The highest compliment for a brand is hearing customers repeat its positioning back to you.
For 14 years, My wife and I drove a Volvo.
One thing kept surprising us.
People regularly commented on it.
Sometimes it was a friend. Other times, a client. And occasionally it was someone we’d just casually met.
The comments varied, but they usually came down to the same thing.
“Safe car.”
I wrote in I Need That that those conversations taught me something important about branding.
Nobody ever complimented me on the Volvo’s crumple zones, side-impact protection system, or the countless engineering decisions that made the cars exceptionally safe.
They complimented me for valuing safety.
Volvo’s positioning had become part of my identity.
Now the company is reinforcing that same idea in another way.
To mark Dogust, the unofficial birthday celebration for rescue dogs, Volvo surveyed American dog owners.
It found that 93% travel with their dogs, yet 61% don’t restrain them, and nearly three-quarters admit their dogs distract them while driving.
Rather than simply promoting its line of dog harnesses, gates and travel cages, Volvo used the research to remind owners that EVERY passenger deserves protection.
Including the furry ones.
That’s classic Volvo.
The company could have framed this around convenience, pet comfort, or accessories.
Instead, it expanded what “safety” means.
A safe Volvo isn’t only one that protects the driver, human passengers and pedestrians.
It’s one that protects the entire family, including the pet riding in the back.
Great brands don’t trash-bin their positioning when they introduce a new product or speak to a different audience.
They find another way to reinforce the SAME idea.
That’s why, years after selling my last Volvo, I can still predict what someone will say (or think) when they hear I used to own one.
Because Volvo spent decades helping people associate safety with the kind of person who chooses to drive one.
If you’d like help creating and marketing products people feel compelled to buy, the product marketing consultants at Graphos Product can help.