Brand Architecture, what it is and why it's important.

Brand positioning is something a company should put a great deal of thought into, before actually deciding what their positioning statement actually is. It is extremely important to make sure consumers know exactly what the brand is in the market and how they differ from other products that are similar. A brand has to decide what it is about them that makes them stand out above others, what is "special" about them. If a brand doesn't stand out in the market, it's not going to last, if a consumer has no idea if the product (brand) is better in someway or another and they have no loyalty to the brand itself, then they are just going to pick whatever jumps out at them, without putting any thought into it. How the consumer views the brand is also pretty vital, because they have to feel like they trust the brand in some way or another, and therefore could potentially become loyal to the brand and only that brand, which is ultimately what a company strives for.
Some examples of brands that have had great success in this department are Ford, Ford vehicles are build tough especially their trucks. Wendy's drive through is open later than most fast food companies. Subway is the "fresh" way to go when it comes to sandwiches. Mac is more advanced and easy to use. Wal-Mart is the constantly rolling pack their prices, and the list goes on and on.
I believe when there is a new brand, their positioning statement is the most important thing, the positioning of the brand should be one of the first things that is decided because it's what everything around the brand is based on. It gets confusing when it comes to brands that are very similar, for example Coke and Pepsi are pretty much the exact same thing they do differ in taste and their packaging is different, however I don't think I've ever known what the true difference between them is, and maybe they did this on purpose because a brand like Coke or Pepsi is something people are very brand loyal about, I think both of these brands need to better define themselves, not that they're not doing very well or anything but I think that it would be nice to truly know what the two brands are about and how exactly they differ so maybe people can have an easier time choosing one brand over the other.