The positioning statement: for, who, is a, that, unlike, because

A positioning statement is one sentence that records a strategic choice: who the brand is for, what it is, the benefit it delivers, the alternative it beats and why anyone should believe it. It is written for the people who make the brand, not for customers; the advertising line comes later, and the positioning it encodes should outlast many campaigns.

The fill-in-the-blank statement most marketers use is credited to Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm¹. Moore's own account of positioning stresses a small, well-defined target segment with a compelling need, and making the comparison with the alternatives easy for buyers to see². The "unlike" clause is where that comparison is written down.

The checks come from Kevin Lane Keller. In the Harvard Business Review in 2002, Keller, Brian Sternthal and Alice Tybout argued that difference alone does not sustain a brand, and asked three questions: is the frame established, are the points of parity in place, and are the points of difference compelling^3, 4. Kotler and Keller's Marketing Management teaches positioning with the same structure⁵. A WARC summary of the literature sorts points of difference into performance, imagery and consumer insight, and warns that insight alone is easily copied⁶.

The "because" clause has a legal side. The US Federal Trade Commission treats an advertiser that lacks a "reasonable basis" for an objective claim before it runs as acting unfairly and deceptively⁷: a reason to believe that cannot be shown should not be in the statement.

• For a segment you can find and reach, ideally the one chosen in the segmentation work.
• Who the need, written as the customer would say it.
• Is a a category people already understand. A new category name needs explaining before it can position anything.
• That one benefit. Two benefits usually mean two audiences.
• Unlike what the customer would otherwise do, including doing nothing.
• Because evidence that exists today.

Illustrative: the fictional Ourika Roasters.

For café regulars who brew at home and miss the taste of the counter, Ourika Roasters is a home coffee subscription that delivers beans roasted the same week. Unlike supermarket coffee, which can sit on the shelf for months, every bag carries its roast date, because we roast in small batches every week.

Checks: the frame (coffee subscription) is familiar; parity (good beans, reliable delivery) must be delivered; the difference (roasted this week) is wanted and provable by the date on the bag.

• Writing a slogan The statement can be clumsy; it only has to be clear.
• "Everyone" in the "for" clause A position for everyone is a position for no one.
• Benefits nobody asked for Test the "that" clause with customers, not the product team.
• A difference without parity If the brand fails on what the frame requires, the difference never gets heard³.
• An unprovable "because" If legal would not clear it in an advert, it is not a reason to believe⁷.

• Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm¹ and his notes on positioning².
• Keller, Sternthal and Tybout, "Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand"^3, 4; Kotler and Keller⁵; WARC on positioning⁶.
• On IMC Report: the brand platform and the message house.