Read Time: 1 min 59 secs

Hey — Ryan To here.

In today’s edition we’ll be covering:

I’ve heard all the allegations:

‘social media is too saturated!’

‘there’s too much competition!’

‘the algorithm is rigged!’

Well here’s the reality:

Social media isn’t saturated… you’re just not positioning your brand effectively

Here’s the 3-part Brand Positioning Playbook that challengers brands use to consistently stand out:

This is the exact same playbook used by Liquid Death, Minted New York, and Cava

Let’s dive in:

When every brand looks and sounds the same, pick the unique stance, value, or format that makes you stand out

Check out @LiquidDeath, 7.2M followers in the $300B bottled market industry

While every water brand tried to play it safe, they leaned into being edgy and viral

The worst thing you can do is copy

Liquid Death managed to use the power of branding, positioning, and marketing to make water ‘cool’ for a younger audience

Ask yourself: What’s your industry hot take that nobody else is saying?

This is where you combine your category with a second niche to create a unique identity

Check out @mintednewyork who combined Running + Fashion

Want their full 8-page case study? Read it here

When you combine niches, you create something totally new

Ask yourself: If your brand didn’t just live in your category, where else could you expand to?

Here’s a secret:

Some of the fastest-growing brands aren’t inventing new ideas…

They’re importing ideas that already worked in other industries + platforms

Check out @cava who’s doing this with @bowlmatesshow

They took Netflix’s ‘Love is Blind’ dating series and made their own version on short-form Instagram

Here’s how you can do this:

Here’s a list of brand examples for every category I mentioned:

Thanks for showing up this week ❤️