Every brand conveys an emotion, even without realizing it: coldness, neglect, agility, warmth, credibility. People feel something when they buy from you, and that’s why positioning cannot be improvised. It is what anchors perception, reputation, and growth.
According to a McKinsey study, brands with clear positioning generate up to 15% more revenue and 20% more customer satisfaction.
For Gustavo Hansel and Tiago Denardin, co-founders of GH Brandtech, most companies fail by competing on generic attributes, such as price, and leave brand building adrift. “Without clear positioning, the company creates a confusing perception of value and loses competitive strength,” says Hansel.
Next, Hansel lists seven common and fatal mistakes made by companies when defining (or neglecting) their positioning:
1) You don’t know who you’re competing against
Many companies think they know who their competitors are — but they only “think” they do. “What would your customer buy if you didn’t exist?“, asks Hansel, CEO of GH Brandtech. “This answer reveals more than you think.” Without understanding the competitive landscape, you can’t occupy a real space in the audience’s mind.
2) Your differentiator isn’t clear even to you
Brands that don’t know what makes them unique hardly survive. Little by little, they start to look like everyone else. List your main attributes, evaluate which ones are relevant to your audience, and see what competitors also deliver. What remains is what you need to highlight. “Authentic brands win hearts, but above all, they walk with consistency,” says Denardin, head of GH’s Branding vertical.
3) The customer doesn’t see value in what you sell
If the audience doesn’t perceive value, it doesn’t matter how hard you try. Maybe they don’t even know what they gain by choosing your brand. “Value needs to be built, but it also needs to be communicated“, says Denardin. Show the practical and emotional benefits objectively. If they don’t exist, start there.
4) You’re targeting the wrong audience
Not everyone who needs you is your best customer. There are niches within niches. “Discover who truly values what you deliver and focus your energy on them“, says Hansel. “This is the group that will increase your margin, defend your brand, and recommend your product with conviction.”
5) Your product doesn’t make sense in the current context
It’s not enough to have a good product — it needs to make sense here and now. Is there demand? Is there space in this market category? Maybe it’s the wrong audience. Or even the wrong market. “Market research and validation tests can clarify many doubts,” says Hansel.
6) You’re not solving any problem
A good idea doesn’t sustain a business. A well-solved problem does. If you can’t say what pain you’re alleviating or what gain you’re delivering, maybe your company doesn’t yet have a strong reason to exist. And if this reason isn’t clear, no branding can save it. “If you don’t have a problem to solve, you also don’t have a value to offer,” he says.
7) Not having a clear purpose
Purpose needs to be more than a pretty phrase in an institutional presentation. It’s the force that drives decisions, defines language, and connects the brand with people. “It’s a timeless direction that helps the brand thrive in any context,” says Tiago Denardin. When purpose exists, everything aligns — product, speech, identity. And the audience feels it.
Want to build a brand that occupies a real place in people’s minds (and hearts)? Start with the basics: discover who you are, who you exist for, and what you do better than anyone else. From there, positioning stops being a gamble and becomes an advantage.
