Brand Positioning Worksheet

WHO THIS IS FOR

Business owners, founders, and marketing leads who need to get their positioning down on paper — clearly enough that a designer, a new hire, or a customer could understand it in one read.

HOW TO USE IT

Work through the six sections in order — each builds on the last. Answer in full sentences where you can; short notes are fine on a first pass. A worked example using a fictional Cameroonian brand is included at the end to show what a finished worksheet looks like.

1. WHO YOU SERVE

Positioning starts with a real person, not a demographic category. Be specific.

• Describe your primary customer — who they are, what they do, and what matters to them day to day.
• What problem, need, or desire brings them to a business like yours?
• What are they currently doing instead — going without, using a competitor, doing it themselves?

2. WHAT CATEGORY YOU'RE IN

Customers place every brand into a mental category before they decide anything else. Name yours honestly.

• In one sentence, what kind of business are you? (e.g. "a neighborhood bakery," "a mobile-first tailoring service," "a boutique branding studio")
• Is there a more specific or more ambitious category you actually compete in, even if customers don't label you that way yet?

3. WHO ELSE THEY COULD CHOOSE

List real alternatives — direct competitors, indirect substitutes, and "do nothing." Positioning only means something in contrast to something else.

• List 3–5 alternatives your customer could reasonably choose instead of you.
• What does each of them do well? Be fair to them.

4. WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT

This is the section people rush. Don't. "Good quality" and "great service" are not differentiators — everyone claims those.

• What do you do, offer, or believe that the alternatives above genuinely don't?
• If a customer could only remember one thing that sets you apart, what should it be?

5. WHY THEY SHOULD BELIEVE YOU

A claim without proof is just marketing. What backs yours up?

• What evidence, track record, credentials, process, or guarantee supports your differentiation claim?
• What would a skeptical customer need to see or hear before they believed you?

6. YOUR POSITIONING STATEMENT

Combine everything above into one working statement. It's allowed to be rough — refine it after.

TEMPLATE

For [target customer] who [need or problem], [brand name] is the [category] that [key differentiator], because [reason to believe].

• Your draft:

WORKED EXAMPLE

Nkolo Naturals

A fictional skincare and wellness brand based in Buea, made with shea butter, black soap, and other locally sourced ingredients. Used here to show what a completed worksheet looks like — not as a business to model directly.

WHO THEY SERVE

Urban Cameroonian women, 25–40, who are increasingly reading ingredient labels and want skincare that's effective, affordable, and doesn't require importing a foreign brand.

CATEGORY

A locally made, natural skincare line — not a pharmacy skincare brand, and not an artisanal one-woman soap stall.

ALTERNATIVES

Imported skincare brands sold in supermarkets (expensive, not formulated for local climate); market-stall raw shea butter and black soap (cheap, but inconsistent and unbranded); doing nothing and using whatever is available.

DIFFERENTIATION

Nkolo Naturals standardizes what's normally sold loose and inconsistent at the market — same ingredients, but dosed, tested, and packaged for daily use — at a price close to the market stall, not the imported shelf.

REASONS TO BELIEVE

Every batch is tested by a small in-house panel before release; ingredient sourcing is named on the label (which shea cooperative, which region); a visible "before you buy" sample size is sold at every market stall.

RESULTING POSITIONING STATEMENT

For Cameroonian women who want skincare that actually works for their skin and climate, Nkolo Naturals is the locally made skincare line that brings market-quality natural ingredients into a consistent, tested, everyday product — because every batch is panel-tested and every ingredient is traceable to its source.

NEXT STEPS

A positioning statement is a working draft, not a final answer — test it on five real customers before you build a brand identity around it. If it needs sharper strategic backing, or you're ready to turn it into a full visual identity, that's exactly what Sigma Studio's Brand Strategy Checklist and Brand Identity Checklist are for.