There is signal and there is noise.

A signal is clear. Noise isn't.

As a brand, you want to send a clear signal.

What Brands Can Learn from Radio Stations

How does radio work?

You turn on the radio and search for a channel.

The channel is somewhere between 87.5 and 108.0 MHz.

When you are looking for a channel that you like there are 2 things at play:

1. Signal: What type of radio station is it? Do they play classic or rock? Are they discussing politics or can you call in?
2. Position: What is the radio station's frequency? Where is it relative to other stations (92.3 vs. 101.5)?

Brands work in similar ways:

1. Brand Promise: What is the brand about?
2. Positioning: What is the brand's position relative to other brands?

Positioning: Difference from the Perspective of the Customer

Always remember: A brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world; a corner of someone's mind. - Sir John Hagarty

You can strategize, plan, execute as much as you want.

At the end of the day it counts what the customer thinks.

• Do they remember your brand?
• How do they think about your brand?

Bottomline: Positioning Is About Differentiation

Here are some associations that stem from clear positioning:

• Values: Patagonia - "Save the Planet"
• Limitation: Clubhouse - "Audio-only social network"
• Contrast: SpaceX - "Spacefaring civilization vs. Earth-bound civilization"
• Category Creation: Tesla - "Electric cars at scale"
• Personality: Oprah - "You get a car. And you get a car."

Make it easy for the customer: Clear signal + clear position.

📻

This post is an excerpt from my online course Fundamentals of Brand Strategy where you learn how to build successful brands.

The self-paced online course contains 5 hours of video material and teaches you how to use the Brand Pyramid.

You can hit me up on twitter. DMs are open.

Further Reading

• A Complete Guide to Brand Positioning (HubSpot)
• Signal-to-noise ratio (Wikipedia)
• Competition is for Losers (Peter Thiel // Stanford University)
• The Process of Building a Personal Monopoly (David Perell)
• 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (Al Ries; Jack Trout)

Short Excerpts from the Course

These posts are short snippets of the course curriculum 👇

• A Pragmatic Look at Branding: What Is a Brand?
• Touchpoints and Brand Strategy: How do We Build Associations?
• Positioning and Differentiation: How to Stand Out as a Brand?
• Brand Vision: What Is the World That Could Be?
• Brand Purpose: Why Bother?
• Brand Promise: How to Communicate in One Statement?
• Mission Statement: How Do You Do It?
• Brand Attributes: How Does the Brand Present Itself?
• Frame of Reference: Where Is the Brand Placed?
• Target Customer: Who Is Your Audience?
• Customer Need: What Is Their Real Job-to-be-Done?
• Value Proposition: What Are You Offering?
• Reasons-to-Believe: What Are Your Proof Points?