That is Half 2 of the Income-Prepared Advertising Playbook, a 4-part collection for mid-market CEOs who need advertising and marketing to maneuver the needle.
A CEO as soon as mentioned to me, “We all know our product delivers actual worth. Our clients are comfortable. However once we present up out there, it seems like we’re saying the identical factor as everybody else.”
That caught with me, not simply because it was trustworthy, however as a result of it’s frequent. In crowded markets, sounding the identical is the quickest strategy to change into invisible. Consumers tune out. Gross sales cycles drag. Margins shrink. And regardless of how sturdy your precise providing is, you retain getting boxed in as “simply another choice.”
Right here’s the reality: Most positioning issues aren’t messaging issues. They’re model readability issues.
Regardless of all of the progress you’ve made—nice tech, nice staff, stable traction, you get grouped with a sea of similar-sounding gamers. That’s not a messaging concern. It’s a model readability drawback.
What’s Actually Going On
When you dig into why positioning breaks down, it often comes down to 3 issues:
- You’re utilizing class clichés.
Everybody claims to be “trusted,” “end-to-end,” “AI-powered,” or “customer-first.” These aren’t differentiators. They’re wallpaper. - You’re making an attempt to attraction to too many individuals.
Within the identify of development, corporations flatten their message to keep away from alienating anybody—and find yourself thrilling nobody. - You’re constructing in options, not perception.
Function lists don’t stick within the minds of consumers. Beliefs do. A pointy standpoint creates memorability and momentum.
In case your market doesn’t know what makes you meaningfully completely different, they’ll default to whoever is most cost-effective, quickest, or loudest. That’s a commoditization entice, and a troublesome place to construct from.
The Model Moat
A model moat is constructed on readability. It’s not your font or your funnel or your tagline. It’s the area you personal in your purchaser’s thoughts that’s laborious to repeat, simple to recollect, and instantly useful to the individuals who matter.
It’s what makes somebody say: “Oh, you’re the corporate that…”
- Turns complexity into readability. You helped us see our personal enterprise extra clearly—and act sooner due to it.
- Guides us via change with out overwhelming the staff. You helped us modernize in a approach that our group might take up the change
- Understands our compliance challenges higher than our staff does and delivers what you promise, each time.
An actual model moat provides enamel to your positioning. It lets your organization punch above its weight—as a result of individuals bear in mind you, belief you, and need to interact with you.
I noticed this firsthand whereas engaged on a once-iconic international model in cell tech. We had been not profitable on specs, worth, or app ecosystems, a minimum of not by market requirements. The default business narrative had shifted: newer was higher, sooner was smarter, and we weren’t both.
However we had one thing the class was ignoring – deep cultural embeddedness. Our units had historical past, attain, and belief – particularly in rising markets.
So, we shifted the body. We stopped taking part in by the class codes of options and specs and leaned into human tales of connection, reliability, and belonging. It wasn’t nostalgia—it was readability. That counter-narrative helped us reclaim relevance, win again mindshare, and re-engage shoppers who had began to float.
Positioning isn’t all the time about being “higher.” Typically, it’s about being completely different in a approach that issues extra.
4 strikes to construct a Model Moat
So how do you construct that type of readability and separation with no two-year rebrand or seven-figure marketing campaign?
Listed here are 4 potential strikes, based mostly on my expertise:
| Space | Ask Your self |
| 1. Discover your strategic edge | – Do we’ve got a narrative solely we are able to inform? |
| – Are we constructing on expertise, or echoing the class? | |
| 2. Sharpen your narrative | – Can we clearly identify the shift occurring in our market? |
| – Do our clients know what we imagine about that shift? | |
| – Can we clarify why our resolution is inevitable, not optionally available? | |
| 3. Align visible + verbal Id | – Does our homepage make a daring, clear promise? |
| – Are our decks and demos visually distinctive? | |
| – May a prospect repeat our pitch after one assembly? | |
| 4. Construct proof loops | – Do our case research reinforce our core perception? |
| – Is our social content material saying one thing solely we’d say? | |
| – Are gross sales and advertising and marketing echoing the identical story? |
Ask your self how you’d construct this into methods of working:
| Transfer | Say This | Do This | Not This |
| 1. Discover your strategic edge | “We’ve seen this drawback from the within.” | Use your founder, market, or buyer intimacy story. | “We’re best-in-class like everybody else.” |
| 2. Sharpen your narrative | “The sport has modified. This is what meaning.” | Construct a 3-slide deck: shift → wrestle → resolution. | Begin with options, not with perception. |
| 3. Align your visible + verbal identification | “This feels completely different—and I get it.” | Audit your web site and decks: Are you ownable in 5 seconds? | Generic icons and AI-generated copy. |
| 4. Construct proof loops | “Don’t take our phrase for it—watch this.” | Construct proof into each touchpoint (case research, content material, GTM). | “Let me ship you a brochure.” |
In a market the place everybody’s yelling, readability is your unfair benefit. A pointy model moat gained’t simply provide help to stand out; it’ll provide help to scale sooner, promote higher, and worth increased.
In case your positioning isn’t touchdown, neither is your pipeline. We work with mid-market CEOs to craft standout model narratives that convert. Let’s sharpen your message and drive your development.
*That is Half 2 of the Income-Prepared Advertising Playbook, a 4-part collection for mid-market CEOs who need advertising and marketing to maneuver the needle.
**Up subsequent: How Advertising Can Ship Predictable Outcomes**
Make amends for the total collection:
