THIS is how you nail your positioning – Lesson 2/3 by Yoto.

This is part of a series on 3 essential lessons on brand, courtesy of our recent talk with Yoto’s Head of Brand, Huntley Gorden.

If you missed part 1, you can catch up here.

This is part 2.

Every startup graveyard is filled with brands that refused to pivot their positioning.

Most of us are taught to pin down our brand positioning early on and try to hold onto our position in the market for as long as possible.

But building resilience and creating opportunity for growth often means doing the opposite.

It means interrogating your positioning and being prepared to adapt as often as it takes.

In the words of Huntley, it’s a ‘don’t build in bricks and mortar, but build in sand’ kind of approach.

Here are 3 frameworks taken straight from Yoto’s playbook, to help you create a brand positioning that cuts through - and lasts long.

1. Your category isn’t your competition

Yoto wasn’t competing with other kid’s audio player brands like Tonies. They were competing with iPads and TVs.

What your customers are choosing between aren’t products from the same category - they’re choosing between problems. Priorities. Pressures.

2. Your positioning is a living thing

During lockdown, “screen-free” was trending.

Parents were panicked and Yoto saw an opportunity with how to position themselves.

But as screen time anxiety dropped post-pandemic, so did conversion.

Site visits stayed high, but sales? Not so much.

When you’re in a nascent category in an early startup, you need to be constantly updating your thinking on how you’re providing value.

It means identifying when and how your audience is maturing and developing your value proposition to match.

3. Increased category awareness affects brand perception

As an audience’s awareness of a category expands, their perception of the brands within it also shifts.

So while screen-free was the initial hook for Yoto, they realised that as time went on, simply positioning themselves as the ‘kid-friendly alternative to screens’ wouldn't be differentiating enough.

So they zoomed out and looked at the wider ecosystem of the product. They placed more emphasis on being a parent-first platform, with messaging centred around helping put kids in charge of their own adventures.

For now this is working for them. In another 5 years? It might be time for something slightly different.