The One Where You Figure Out Which One You Are

If you’re a “Friends” fan like me, you know the titles of the show’s episodes followed a template.

Every episode is named “The One With…” followed by the thing it’s about.

Maybe it’s not the actual most important thing in the episode, but it’s the thing people would be talking about later.

Because that’s how we talk about TV shows: “Remember the one with the yeti?”

It’s also how a lot of brains think about brands.

The one with the funny commercials.

The one with all the extra tools.

The kind one.

The snarky one.

The one with all the awards.

When people think of your brand, how do they think of you?

That is your market position.

The only one

Finding a market position can be tough, because it requires you to commit to a lane.

You can still do all the things you do. But if you’re going to be known as “the one,” there has to be a single thing your audience’s brains can latch on to.

Picking that one thing isn’t easy. But if you can do it, and then you can support it with consistent messaging that aligns with it, you’ll build a brand people remember and refer to when it’s time to buy.

Try making a list with three columns. Title the first column, “They Offer,” the second “Both Offer,” and the third “I Offer.”

“They” refers to your competition.

Fill in each column. What do they have that you don’t have? What are the table stakes things you both do?

And what can you say about your business that they can’t say about theirs?

Start out easy with offers and features. But before you finish, also look at intangibles like customer experience and processes.

Your position is *probably* one of the things in the “I Offer” list.

I say probably because you need to run that through one more sieve to filter out the chaff.

Your customers.

Because if you choose a position based on something they don’t care about, they won’t care about you.

Your market position should rely on something that makes you unique - and resonates with your ideal customer.

If you are the only one talking about something important to them, you ARE going to get their attention.

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