All forward-looking companies now regard positioning as the heart of competitive strategy. As the ultimate aim of any business strategy is to satisfy the customer, gaining a valued position in the minds of customers is essential. Some people argue that branding is really positioning, stating that unless a brand has a position, it has no unique value in the minds of consumers. You can establish a brand personality, and through precise market segmentation identify and reach your target audience, but what links them together is positioning the brand in the minds of that audience. But, what is a position and how do you arrive at a good strategy for achieving one?

The branding process seeks to create a unique identity, for a company, product or service, which differentiates it from the competition. And every brand has to have a strategic platform. One half of that platform is created by carefully formulating a distinct brand personality, which makes the identity of the brand unique. The other half of the strategic brand platform is positioning. Positioning is critical to brand building because it is responsible for projecting the brand identity and creating the perception and image of the brand in people's minds. In other words, positioning is the process of offering the brand to the consumer. It is positioning that makes the brand appear to be different and better than all competing brands. The key points to note about positioning are:

• it is a strategic, not a tactical, activity
• it is aimed at developing a strategic, sustainable competitive advantage
• it is concerned with managing perceptions
• brand image and reputation are the result of the positioning process

Positioning is the outward expression of a brand, and the reality, therefore, is that a brand can only have one true position. As positioning presents the identity and personality of the brand to the outside world, a multiple personality would seem odd at the very least, and at worst, schizophrenic. Consumers make brands famous for many reasons, of which the most important is that they come to trust brands as friends. That is why deciding on the brand-positioning strategy is such an important part of brand strategy. However, there are ways in which the brand may be presented differently to various target audiences. The success of this depends on an accurate judgment of the segments that exist in the market, and the segments' precise needs and wants.

For example, a chocolate-based drink may have a central positioning of nutrition. This could be presented as an energy-giving drink for active people, a dietary supplement for the elderly who have trouble eating many solid foods, an essential growth supplement for youngsters, and a relaxing drink for tired people before they go to bed. By appealing to these various segments, we have not stepped away from the central positioning.

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