What is the secret brand strategy that the likes of Apple and Starbucks have adopted, but are reluctant to let the world know about? What is it that drives customers to choose your brand over the others? This book, by a leading branding practitioner and strategist, introduces the powerful strategy of De-Positioning that has been used by dominant brands.
De-Positioning is a branding strategy that addresses the most important things customers are looking for when they are on a buying journey: desires and pain points. In essence, De-Positioning is when you highlight a positive feature about a brand, and this positive feature shines a negative light on the competition. It highlights what your company can do for your customers that competitors cannot while appealing to their deepest needs, concern and desires. Your competitors weaknesses create the customer need or pain a gaping hole in the market. You fill that gap by providing a solution that relieves the customers pain and satisfies their expectations.
By de-positioning your competitor, you gain advantage in your marketplace.
What is the brand strategy Apple, Starbucks, and other market leaders have mastered for decades, yet never name? It’s not differentiation. It’s not purpose. It’s something far more powerful, and in today’s hyper-competitive business world, it’s the only strategy that consistently wins. It’s called De-Positioning, a method that turns your competitor’s strengths into liabilities while positioning your brand as the only solution your customer truly trusts. De-Positioning works by identifying the most critical problem your customer needs solved, exposing how your competitors fail to solve it, and making your brand the clear, inevitable choice. When applied with discipline, it renders competitors irrelevant. In this book, brand strategy veteran Todd Irwin shares the exact process he’s used to help Fortune 500 giants and disruptive VC-backed startups dominate their markets. He explains why “being different” no longer works, how to uncover your market’s Hero Pain Point, and how to build an unshakable competitive advantage rooted in hard strategy, not hype. Drawing on three decades in the trenches and case studies from brands like Apple, Volvo, and Zoom, Irwin shows how De-Positioning becomes the unifying force behind every decision, message, and customer interaction. This is not a marketing gimmick. It’s a battle-tested, repeatable system for building a brand so ultra-relevant and trusted that your competitors fade into the background. If you’re ready to stop fighting for attention and start dominating your market, this is your brand strategy playbook.
Columbia University Press
Springer International Publishing AG
