence people during their decision-making process. ESPs are particularly well suited to being presented in a narrative way. This story ultimately becomes your corporate story.

People naturally love telling stories to one another. It’s the way complex information is most easily remembered. At the same time, stories inspire, excite, and activate. It all revolves around the feeling your audience gets when they think of your brand. That’s why you should focus more on quality and less on the familiar price-fighter narrative.

Especially when there is no clearly demonstrable difference in the look or quality of your product or service compared to your direct competitors, the value - call it emotion - that your audience takes away from the story becomes decisive in the positioning process. You believe in it, you understand it, and it feels right. This intangible “feeling” is exactly what successful brands apply brilliantly. Strong storytelling, a compelling “hook,” and the very heart of the brand ensure that a brand becomes the obvious choice for its audience. It makes your brand authentic.

Adding emotion (branding) to your product or service is essential. It is almost as valuable as the rational specifications of your product or service. Whether you sell shoes or grass, both products have certain specifications. But why would a consumer choose your product? Because you have the right story. Branding your products or services ensures that the story behind the specifications comes to the forefront. It makes Coca-Cola taste better than Pepsi. It gives you a sense of invincibility when you wear Nike. It makes Apple feel more exclusive than Dell. It even turns simple grass - the most obvious and undervalued plant in your garden - into the eye-catcher of your outdoor space.

When you look at successful brands, they all focus their branding on their ESPs and their brand story. And for good reason: this allows their audience to willingly pay a premium for the brand, without hesitation. So why aren’t you doing this yet?

De Jongens van Boven has developed a method that helps you discover your unique brand positioning. It doesn’t matter whether you’re big or small, or whether you operate regionally, nationally, or even internationally - the same marketing rules apply to you as they do to the big players.

We work from the right balance between your brand architecture, brand identity, and brand experience, in order to uncover that “intangible” feeling of your brand and translate it into a unique online concept. The needs and desires of your target audience are always at the heart of this process.