Brand Positioning

An MBA will tell you about the 3Cs of brand positioning. Customer, Company and Competitors. Who are you catering to, what your company stands for and how your company stands apart from its competition. The brand’s positioning is precariously placed at the intersection of these 3Cs. You either hit the jackpot or are another lost ship in marketing’s Bermuda Triangle.

Needless to say, we hit the jackpot. We found the sweet spot where Stahl should be positioned. But without the MBA, we did what we do best. We got creative. It started with a Stahl pop-up, right in our office. A pop-up with a side of Bombay’s best view. We then invited a mix of Patricians, Parvenus, Poseurs and Proletarians. (Talk about management jargon.)

The Country Head of Les Roches, Glion & École Ducasse, the Consulting Director, Business and Brand Strategy of Ferry Wharf Communications, the Chief Strategy Officer of Interbrand and the Founder of The Hijibijee Collective were just some of the people

who walked through our doors to pay a closer look at Stahl’s cookware. They took in the innovations. They tested the quality. And gave their verdict. It was unanimous. Stahl was better than any other brand out there. It’s stellar product line with a close-to-invisible logo, already positioned it where most brands spend millions of dollars on being. Right up there with the Patricians.

But (of course there is a but), it was perceived to be an expensive one. This gave us the singular task of making Stahl as a coveted brand. By breaking down everyone’s observations and reservations, it came down to two factors that they believed differentiated Stahl from every other cookware brand. Aesthetics and function.

The attention given to every detail. The care with which every product was crafted. The pride with which they were engineered. It all just simply positioned Stahl to be ‘Designed Different’.

A pop-up with the best view of Bombay.

Seeing is believing. At least we think so. So the first step in researching the brand and the space it occupies in the market, we got every single SKU to our office. We held each one. Tested them. Studied the materials. And were awestruck by their technology. (Cast iron that doesn’t rust? Unbelievable!) We then invited people from different walks of life. Culinary pros, cooking enthusiasts, retired mums, young couples and international students. Some were seasoned users of Stahl, some were new to it. As each one walked into our office, they shared their cooking practices with us and fell in love with the brand. This reaffirmed our findings. Stahl was definitely on its way to being a coveted brand.

The quest to find the perfect one.

The first time we met the founder of Stahl, he sat back in his chair, fiddling with a pan handle. Through the three hour meeting, as we discussed our imminent partnership, the pan handle was toyed with. Tight. Loose. Left. Right. It went on. At the end of the meeting, he handed the handle over to us and asked us what it felt like to hold it. What did the weight feel like? How did it fit in our palm? What did the material feel like? Unbeknownst to us, he was testing the handle all this time. And just like Goldilocks, he was on a quest to find the handle that wasn’t too big or small, but fit every cook’s needs, just right.

Designing for a brand that’s designed different.

The research. The interviews. The science. And the art of it. It all told us one thing and one thing only. Stahl was designed different. People just hadn’t heard of it. It was our job to change that. Let’s be honest. That’s what we do best. The brand positioning made it a whole lot easier for us to extend the philosophy to social media, outdoor hoardings and performance ads. Be it for the brand, the products or the technology, we designed artwork and crafted copy that spoke to the Patricians and was understood by the Parvenus. We trusted the process and knew the Poseurs would come next.

First step. Introduce the world to Stahl.

This needs to be an amalgamation of thought, attention and care that goes into mastering every product. So when someone brings Stahl home, it intuitively becomes an extension of themselves. This transcends product talk and technology jargon. It encompasses the philosophy of the brand with a subtle stamp of pride.

Let’s get down to business.

When it came to showcasing the different categories and products, given the brand positioning of Stahl being designed different, we couldn’t just talk about features. The communication had to talk about aspirations of experiences far beyond everyday living.

When science meets art.

With technologies pioneered and perfected by Stahl, they truly were a piece of art. It’s what sets them apart from their competition. It reiterates the brand positioning of them being designed different. So we put the spotlight on their three different technologies. Triply. Hexaridge. Nitride.

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Video content that is designed different.

In a category where food is the primary visual communication, we made the materials, the technology and the product, the real hero. Copy was crafted to be simple yet elevated. The clean visual language was extended to this format, positioning the brand to be coveted by the higher echelons.

Serving it on a platter to the people who matter.

But all this had to be shared with the people who matter most. The people who interact the most with the audience. The sales team. We presented the philosophy, the strategy and the communication to them. So when they talk to the Patricians and the Parvenus they know how to position the brand and go beyond just discussing the features and price point of Stahl.

Brand positioning that was designed to be different

Brand positioning that was designed to be different.

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