In an attempt to create a statement that means something to everyone, you end up with one that means nothing to anyone.

The pieces of information within a positioning statement are important to know and communicate. Who is our target customer? How do we define our space/category? What is the benefit we provide to our audience? Who do we compete with? How do we do things differently?

You don’t trust what brands tell you because you know they are just trying to sell you something.

It wasn’t a sales pitch. It was simply Apple sharing that they believed in a world of happiness and simplicity. We envisioned ourselves in that silhouette and immediately wanted to be in that world—that story.

The brands you love don’t tell you how great they are. They show you how great they are. They live their story.

the brands we loved most did not necessarily have superior products and services.

This experience caused us to take a step back and question everything we were taught as marketing professionals—the positioning statements, unique selling points, key messages, and so on.

Harley-Davidson has a cult following, but their motorcycles are not really any better than BMW, Kawasaki, or Ducati. Apple’s iPhone clearly started a revolution, but Samsung, Nokia, and others also have some amazing alternatives.

our work had to be good. We had to have the experience the client needed, and we had to be priced on par with everyone else they met with. But that was just the baseline to be in the game. When virtually all else was equal—or even when the score was slightly out of our favor—we would come out on top. They liked us. They trusted us. And they wanted