We recently received an anonymous query from an agency exec who believes his clients and others in the industry have begun indiscriminately transposing two very distinct
promotional terms: "I get a lot of questions regarding branding and positioning."
Our reader has his own thoughts on both the definitions of the terms and how best to apply them. "There seems to be some significant disparity between what the two mean and how
to best approach either." PRN's Advisory Board Member Katie Paine of Delahaye Medialink offers her take:
From a research perspective, there's a big difference. A "brand" is a promise, something that your company/product/service will deliver. Typically, a brand promise is unique to
that brand. Positioning is a characteristic that may apply to all competitors in a category. So, when we do a positioning study, we see how one company is positioned on an issue
versus all companies in that category.