# Biz brand positioning Human Guide

## What This Is For
Brand positioning defines the distinct place a brand occupies in the target customer's mind relative to competitors. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Biz brand positioning agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for biz brand positioning.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Biz brand positioning guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- User creating or refreshing a brand identity
- User needs to differentiate from competitors
- User asks "what makes us different?" or "how do customers perceive us?"
- User's brand feels generic or unfocused
- For market segmentation → use STP first (positioning comes after targeting)
- For tactical marketing mix → use 4P/7P
- For product feature decisions → use Value Proposition Canvas or JTBD
- **Category**: What category does the customer place you in?
- **Competitive set**: Who are you compared against? (may differ from who you think your competitors are)
- **Target segment**: From STP — whose mind are you positioning in?
- One point of difference, not a list
- The POD must be relevant to the target AND different from competitors

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, When to Use, Framework, Step 1: Define the Competitive Frame, Step 2: Craft the Positioning Statement, Step 3: Build the Perceptual Map, Step 4: Define Brand Personality, Step 5: Identify Brand Archetype (Optional), Output Format, Competitive Frame.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Positioning is about PERCEPTION, not reality. You don't decide your position —
- The POD must be relevant to the target AND different from competitors
- The reason to believe must be verifiable, not aspirational
- **Brand personality must be consistent across all touchpoints**: If your personality is "exciting and daring" but your website looks like a bank's, there's a disconnect.
- | **Innocent** | Safety, simplicity | "We keep life simple and good" | Naïve, boring, avoids hard truths |
- | Archetype | Sentence structure | Vocabulary register | What to avoid |
- Collect raw language. Do not pre-define categories. Common outputs:
- Do not mix methods across axes in the same map — it produces an inconsistent scale.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Biz brand positioning human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the asgard-ai-platform/skills skill entry for `biz-brand-positioning`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Brand Positioning

## Overview

Brand positioning defines the distinct place a brand occupies in the target customer's mind relative to competitors. It combines a positioning statement (verbal), a perceptual map (visual), and brand personality (emotional). Positioning is the bridge between STP (who to target) and execution (how to communicate).

## When to Use

**Trigger conditions:**
- User creating or refreshing a brand identity
- User needs to differentiate from competitors
- User asks "what makes us different?" or "how do customers perceive us?"
- User's brand feels generic or unfocused

**When NOT to use:**
- For market segmentation → use STP first (positioning comes after targeting)
- For tactical marketing mix → use 4P/7P
- For product feature decisions → use Value Proposition Canvas or JTBD

## Framework

```
IRON LAW: Positioning Is in the Customer's Mind, Not Your Brochure

Positioning is about PERCEPTION, not reality. You don't decide your position —
customers do. You can influence it through consistent signals, but the ultimate
test is: "When customers think of [category], do they think of us?"

A positioning statement is a GOAL — verify it matches actual perception
through customer research.
```

```
IRON LAW: One Position Per Brand

A brand cannot own two positions simultaneously. "We're the cheapest AND
the most premium" is not positioning — it's confusion. If you need to serve
different segments with different positions, use different brands or sub-brands.
```

### Step 1: Define the Competitive Frame

Before positioning, clarify:
- **Category**: What category does the customer place you in?
- **Competitive set**: Who are you compared against? (may differ from who you think your competitors are)
- **Target segment**: From STP — whose mind are you positioning in?

### Step 2: Craft the Positioning Statement

Use this template:

```
For [target segment],
[brand] is the [category/competitive frame]
that [point of difference — the ONE thing that sets you apart]
because [reason to believe — proof that you can deliver].
```

Rules:
- One point of difference, not a list
- The POD must be relevant to the target AND different from competitors
- The reason to believe must be verifiable, not aspirational

### Step 3: Build the Perceptual Map

Plot your brand and competitors on a 2D map:
- **Choose two axes** that matter most to the target segment (e.g., price vs quality, convenience vs customization)
- **Plot all brands** in the competitive set based on customer perception (not your internal view)
- **Identify white space** — gaps where no brand is positioned

### Step 4: Define Brand Personality

Select 3-5 personality traits using the Aaker framework:

| Dimension | Traits |
|-----------|--------|
| **Sincerity** | Down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful |
| **Excitement** | Daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date |
| **Competence** | Reliable, intelligent, successful |
| **Sophistication** | Upper-class, charming, elegant |