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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Real Cost

Positioning isn’t pricey because it’s ornamental; it’s costly because it sets the terms for every commercial decision that follows. When leaders bundle it into the launch budget and move on, the costs don’t disappear—they fragment into rework, slower decisions, and rising acquisition. Deloitte’s CMO Survey with the American Marketing Association notes that two in ten marketing leaders now cite positioning as the second costliest aspect of a brand launch—an expense that signals delayed clarity, not extravagant craft.

The real risk is compounding: creative runs ahead of definition, functions improvise their own story, and pricing negotiations soften. What looks like speed becomes drag on conversion, cycle time, and pricing power.

Stage The Bet

Treat positioning as a sequenced investment, not a one-off sprint. Phase spend in three waves—discover, define, deploy—and release larger budgets only when evidence clears agreed thresholds. In discovery, test problem framing and value hypotheses with decision-makers. In definition, codify a simple platform and message hierarchy. In deployment, trial the claims in live sales moments, hero headlines, and a focused campaign before you scale media.

Gate on signal quality, not activity volume. A strong position behaves like a decision system: it simplifies choices, sets boundaries, and tells you what not to do. Most organisations we work with find that this cadence curbs rework and strengthens pricing conversations within weeks.

Signals That Matter

• Conversion lifts where it counts: hero page to trial, demo to proposal, proposal to close.
• Shorter cycle time for like-for-like deals, with fewer approval loops.
• Price integrity: discount compression and higher acceptance of value-led pricing.
• Message coherence in customer language across sales, product, and service touchpoints.

Focus on a small, comparable set of moments rather than vanity metrics. If the story is working, these signals move first—before broad awareness or follower counts.

Leadership Implications

• Underwrite stage gates: ringfence the time and authority to pause spend until proof is visible.
• Shift budget forward: fund discovery and message trials before creative development and media.
• Align incentives: make sales, product, and marketing accountable to the same positioning signals.
• Retire cherished ideas when the evidence contradicts them; protect the system over any single line.

The prize isn’t marginal efficiency—it’s compounding returns: clearer choices, firmer pricing, and a go-to-market engine that tightens with every cycle, turning positioning from a launch task into an enduring source of return on investment (ROI).

Sources:

1. Reassessing Brand Investment: The Case for Distribution-Led Growth
2. Maximising Brand Investment for Long-Term ROI
3. The Strategic Advantage of Building a Distinctive Brand