👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
As a brand builder, I do a lot of plotting.
No, not the nefarious kind.
I do a lot of plotting on graphs.
On these graphs, I use each line on an axis to represent something important about the brand. Then, I put a big fat dot on the graph to indicate where brands fall on the axis.
Depending on how many axes you have, the graphs can end up looking very simple.
Or medium complex.
Or very complex.
This kind of Plotting Exercise is particularly useful:
When you’re thinking about your brand’s position in the marketplace… a Plotting Exercise helps you see how “crowded” a certain space seems to be.
When you’re thinking about your brand’s core values… a Plotting Exercise helps you identify how important specific values are to you on a scale.
When you’re choosing between brand personality traits… a Plotting Exercise helps you see which ones will stand out the most in your landscape.
Because every brand can benefit from some good old-fashioned non-nefarious Plotting Exercises now and then— I’m going to give you some of my favorite ways to think about pinpointing your brand on an axis of awesome.
Low and High
If there were low-hanging fruit on a competitive axis, this would be it.
The Competitive View
The most basic way to think of a low vs high axis is to look at:
Price (Your brand vs the competition)
You can also take any value that’s potentially important to your brand and plot it out.
Low Transparency vs High Transparency (Your brand vs the competition)
Low Sustainability vs High Sustainability (Your brand vs the competition)
Low Quality vs High Quality (Your brand vs the competition)
An exercise like this can help you identify your most differentiated values and see who your closest competition really is.
The Features View
You can also plot out your product features on a scale of “Low Value vs High Value.”
Functional Features
(Self-cleaning, Search and filter options, Noise-canceling, etc.)Experiential Features
(A smooth onboarding process, Easy returns, etc.)Quality Features
(Sustainable materials, Bulletproof glass, extended battery life, etc.)Design Features
(Color options, Ergonomics, Texural elements, etc.Added Value Features
(Free gift with purchase, Access to an exclusive Slack channel, etc).
Plotting all of your features on a Low Value vs High Value graph can help you decide which ones to feature most prominently in your marketing materials.
Opposing Customer Types
You can also use graphs to plot out the characteristics of your ideal customer.
Head Led (facts and figures) vs Heart Led (emotions and storytelling)
Entry Level Users vs Expert Level Users
Minimalists vs Maximalists
You can look at your customers alone as you build your target profiles — or against who you think the competition is targetting to try and find an underserved customer.
Opposing Brand Attributes
Similarly to the customers, you can take any characteristics your brand might want to display — and plot them individually or look at them as opposed to your competition.
Voice & Visual Attributes
Some attributes may affect your tone of voice and your visual aesthetic.
Classic vs Edgy
Safe vs Disruptive
Factual vs Emotional
Serious vs Fun
Simple vs Designed
Feminine vs Masculine
People are attracted to things that are different, not same-same. So plotting these attributes against the competition can help you creatively stand out.
Brand Defining Attributes
Other attributes can apply to your brand on a larger scale.
Brand of Authority (offering expert affiliation and advice) vs Brand of Conversation (thrives on social interaction and engagement)
Mainstream Brand vs Niche Brand
Clinical Brand vs Lifestyle Brand
Prestige Brand vs Mass Brand
Politically Neutral Brand vs Politically Active Brand
These attributes have the potential to guide many of your future actions — including the types of influencers you work with, the kinds of content you create, and the forms of media you invest in.
Now, Go Plot Something
Whether it’s your brand’s positioning in the marketplace or world domination with the Galactic Emperor, I wish you all the best in your endeavors—and hope all the plotting points in this week’s newsletter have inspired some twists.
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About Me
I help early-stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.