How to Write a Brand Positioning Statement From Buyer Alternatives

Most positioning statements fail before the first draft, because they begin with the wrong question. Teams ask how they want to sound. A buyer asks something blunter: why this and not what I already do? The version that holds up in a meeting, a pitch or a product page is built around that second question, and it can be tested against a real buyer in an afternoon.

What is a brand positioning statement?

A brand positioning statement is one or two internal sentences that say who the brand is for, what it is compared with, and why it is the better choice for that buyer. It is a decision tool for the team, not a tagline and not copy for the website. Its job is to settle arguments: which customer to chase, which feature to lead with, which request to turn down.

The statement is usually written for people inside the company, in plain words. The public-facing line that comes out of it can be much shorter, or may never quote it at all. If you still need the wider frame, our guide to what a brand strategy is places positioning next to purpose, audience and identity.

How do you write a brand positioning statement from buyer alternatives?

Write it in five steps, and begin with the alternatives a buyer would use if your brand did not exist. Everything after that step is measured against them, so an error there spoils the rest. April Dunford's approach in Obviously Awesome, as described in a set of reading notes on the book, makes the same point: customers use the alternative as the yardstick for what counts as better, so it has to come first.

1. List the real alternatives. Ask recent buyers what they used before, or what they nearly chose instead. Include doing it in-house, a spreadsheet, a freelancer, or doing nothing. These are often stronger rivals than another brand.
2. Name what only you offer against them. Write capabilities and facts, not qualities. "Fast" and "premium" apply to everyone; "a single senior contact from brief to delivery" can be checked.
3. Turn each difference into value. Say what the buyer gains from it in their own terms: time saved, a risk removed, a decision made easier.
4. Pick the buyer who cares most. Describe the situation that makes the value urgent, not only the job title. A statement for everyone convinces no one.
5. Compress to one or two sentences. Alternative, difference, value, buyer. Cut every adjective that a competitor could repeat unchanged.

The same reading notes list the order as competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target market characteristics and market category, with relevant trends as an optional extra. The market category comes late for a reason: you choose the frame that makes your value obvious after you know what you are being compared with.

What does the classic positioning statement template look like?

The classic template comes from Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm. One published version of it has six lines: for a target customer, who is dissatisfied with the current market alternative, our product is a new product category, that provides a key problem-solving capability, unlike the product alternative, our product has a key difference.

The structure is useful because it forces a named alternative into the sentence. It goes wrong when teams fill the slots with abstractions. "For ambitious businesses who want to grow, we are a leading partner that delivers excellence" fits the form and says nothing. The template gives you the skeleton; the quality depends on whether each slot holds something a buyer could verify or disagree with.

The same source notes that the format is good for organising your message but too stiff and detailed to deliver as an elevator pitch. Treat it as a worksheet and say the result out loud in your own words.

What do good brand positioning statements look like?

A good statement names a specific buyer, a specific alternative and a difference that can be checked. The three examples below are invented for illustration; the names are made up and any resemblance to a real business is coincidental.

• Northfold (fictional invoicing tool for small architecture studios). "For studios of up to ten people that still bill from spreadsheets, Northfold turns a signed fee proposal into scheduled invoices automatically, so the principal stops chasing paperwork on Fridays."
• Marrow & Reed (fictional refill cleaning range). "For households that already sort their recycling but find refill schemes fussy, Marrow & Reed sells concentrate that fits the bottle they already own, with no courier collection and no new containers."
• Calder Hall Couriers (fictional cold-chain courier). "For independent pharmacies that need temperature-sensitive deliveries on the same day, Calder Hall runs refrigerated vans that log the temperature of every drop, instead of a general courier that cannot show the parcel stayed cold."

Each one names the alternative (spreadsheets, bulky refill schemes, a general courier), gives a difference you can inspect, and implies who should not buy. That last point is what separates positioning from description.

How do you rewrite a weak statement?

Replace each adjective with the alternative it is silently comparing itself to, then state the difference as a fact. The table shows illustrative rewrites of the same fictional Northfold statement.

Weak version	What is wrong	Stronger version
"A modern, intuitive platform for creative businesses."	Every competitor can say it; no alternative is named.	"A way for small architecture studios to stop invoicing from spreadsheets."
"We help businesses grow with innovative solutions."	No buyer, no comparison, nothing to disagree with.	"We turn a signed fee proposal into scheduled invoices, for studios of up to ten people."
"Trusted by professionals who value quality."	Quality is claimed, not shown.	"One person owns the invoice from proposal to payment, so nothing waits for a reminder."
"The premium choice for discerning clients."	The adjective is doing the work of an argument.	"For principals who would rather set up a system once than lose Fridays to chasing."

Notice the pattern in the right-hand column: each line could be wrong, and that is exactly why it is useful. A sentence nobody could disagree with cannot guide a decision.

How do you test a positioning statement before you use it?

Test it on five buyers who know the category, and ask them to say it back in their own words. If their version drops your difference or swaps in a generic benefit, the wording is still too soft. Ask them as well what they would do instead; if the answer is an alternative you did not list, add it and rewrite.

Then test it internally. Give the statement to the people who say yes and no to work: sales, product, creative, customer service. Ask them to decide, using only the statement, whether three real requests are in or out. If they disagree, the statement does not yet settle anything, and no amount of polish will fix that.

A final check is practical: does the statement change something you will do next month? If the page, the pitch and the pricing structure would stay exactly the same, you have written a description.

When is a positioning statement the wrong tool?

A positioning statement is the wrong tool when the real problem is the product, the price structure or the audience, because wording cannot fix any of those. If buyers are leaving after purchase, the issue sits in delivery, and a sharper sentence will only bring in more disappointed people.

It is also premature when you have no customers to learn from. With no buyers to ask, a statement is a hypothesis, so write it as one and plan to revise it after the first sales conversations. And it is the wrong exercise when a company is in a category so crowded and so price-driven that buyers choose on availability alone. In that case, fix distribution before language.

Finally, do not use it as the brand's voice. A statement written for internal alignment makes stiff public copy. Keep the logic, and let a writer find the words.

Who should write the positioning statement, and what comes next?

The people who decide on price, customers and product should write it, with an outside voice to challenge the alternatives list. Founders and marketing directors tend to defend the version they already believe, and a facilitated session with senior brand direction surfaces the alternatives that insiders stop seeing.

Once the statement holds, it feeds everything else: the brand strategy, the messaging, the briefs for campaigns and creators. If you want help turning it into direction your team can use, BVG works on this through branding and consulting, and you can start a conversation. More guides are in the Journal.