"Professional yet approachable" isn't a position β it's a hiding spot
Liquid Death built a $1.4B brand selling water by asking "who's being ignored?" instead of "how do we position this?"
Generic positioning feels safe but attracts no one
This is the year to stop blending in
Happy 2026!
Quick question:
How many times have you tried to explain what makes your business different - and watched the other person's eyes glaze over halfway through?
Like:
You start strong - "We help companies with..."
Their eyes are with you. You add the qualifier - "...through our proprietary approach to..."
They nod politely.
You try to land it - "...delivering personalized solutions that drive results"
And you've officially lost 'em.
You know you're different.
But somehow it never comes out that way?
[Internal Dialogue Moment]
"Maybe we just need to work on our pitch..." "Maybe what we do is just too hard to explain..."
Here's the thing:
It's probably not your pitch. It's that you haven't made the hard choices that make a business actually easy to explain.
Quick Story
In 2019, a former Netflix creative director had a wild idea: sell canned water with skull imagery, gothic fonts, and the slogan "Murder Your Thirst."
What???
Every positioning framework would have killed this concept. Too niche. Too weird. Too risky.
Today? $1.4B valuation.
Here's what most people miss about Liquid Death:
They didn't ask "how do we position water?"
They asked a completely different question: Who is being completely ignored by every water brand on the market?
The answer: People who'd normally grab a Red Bull or a beer. People who think Evian is boring. People who live a little more on the edge than Aquafina.
Once they got specific about who they were for, everything else clicked.
Their voice isn't "friendly and approachable." It's irreverent, dark, anti-corporate.
Their POV isn't "water is healthy." It's water doesn't have to be boring, and the industry has been insulting consumers for decades.
Entertainment-first marketing is their MOAT.
And none of that comes from a positioning template. It comes from the courage to be specific about who you're for - and who you're not for.
(AI-generated image, but you get the point π)
Now... most businesses will do a positioning exercise sometime this year. And most will end up with the same vague language they had last year.
...only because being specific feels too risky.
"Professional yet approachable" feels safe. It doesn't alienate anyone. But it also doesn't attract anyone.
In 2026, I'm betting on the brands that have the clarity that comes from making a real choice about who they're for.
Framework: 3 Questions Worth Asking this January
β Who is being ignored? Not just "who is our target market?" but who is feeling awkward or left out? Liquid Death sold social camouflage. They found the people who wanted to drink water at a party without looking like the designated driver holding a flimsy plastic bottle.
β What do we believe that others won't say? Every brand has a point of view hiding underneath the polished messaging. What's yours? What's the thing you believe about your industry that might make some people uncomfortable?
β What are we not willing to do? Clarity comes as much from what you reject as what you embrace. Liquid Death rejected everything about traditional water marketing - the purity language, the blue color palettes, the health claims. What's your version of that?
In the research:
The cost of being forgettable is going up:
π° iStock/VisualGPS research found 6 in 10 consumers now distrust advertising they believe is AI-generated or inauthentic - generic positioning is actively working against you
π° The same study showed 83% of people say higher-quality, distinctive content stands out more than ever - because everything else looks the same
π° LocaliQ's 2026 SMB Report revealed 66% of SMBs cite economic uncertainty as their top challenge - which means every piece of marketing needs to work harder, not just exist.
AI makes "good enough" content easy. The only real competitive advantage you have is being unmistakably YOU.
So, here's the next step...
Before you launch that next marketing campaign, answer the 3 questions. Honestly. Uncomfortably.
Get specific enough that you could describe your ideal customer's worldview, not just their demographics.
Get clear enough on what you believe that some people might disagree.
Get bold enough about what you won't do that it actually closes some doors.
Because in 2026, the brands that win will be the ones who finally make a clear decision on who they're FOR, and moved forward with that choice boldly.
Dani
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Your competitive edge isn't better AI prompts - it's having a brand strategy your AI can actually execute.
Most companies are throwing random prompts at generic tools - feeding them scattered docs and hoping for something "on brand."
We do it differently: we build your brand foundation first - codifying your positioning, messaging, story, and voice into a living system your AI understands.
The result? Your AI stops acting like an intern and starts performing like your most reliable marketing teammate.
Your team creates content that sounds more like you, moves 3x faster, and never needs another "does this feel on-brand?" review.
Because when AI knows your brand as well as you do, consistency stops being a struggle - and starts becoming your unfair advantage.