BMW anchored itself to Mercedes — while telling how it’s different.
It used Mercedes’ image to get into their minds.
And it became easy for customers to understand why they should choose BMW (or not).
Do you care about the joy of driving?
Buy a BMW.
Do you care about comfort?
We are not for you. Go buy Mercedes.
And that’s counter-positioning.
You choose an enemy that helps customers understand your difference and position yourself as the obvious alternative.
Now, one note here.
In his book 7 Powers, Hamilton Helmer talks about counter-positioning based on business models (e.g. Netflix’s subscription vs Blockbuster’s rental model).
It’s an interesting topic to cover in a future edition.
But here we are strictly talking about brand positioning.
So, how can you use counter positioning even if you don’t have a beautiful car brand like BMW?
Here are the five steps:
1. Find the big idea
Every brand needs its big idea.
We can call it a point of differentiation.
Or a reason to exist.
Why should customers choose you over others?
What makes you meaningfully different?
It’s not easy to answer these questions.
But only finding good answers can build a winning brand.
Some businesses already have that big idea without knowing it.
Like BMW.
BMW employees were so into what they did, they were blind to what made them different.
What was normal for BMW engineers (attention to driving experience) was not so normal for other car brands.
But they needed an outsider to see that and explain it to the customers.
So the first step of counter-positioning is finding the big idea behind your brand.
Only then can you find the right enemy to position against.
2. Choose a worthy enemy
You’ve probably heard of this saying in some superhero movies:
“Your enemies define you.”
This works for branding too.
Because when you have a villain to fight, it’s easier for people to understand your difference.
It draws clear lines:
“This is our enemy, and we stand against what they stand for.”
That’s why it’s important to choose a well-known enemy.
Because people will intuitively put you in the same league as the competitor you choose.
How McKinsey became McKinsey, why a bank said they love their clients because of their money, and how to use values to build a winning brand
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