Summary:
Most brand positioning advice sends you straight to a demographic template. Fill in the age range, the income bracket, the city. And you end up with a description that technically fits thousands of people but feels real for none of them. This post walks through a different approach: pick a TV character you know well, build the product for them, and watch how every brand decision from packaging to distribution to social strategy becomes obvious. The brands that win are not trying to appeal to everyone. They are trying to be completely undeniable for one very specific person.
Who this article is for:
Entrepreneurs, founders, small business owners and marketing managers who want to get clearer on who their brand is really for and build something that actually resonates with the right customer.
Key takeaways:
- Strong brand positioning starts with a specific person, not a demographic
- Every brand decision including design, distribution, pricing and social strategy should signal exactly who the product is for
- Being specific about your audience does not shrink it. It finds the right people faster
- The brands that win are not trying to appeal to everyone. They are trying to be undeniable for one very specific person
- A simple creative exercise using fictional characters can unlock more useful brand clarity than any persona template
What’s inside:
- Why demographics are not enough to build a brand that resonates
- A hands-on brand positioning exercise anyone can do today
- Real character comparisons showing how the same product becomes completely different brands for different people
- How brand identity extends beyond the logo into distribution, social media, packaging and marketing channels
- How to apply the exercise to your own brand and start making clearer decisions across every touchpoint
What if building your brand started with picking a TV character?
Most branding advice starts in the same place. Define your target audience. Build a customer persona. Fill out a template with demographics like age range, income bracket and geographic location. And while those things have their place, they often produce something that feels more like a census report than a brand strategy. You end up with a description of a group of people rather than a vivid picture of a real human being.
So here is a different place to start. Pick a fictional character you know well. Not a demographic or a placeholder named “Sarah, 28, lives in a city, likes wellness.” Think of a specific person from a show or a movie with a specific wardrobe, a specific apartment, a specific playlist playing in the background of their life.
Because here is the truth about brand identity: the brands that actually work are built for a single kind of person, not a population.
The exercise
Pick a TV show character. Really commit to one. Now answer these questions as honestly as you can.
What are they wearing today? What does that look like?
What is on their playlist right now? What are they actually listening to on their commute or their run or their drive home?
What does their living space look like? Is it curated and minimal? Chaotic and warm? Full of plants? Full of books? Does it look like a Pinterest board or does it look lived in?
What brands are already in their life? What is in their fridge? What bag are they carrying?
And critically, what would they never buy? What brand or product would feel completely wrong for them and why?
Once you have a clear picture of this person, you have something more useful than any demographic breakdown. You have a cultural and emotional profile. You have taste, values, lifestyle and identity all mapped out in a way that actually means something.
Now let’s use it.
Build something for them
Say the product is a backpack. Simple, functional, exists in every price point and aesthetic. Now build one for your character.
Take Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Elle is put together, unapologetically feminine, optimistic and has a very specific relationship with aesthetics. Things should be beautiful and she is not embarrassed about caring. Her backpack is pink and sparkly. There are keychains hanging off the zipper, a small heart, a letter charm, something she picked up on a trip. The branding is clean and slightly elevated. It is not cheap but it is not intimidating either.
She found it through a TikTok she saved three weeks ago from a creator she loves. The brand has a strong Instagram presence, aesthetic flat lays, influencer collabs, limited edition drops that feel like events. The packaging when it arrives feels intentional: tissue paper, a little note, something worth posting. You would find it at Bloomingdale’s or on the brand’s own website where the copy makes her feel like the main character.
Now take Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. Katniss is practical, self-sufficient and deeply skeptical of anything that feels performative or decorative. Her backpack is big. It is built for utility: multiple compartments, durable zippers, padded straps. The color is olive green or black or some combination of both. There is no charm on the zipper. There is no sparkle anywhere.
She found it on Amazon because she searched “durable hiking backpack” and it had 4,000 reviews and a 4.5-star rating. Or she found it at Cabela’s or REI while she was there for something else and picked it up because it was exactly what she needed. The brand runs Google search ads and outdoor publication placements. Their social media exists but it is informational: gear guides, pack weight comparisons, how to choose the right bag for your trip. There are no influencer collabs. There are no limited drops. There is no tissue paper in the box. It ships in its original packaging and arrives in two days and that is exactly what Katniss wants.
Here is the thing. Those two backpacks are not competing with each other, even though both sit in a market full of other brands and direct competitors. Even if they are sitting on the same table at a market, Elle walks past Katniss’s bag without a second glance and Katniss does not even register Elle’s as an option. And this is not just about design. It is about every decision the brand makes: where it lives, how it is discovered, what the unboxing feels like, what the social media says, where the ads run, who carries it on their page, and the brand personality shaping how customers perceive the offer.
Every single one of those decisions signals exactly who it is for. And that signal is so clear that the wrong person self-selects out without you having to do anything.
IKEA is an affordable option known for practical, stylish furniture.
Dollar Shave Club is one of the real world examples centered on affordability and convenience.
That is what strong brand positioning does. It is a positioning strategy designed to position your brand in consumers minds through a clear unique value proposition and competitive advantage. It does not try to win everyone. It tries to be completely undeniable for one very specific person, in the right store, on the right platform, through the right voice, at the right moment.
Why your value proposition matters for your brand identity
Brand identity is not just a logo and a color palette; it is the complete system of signals behind your brand positioning strategy that tells a specific person this was made for you. Typography, tone of voice, packaging design, pricing, distribution channel, the imagery you choose, the language you use in your captions, and your brand promise, which should deliver consistent value across touchpoints. Every single one of those decisions either reinforces or undermines who your brand is for and shapes your brand’s differentiation.
When you build from a character rather than a demographic you make better decisions across all of those touchpoints because you have a real reference point. You are not asking “what would a 28-year-old woman think of this zipper pull?” You are asking “would Elle Woods love this detail?” And you know the answer immediately because you know Elle.
Effective brand positioning helps you connect with customers because your brand stands for something specific and recognizable.
This is the difference between a brand that is technically correct and a brand that actually resonates. Resonance comes from specificity. Specificity comes from knowing your person so well that every decision becomes obvious.
Now apply it to your actual brand
Take the character exercise and now do it for your product and go deeper. The next step is turning what you learn into a brand positioning statement.
Make them a playlist. What ten songs are on it? What does that tell you about the emotional world your brand lives in?
Build them a Pinterest board. Not a mood board for your brand, a mood board for their life. What images would they save? What aesthetic speaks to them? What does that tell you about your visual identity, your photography direction, your packaging design?
Write down five brands they already love and five brands they would never buy. What do the brands they love have in common? What do the brands they would never touch have in common? That contrast is some of the most useful brand positioning research you can do. Comparing them also helps you identify gaps in the market category. The goal is to translate those insights into a positioning statement built around the target customer and your product or service. It should clarify your value proposition.
Name a real person in your life who is basically this character. What would they think when they first encountered your brand? Would they immediately get it? Would they feel seen? Or would something feel slightly off? A brand positioning statement is usually an internal document, not public-facing, and it guides marketing efforts and brand communications.
That last question is the most important one. Because when your ideal customer encounters your brand for the first time the goal is that it feels like it was made specifically for them. Not that it seems like a reasonable option. Not that it checks some boxes. That it feels like someone understood exactly who they are and built something just for them, and the unique value should be obvious right away.
The bottom line
Brand identity is the collection of signals that tells your specific person this is for you, and brand positioning describes where the company and its offer sit in the market for a specific target market. And you cannot build those signals clearly until you know exactly who that person is, not as a demographic, but as a human being with taste and values and a very specific playlist.
Katniss Everdeen is not buying Elle Woods’ backpack. And Elle Woods is not carrying Katniss’s. Your job is to figure out which one you are building for, get so specific about their world that every decision becomes obvious and then build something they cannot walk past without picking up. Successful brand positioning gives the company a north star so teams stay on the same page as they make decisions.
Start with the character. The brand will follow.
At Big Red Jelly, this kind of thinking is exactly where we start. Before we touch a logo or choose a color palette, we help you get clear on who your brand is really for, the specific person, the specific world, the specific feeling you want to create, and your company’s mission. Because when that foundation is right, every other decision gets easier. If you are ready to find your character and build something that actually resonates, explore how we approach brand strategy or book a free discovery call and let’s figure out together what your brand could be.
Key takeaways
- Demographics describe a population. A fictional character gives you taste, values, lifestyle and cultural identity you can actually make decisions from
- Build the same product for two different characters and every brand decision changes: packaging, distribution, pricing, social strategy, copywriting, photography
- The signal you send through those decisions is how the right person finds you and how the wrong person self-selects out
- Brand identity is not just a logo and a color palette. It is a complete system of signals that tells a specific person this was made for you
- Resonance comes from specificity. You cannot build it until you know your person the way you know a character you have spent hours watching
- The most important question to ask: when your ideal customer encounters your brand for the first time, does it feel like it was made specifically for them?
Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing a Coffee Shop
What is brand positioning and why does it matter?
Brand positioning is important because it defines how your company positions its product or service in consumers minds relative to competitors. It matters because great brand positioning clarifies the target market and creates a competitive advantage, shaping every decision that follows: pricing, visual identity, tone of voice and marketing strategy. Without it you end up trying to appeal to everyone and resonating with no one.
What is the difference between brand identity and brand positioning?
Positioning is the strategic foundation: who you are for, what you stand for, what makes your brand unique, and the brand personality you want people to associate with it. Brand identity is how that comes to life visually and verbally by expressing your unique value proposition through your logo, colors, typography, messaging and tone of voice. Positioning is thinking. Identity is the expression. One should always come before the other.
How do I find my target market?
Go beyond demographics. The more useful question is who is this person psychographically: what do they value, what do they love, what would they never buy, what does their life actually look like on a regular Tuesday, and how do you better understand consumers, potential customers, and prospective customers beyond surface traits. The TV character exercise in this article gets you there faster than any persona template because it also accounts for purchasing habits.
For example, 86% of consumers prefer relaxed brand positions over luxurious ones.
Apple users rarely switch to Android—only 11% do—which shows what happens when positioning strongly matches a target audience.
Can a brand be too specific and lose customers?
No. The more specific you are about who your brand is for the more the right customer feels seen. Specificity does not shrink your audience. It finds the right people faster and converts them more effectively because the brand feels made for them.
What is psychographic targeting and how is it different from demographic targeting?
Demographics tell you who someone is on paper: age, income, location. Psychographics tell you who they actually are: their values, lifestyle, personality and cultural identity. Two people can share the same demographics and have completely different buying behaviors. Psychographic targeting is what allows a brand to resonate emotionally, not just logically.
How does brand positioning affect pricing?
When a brand is clearly positioned for a specific person that person is willing to pay more because the product feels made for them. Premium pricing is almost never about the product itself, and quality based positioning can support it when buyers associate the brand with superior quality and quality products. It is about the meaning the brand creates around it. Apple shows this clearly, pairing cutting-edge technology with a status symbol identity, and recent data says it retains 89% customer loyalty because of strong brand positioning. Whole Foods is another example, using quality-based positioning to justify higher prices as a premium grocer known for natural and organic foods. Trader Joe’s offers a contrast as a national chain that feels like one of many neighborhood grocery stores, with a personalized, affordable, and fun experience.
What is a brand voice and why does it matter?
Brand voice is the personality your brand uses across every channel: website copy, social captions, packaging, customer service. Consistency builds trust and trust builds loyalty. When your voice is clear people recognize you before they even see your logo.
How do I know if my brand positioning is working?
The right customers are finding you without much convincing. You can gauge brand positioning success with brand awareness surveys and customer feedback.
Your marketing feels easier because you know exactly who you are talking to. You are building loyal customers who refer others. A perceptual map can help visualize your position against competitors and identify gaps. And the wrong customers are self-selecting out, which means you are not wasting resources on people who were never going to be a good fit.
Comparative positioning tests whether customers see you as the best solution versus market leaders on the factors that matter most. Strong positioning also needs proof points that back up the promise. Patagonia signals a sustainable future by donating 1% of sales to environmental causes. Tesla differentiated through self-driving technology.
How often should I revisit my brand positioning?
Your core positioning should be stable enough to build on over years not seasons. Revisit your positioning strategy when you are launching something new, entering a new market, noticing your marketing is not converting, or when other factors shift, such as customer expectations or competitive moves. Think of positioning as a foundation not a campaign. Common brand positioning framework options you may recalibrate over time include value-based, quality-based, and innovation-based.
Where do I start if I want to strengthen my brand positioning?
Start with the exercise in this article. The goal is to end with a concise brand positioning statement that includes proof points for your target audience. That statement then becomes an internal north star that keeps marketing and messaging on the same page. Pick a character, build the product for them, then do it for a different character and notice how every decision changes. If you want support working through it, Big Red Jelly offers a free discovery call to help you figure out exactly where your positioning stands and what it needs.
