Our Perspective
What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.
The Choice Behind The Choice
The temptation is to lead your brand story with the sharpest feature or unique selling proposition (USP). It feels decisive. Yet the real strategic choice is upstream: will the market know exactly where to place you before you explain why you’re different? When positioning is vague, teams compensate. Sales leans into one use case, product champions another, and marketing fills gaps with clever lines. The result is an incoherent signal. Buyers struggle to locate you, pricing debates become defensive, and growth options narrow because you’re not recognised for owning a clear space.
Why Sequence Matters
Positioning is the category, the buyer, the problem, and the frame of reference that sets expectations. The USP then acts as proof you deliver on that frame. When sequenced this way, the narrative aligns choices across product, routes to market, talent, and partnerships. In our experience with leadership teams at key inflection points, this sequence creates calm focus: decisions speed up, proposals stay consistent, and roadmap trade-offs get simpler because the throughline is agreed.
A simple blueprint:
- Choose the market space and the alternatives you intend to replace.
- Define the job to be done and the value outcomes you will be judged on.
- Codify a narrative that guides sales, onboarding, proposals, and delivery.
- Elevate USPs as evidence that substantiates the chosen position.
Pricing And Growth Effects
Positioning isn’t just semantics; it’s economics. When you’re easy to place and hard to ignore, value is assumed before features are heard. McKinsey observes that leading industrial brands often sustain 5–10% price premiums, reflecting how clarity of position underpins pricing power.
It also compounds growth. When the market understands what you stand for, category entry points multiply: new segments make sense, partnerships line up, and customer lifetime value rises because buyers know what to expect. Nielsen reports that strong brands tend to enjoy roughly a 30% uplift in revenue, highlighting how disciplined positioning feeds commercial performance.
Leadership Implications
Treat positioning as an operating decision, not a communications exercise. Three moves sharpen the edge:
- Decide the frame you want to own, then retire claims that don’t support it.
- Turn USPs into proof points in sales plays, product demos, and case evidence.
- Measure coherence: one-liners in decks, discovery scripts, and web copy should read from the same page.
A Quiet Advantage
Teams that put positioning first don’t chase headlines; they build recognition. Over time, that recognition shows up as faster sales cycles, steadier pricing, and a talent bench that knows why it’s here. The strategic choice isn’t between positioning and the USP—it’s about sequence. Get the order right and the signal strengthens quarter by quarter, turning brand clarity into a compounding commercial asset.
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