• Table of Contents

  • Brand Power & Positioning
  • Why Most Positioning Efforts Are Toothless
  • The Real Job of Brand Power & Positioning
  • Here’s what real positioning does:
  • The 3-Point Framework for Building Brand Power
  • 1. Pick a Fight
  • 2. Own a Word (or Two)
  • 3. Build a Cult, Not a Customer Base
  • Case Study: How Liquid Death Turned Water into a Weapon
  • Truth Bomb
  • Final Thoughts: Stop Whispering, Start Roaring

Brand Power & Positioning

Most brands don’t have a positioning problem—they have a power problem. They’re whispering in a stadium full of shouting competitors, hoping their “unique value proposition” will somehow echo louder. Spoiler: it won’t. In today’s market, brand power isn’t about being liked—it’s about being remembered, respected, and impossible to ignore. Positioning isn’t a tagline exercise; it’s a strategic weapon. If your brand doesn’t punch above its weight, it’s just another logo in the landfill of mediocrity. Let’s fix that.

Why Most Positioning Efforts Are Toothless

Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth: most brand positioning work is a glorified word salad. It’s a committee-approved Frankenstein of safe adjectives, vague promises, and the occasional “customer-centric” thrown in for good measure. It’s not strategy—it’s wallpaper.

Here’s what’s really going on:

• Fear of alienation: Brands try to appeal to everyone and end up resonating with no one.
• Over-reliance on data: Quantitative insights are great, but they don’t replace gutsy decisions.
• Copycat syndrome: Everyone’s “innovative,” “trusted,” and “disruptive.” Yawn.

Brand power & positioning should be about making bold, strategic choices—not playing it safe in the middle lane.

The Real Job of Brand Power & Positioning

Positioning isn’t a messaging exercise. It’s a market domination strategy. It’s how you decide what hill you’re willing to die on—and then build a fortress on top of it.

Here’s what real positioning does:

• Draws a line in the sand: You’re either for us or against us. No lukewarm fans allowed.
• Creates memory structures: People remember contrast, not consensus. Be the outlier.
• Builds pricing power: Strong brands don’t compete on price—they command it.

Brand power & positioning is about owning a space in the customer’s mind that no one else can touch. It’s not about being better—it’s about being different in a way that matters.

The 3-Point Framework for Building Brand Power

Let’s get tactical. Here’s a framework I’ve used with clients from scrappy startups to $500M juggernauts:

1. Pick a Fight

Every powerful brand is fighting something. It could be an outdated industry norm, a bloated competitor, or a broken customer experience. If you’re not fighting something, you’re not standing for anything.

• Apple fought conformity (hello, 1984 ad).
• Dollar Shave Club fought overpriced razors and the absurdity of drugstore shopping.
• Liquid Death fights boring water branding with metalhead irreverence.

Pick your enemy. Make it clear. Then go to war.

2. Own a Word (or Two)

Great brands don’t need paragraphs to explain themselves. They own a word—or a short phrase—that becomes shorthand for their value.

• Volvo = Safety
• Slack = Work Communication
• Zoom = Video Meetings

If your brand can’t be summed up in 2–3 words, you don’t have positioning—you have a brochure.

3. Build a Cult, Not a Customer Base

Brand power isn’t about reach—it’s about resonance. You don’t need everyone. You need the right people to care deeply.

• Create rituals (think: Spotify Wrapped)
• Use insider language (Peloton’s “output” vs. “calories”)
• Reward loyalty with identity, not just discounts

When your customers start defending your brand in comment sections, you’ve crossed into cult territory. That’s where the real power lives.

Case Study: How Liquid Death Turned Water into a Weapon

Let’s talk about a brand that gets it. Liquid Death didn’t just enter the bottled water market—they detonated it. Their brand power & positioning is a masterclass in strategic irreverence.

• Enemy: Boring, plastic-wrapped water brands
• Word: “Murder your thirst” (yes, really)
• Cult: Fans who buy merch, tattoo the logo, and evangelize like it’s a religion

They didn’t win by being the cleanest or the cheapest. They won by being the most unforgettable. That’s brand power in action.

Truth Bomb

If your brand positioning doesn’t scare your legal team a little, it’s probably not strong enough.

Final Thoughts: Stop Whispering, Start Roaring

Brand power & positioning isn’t a quarterly exercise—it’s the foundation of everything. It determines how you price, how you sell, how you hire, and how you grow. If you’re not willing to make bold choices, you’re not building a brand—you’re just renting attention.

So here’s your challenge: audit your current positioning. If it could be swapped with a competitor’s and no one would notice, burn it down and start over. Pick a fight. Own a word. Build a cult. And for the love of marketing—stop being polite.

Mark Gabrielli
Founder, MarkCMO
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/marklgabrielli