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Why a food & beverage brand sells even when the product is the same as the others
A food & beverage brand's positioning is built when it is clear to the buyer, before it is clear to the seller. Four concrete steps of the FBBP framework with three real examples from the Erbacipollina portfolio.
By Beatrice Vernocchi
When a food & beverage consumer chooses between similar brands on the shelf, they are comparing products that are often physically identical. The difference between the brand that grows and the one that just survives one more month each year is one thing only: positioning.
Positioning is the first brand decision
Positioning is the first decision a food & beverage brand makes, before choosing the claim, the logo, the palette, the pack. The answer cannot be the physical product: what matters is the purchase decision the audience makes at the shelf, when they have six seconds to choose between similar options.
Three factors that fix the positioning
Declared consumption category, real audience (the Food Buyer Personas), distinctive product promise. Each requires an explicit decision, written in the brief and shared with the client's marketing manager.
When positioning stops working, what to change
Repositioning a food & beverage brand is a decision you make when the numbers say so. A brand sells even when the product is the same as the others when its positioning is clear to the buyer, before it is clear to the seller.