Where Brands Go Wrong: Laura Ries on Positioning

Overview

Branding expert Laura Ries explores the power of positioning, the importance of strategic enemies, and why brands succeed by being different, not better. Drawing from her new book The Strategic Enemy and decades of experience, she dissects iconic branding successes and failures, offering actionable insights for businesses of all sizes.

Notable Quotes

- You don’t build a brand or a business by being better. You do it by being different. – Laura Ries

- The hardest thing is to change a mind once it’s made up. – Laura Ries

- If you want to start Apple today, you have to go back to what they did at the very beginning—start small, dominate one category, and expand over time. – Laura Ries

🧠 The Power of Positioning

- Positioning is about finding an open space in the consumer’s mind, not forcing a brand’s desired narrative (Laura Ries).

- Brands must focus on what the mind is willing to accept, not what the company wants to communicate.

- Examples: Volvo’s unwavering association with safety and Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle category demonstrate the power of clear, focused positioning.

🚗 Lessons from Iconic Brands

- Volvo: Attempts to reposition as “sexy” with convertibles and racing teams failed because it diluted their safety-first identity.

- Apple: Success came from launching new brands for new categories (e.g., iPod, iPhone) rather than diluting their core computer brand.

- Amazon: Started with books, dominated that niche, and expanded strategically into new categories like AWS.

💥 The Role of Strategic Enemies

- A clear enemy sharpens a brand’s focus and message.

- Example: Liquid Death positioned itself against plastic water bottles with its “Death to Plastics” campaign.

- Chick-fil-A used cows to position burgers as the enemy, reinforcing their chicken-first identity.

- Strategic enemies can also be concepts, like MD Anderson’s fight against cancer, visualized with a red line through the word “cancer.”

📸 Visual Hammers: Branding Beyond Words

- Visual elements amplify positioning by creating emotional connections.

- Examples: Coca-Cola’s contour bottle symbolizes authenticity, and the Nike swoosh represents athletic leadership.

- A strong visual hammer reinforces the brand’s message, making it memorable and distinctive.

🚫 The Pitfalls of Brand Extensions

- Brand extensions often dilute a brand’s core identity.

- Example: Coca-Cola Life confused consumers by contradicting the “real thing” message.

- Successful alternatives: Toyota created Lexus as a separate brand for luxury cars, avoiding the perception gap of a “luxury Toyota.”

- Ries emphasizes launching new brands for new categories, as seen with White Claw’s success as a hard seltzer distinct from Mike’s Hard Lemonade.