Recently, Elephants were on a Retail Safari around Marylebone and came across Martel+Ram. The men’s footwear specialist on New Cavendish Street caught our eye with their window display and we immediately felt the clarity of what the business and the brand stood for… enough that we consider it our Brand of the Month.
Their brand positioning is written boldly in their window, and similarly on their website: ‘Classic Mens’ Footwear With Trainer-Level Comfort’. Martel+Ram are showing us the power of simple brand propositions. They have inspired us to think about how we advise clients to propose succinct claims that make sense for their brand.
Why did we like Martel + Ram’s brand proposition so much?
It speaks to a real need.
Most of us don’t want to suffer to look smart. We don’t want the blisters and the hard edges of leather digging into our Achilles’ heels.
It’s relevant now.
We have been WFH for months now. And we have all been able to have relaxed clothing and footwear, at least out of the view of our zoom cameras. But now many of us are being expected to come back to work. How can I have work-level attire and home-level comfort?
It’s clear.
Short, to the point and easy to understand. With just 7 words, we can get a feel for the business’ purpose and identity.
It’s dramatic.
The clash of classic vs trainer is the clash between formal vs informal, school rules vs childhood rebellion, work vs play. It therefore causes an almost visceral level of understanding.
It does not have to re-invent the wheel.
Martel+Ram takes an idea that other businesses might also have in mind, and they execute it remarkably.
All of the above are worth keeping in mind when defining your brand positioning. You don’t need an entire dictionary to verbalise your brand, just the right words – and this is something we can help with! Have a look at some of our work including projects in brand positioning and do reach out if there any brands you think Elephants can learn from and should feature next month.
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