Distinctiveness is the key when it comes to brand codes. However, the research carried out by Ipsos and JKR, analysing over 5,000 brand assets, found that many failed to meet the mark.

Don’t hide behind features and functions - discover your value and introduce yourself based on what really matters.

With the new availability of online survey panels and platforms, a decent diagnosis can be done in under three months and for a lot less budget than you might expect.

Your *why* isn’t just a marketing story or something your brand agency suggests when creating your brand logo, strapline or positioning. It’s the power to keep your business alive.

Taking the time to discover these insights about your customer enables you to make better connections and ultimately leads to better sales.

You are asking potential clients or investors to put down the iPhone, turn of Netflix, shut off the football game, stop working on emails, get of zoom, and prioritise you over everything else. They won't be able to do this if they don't understand in seconds why they should.

Your Unique Value Proposition is your superpower for getting through to a VC. They are looking for ‘super’ - so don’t forget this important step. If you can’t articulate your value why will they see any?

A fantastic logo and smart savvy strapline is great. But it’s not going to guarantee that your customer cares.

In order to understand if you have a unique value proposition, it’s helpful to understand what one isn’t. A strong value proposition is the difference between your audience (investors, customers, partners and even media) paying attention to you or moving straight past.

Congratulations you have your funding! Now it’s time to start building your marketing to drive growth. Start thinking of this a bit like dating. You need to woo your potential customers, make them fall in love you and make lots of beautiful contracts together.

Whether you're early or late, being strategic about how you use and develop your value proposition to drive your marketing activities can make a significant difference.

If you want your idea to win support and backing then build an internal value proposition. Connect the power of your innovation to solve their company problem.

Don’t forget the 5th W - aka why. It’s the most challenging but the most powerful question to answer for your marketing and sales.

Rainbow washing is using the logo for marketing purposes to drive engagement or sales without authentically caring about the community.

It’s great when you actually get a nurture email that approaches the situation with a little humanity. Looking to up your nurture strategy game? Here is a great example of approaching this from the outside in.

Whether you are a marketer, entrepreneur or business owner, it can be really confusing to understand the nuanced difference between a unique value proposition and brand positioning. So here is some insight into how they are different and what it takes to have a brand position that doesn’t suck.

Surprisingly, only 2.2% of companies have useful value propositions. Your unique value proposition gives you an opportunity to beat the competition and connect to customers, funders and partners faster!

I'm giving those of you who want to conquer the dizzying heights of blog writing one great tip on making it more fun and for those of you who never want to write again, five insights about why outsourcing is not such a bad idea either.