Strategic brand positioning places your business in front of the right audience, at the right time. This marketing strategy allows you to choose when and where your brand is advertised, so that it hits your target audience at the exact right moment.
If you get strategic brand positioning right, your customers may end up doing the heavy-lifting marketing work for you.
Before we look at a few examples of businesses that are nailing their brand positioning, let’s look at the benefits of this strategy.
business benefits of strategic brand positioning
Word of mouth spreads fast, especially through social media. If you can think of a catchy and creative way to position your brand, people will naturally want to share about it with others.
Here are additional benefits of strategic brand placement
- Target a specific audience or pain point
- Promote a specific product or service you want to boost sales in
- Stand out from your competitors
- Present your brand in a story
Now, let’s look at 5 examples of great brand placement in the wild.
5 Examples of Strategic Brand Positioning
When thinking about where to place an advertisement for your brand, you have to first step into the mind of your consumer.
What do they want? What do they need? What do they find irresistible?
The answers to these questions will help you formulate a more sustainable marketing campaign. And more importantly, brand recognition.
Let’s look at five examples of brands that won over customers’ hearts with their brand positioning strategy.
1. KFC x NRL
Have you ever noticed KFC’s brand placement at an NRL game? I think their most iconic ad is played when a try is scored and the big screen shows a video of someone going to grab a piece of chicken.
If the try is awarded, the hand succeeds in grabbing the drumstick. But if it’s a ‘no-try’, someone slaps the hand away. No chicken tonight!
This is a perfect strategy because NRL games are typically scheduled around dinner time. KFC’s strategic brand positioning reminds the audience to opt for KFC as their food of choice. The KFC advertisement also captures attention by being humorous. Humour is a consistent them within KFC’s brand advertisements.
Finally, the KFC ad is shown to a wide audience of NRL viewers. This increases KFC’s brand recognition amongst fans of one of the most popular sports in Australia.
2. Telstra x Movie Theatres
Imagine you’re sitting down in a big comfy recliner chair at your local cinema. You’re here for the latest movie release and the lights start to dim after 15 minutes (too long if you ask me) of ads. The movie is about to begin!
A cinematic video begins to play and you think it’s the start of the movie. Instead, a message pops up on the screen, “Don’t be that person – turn off your phone.” with the little Telstra symbol next to it. The ad catches you by surprise because of it’s cinematic quality and blunt messaging.
Telstra chose a unique juxtaposition to position their brand in front of movie-goers. Instead of using an advertisement strategy that encourages people to use their phones (promoting their products), they did the exact opposite.
Telstra tells people to turn off their phones, and they do this in such an engaging way that you almost feel like you’re being called out by the phone company themselves.
You won’t use your phone now, will you?
3. Al.ive Body x The Block
Remember the season of The Block with Alisa and Lysandra – those two sisters who were lowkey chaotic and so entertaining?
Guess where they’re at now?
Well, this powerhouse duo have become entrepreneurs with multiple businesses. Included in these businesses is Al.ive Body. Al.ive Body’s aesthetic home & body care products are Australian made, cruelty free, vegan, palm oil-free & refillable.
Alisa and Lysandra recently celebrated seeing their products featured in episodes of The Block. This meant that their sustainable products were featured throughout the designs of new homes being built across Australia.
What a full circle moment, right?
This is perfect product placement for a brand. The product placement targets people who are:
- Interested in home renos
- Inspired by authentic Australian entertainment/stories
- Drawn to the interior design work of Alisa and Lysandra
They’ve also been seen featured in plenty of home/apartment listings for properties being sold nationwide. Their product gives the expensive and aesthetic look we’ve all been searching for.
4. MILK LAB x Local Cafes
Milk Lab is a perfect example of a business successfully using brand placement to increase customer recognition.
What product am I talking about? The famous MILK LAB Umbrellas of course. Their umbrellas are strategically placed within cafes across Australia that MILK LAB supplies to. The umbrellas are black with a simple logo printed on them. This simplistic design doesn’t pull attention away from the cafe’s brand identity, but still remains visible enough for people to notice.
In the age of social media, cafes across Australia are photographed by patrons. When photographs or videos go viral, it naturally increases MILK LAB’s brand awareness when their umbrellas are featured in the content.
Ultimately, the branded umbrellas are a win win for both MILK LAB and Australian cafes. Customers can dine in the shade for their Sunday morning brekkie while MILK LAB soaks in the brand recognition.
5. Car Sales x Sunshine Coast Lightning
Carsales used a remote-control car to place their brand in front of a crowded arena full of people.
They used this branded toy car to present the game ball to the Sunshine Coast Lightning Netball players at the beginning of every game in the 2024 season.
This fun and creative brand placement decision naturally drew the attention of the crowd. Even though buying a car may not have been on their minds in that moment, the impression Carsales left on them will likely spur their memory the next time they’re considering buying a car.
Use strategic brand placement in your business’ marketing strategy
Now that you’re revved up with inspiration, you may wonder: how do I use strategic brand positioning for my business?
Here’s a few tips to guide you:
- Determine your target audience. Who wants or needs your product or service?
- Find advertising opportunities that reach your audience at a time they’re positioned to notice your ad. (Avoid positioning your brand in a space where other ads or competitors play)
- Create an advertisement that fits your brand voice and engages the audience!
Strategic brand placement is just one avenue you can explore for your business’ marketing plan. Another approach is using the Marketing Rule of 7 to create compelling ads that stick in the minds of your customers.
Whatever you choose, use a holistic marketing strategy to reach your desired audience. This will be the most cost-effective and efficient way to position your brand.
If you have questions or need help with business branding, enquire with us today!
