Obviously Awesome Summary

Even the greatest product in the world can fail to shine if placed in the wrong hands or situation. Positioning isn’t just about standing out; it’s about being in the right frame so people instantly see your value.

1. Positioning is the Foundation of Success

Effective positioning ensures your product is correctly framed in the customer's mind. Without it, even an excellent product may go unnoticed, as customers won’t immediately see its value. Positioning sets the tone for how you compete, communicate, and connect with your market.

Positioning requires you to define the specific problem your product solves and understand the alternatives customers currently use. This analysis allows marketers and entrepreneurs to highlight how their product fits into real-world scenarios, making it easier for customers to discern its value. The aim here is not just to introduce features but to clarify why they matter.

For example, many entrepreneurs mistakenly assume their product’s value is self-evident. However, effective positioning maps a direct link between customer pain points and product benefits. By understanding this connection, you can craft a powerful value proposition that excites and engages potential users.

Examples

• A premium car manufacturer positions their car as a symbol of luxury and prestige, emphasizing comfort over cost.
• A protein bar brand focuses on athletes who need quick, clean energy rather than targeting casual snackers.
• A mortgage provider caters their offerings to first-time homebuyers, showcasing simplicity and education over lower rates.

2. Identify and Understand Your Target Customer

Products resonate best when they connect deeply with a specific group of people. Your ideal customer isn’t simply everyone in your market but those who’ll find exceptional fit and value in your product.

To identify these customers, analyze who’s already excited about your product. Look at buying patterns, feedback, and advocacy. These customers often reflect the clearest value match. Alternatively, if you don’t yet have a fan base, cast a wide net and pay attention to the groups that show the strongest engagement with your offering.

Understanding your customer’s perspective is just as important. How they relate to the product’s features and benefits may be different from your internal assumptions or knowledge. This outside-in view allows you to craft messaging and positioning that speaks directly to their desires.

Examples

• A tech startup identifies their core users as small business owners frustrated by complex accounting systems.
• A fitness app prioritizes millennial women who are balancing demanding careers with healthy lifestyles.
• A SaaS company realizes construction firms use their tool differently than other industries, helping them refine its messaging.

3. Build a Positioning Team for Clarity

The best positioning strategies come from teamwork, not isolated decisions. A group made up of sales, marketing, product, and customer service departments brings multiple perspectives to the table and creates alignment from start to finish.

Positioning isn’t just a marketing decision but an organizational one. A collective understanding ensures consistency in the product’s messaging, sales methods, and user experiences. By collaborating across functions, you can identify strengths, weaknesses, and points of differentiation otherwise missed.

This collaborative approach also helps overcome internal biases. Sometimes, early product decisions or initial assumptions linger even when the market demands new thinking. Getting diverse inputs allows you to uncover a more accurate and compelling positioning strategy.

Examples

• A marketing lead hears firsthand feedback from customer service reps about common complaints.
• A tech company uses insights from sales to see how competitors are being discussed in industry trade shows.
• Brainstorm sessions between product teams and marketers help refine product descriptions that once felt too vague.

4. Define Competitive Alternatives

Competition goes far beyond direct rivals. When shaping product perception, consider every possible alternative your customers might choose, even if it’s doing nothing at all. This broader understanding helps you see where your product truly excels.

For customers, the competition may span manual workflows, cheaper substitutes, or brand loyalty to longstanding vendors. It's essential to analyse these "hidden competitors" to position your product as a standout choice. Only by acknowledging this broader context can you communicate your unique benefits effectively.

For example, an online learning platform might compete against not just similar tools but free educational YouTube videos. By identifying the real competitors, you can refine positioning and amplify your distinct advantages.

Examples

• A premium coffee brand recognizes its toughest competitor is homemade coffee, not the café next door.
• A health tracker company frames its device as easier to use than spreadsheets or written food diaries.
• A travel insurance provider identifies non-purchasing travelers as competitors to target.

5. Highlight Unique Product Features

Differentiation is at the heart of positioning. Customers need a reason to choose your product over countless others. Focus on what makes your offering distinctive rather than blending into the crowd.

Uniqueness doesn’t just refer to physical features but extends to elegance, speed, simplicity, or value. Clearly communicate how these differences benefit the customer. When possible, use concrete evidence such as testimonials or third-party validation to back up these claims.

Be careful not to downplay what some might see as weaknesses. Sometimes, features seen as negative to one audience can appeal to another. For example, higher costs may represent superior quality to certain buyers.

Examples

• A smartphone brand highlights one-click installation apps as a game-changer for tech-shy buyers.
• A furniture retailer emphasizes durability even if costs are slightly higher than disposable competitors.
• A productivity app shows that scheduling adjustments offered by advanced AI saves users hours per week.

6. Map Features to Consumer Benefits

Connecting product features to customer advantages makes positioning crystal clear. Buyers tend to care about what the product does for them, rather than specific specs or mechanical details.

For instance, a heavy-duty sewing machine might highlight speed and power. But for consumers, these features might mean saving time and working with sturdier materials—communicating these benefits bridges the gap between the product and emotional buying triggers.

Sometimes a single feature offers multiple values. By unpacking these connections, marketers can craft positioning that resonates on deeper, more personal levels with buyers.

Examples

• A high-resolution monitor provides sharper imagery not just for gamers but also designer workflows.
• An ergonomic chair promotes comfortable seating now and fosters long-term posture support.
• A solar water heater highlights energy savings and environmental benefits that matter to eco-conscious audiences.

7. Emphasize the Right Audience Fit

Not everyone is your customer, and that’s okay. Success often comes from targeting the audiences who appreciate your product most. These are people who easily grasp your value, make quick purchasing decisions, and tell others about your brand.

Focus tightly on this group to get traction early. Starting small allows laser focus on perfecting both positioning and the product itself. As growth happens, only then should you consider ways to address a broader market.

Examples

• A premium software platform resonates best with enterprises and starts funneling all marketing efforts there.
• Independent authors find that their eBooks are most popular with readers who value shorter, actionable content.
• A personal care brand sees sales spike among eco-conscious millennials, shifting advertising efforts accordingly.

8. Choose Your Market Frame Wisely

How your product is compared impacts how people perceive it. By choosing the right market context, you can make your product’s value stand out clearly.

Some brands position directly against market leaders to draw attention. Others focus on niche markets—or even create entirely new categories. Regardless of the approach, your market setting must elevate and clarify your value to the audience.

For example, Tesla didn’t just position against gas-powered cars; it built its narrative around innovation and sustainability—tapping into cultural drivers of change.

Examples

• A sports drink frames itself not as a general beverage but as essential to performance athletes.
• A specialty ice cream brand positions itself against indulgent luxury desserts rather than simple snacks.
• A CRM software targets wholesalers instead of trying to compete with all business sales tools.

9. Document Positioning for Execution

Great positioning can falter without clear documentation. A detailed positioning statement becomes the foundation for consistent decision-making across marketing, sales, and even product development.

This document outlines your competition, unique features, and customer focus. It ensures everyone in the company stays aligned as products evolve and markets change. Flexibility remains key—adjusting the strategy regularly helps maintain relevance.

Consistent execution isn’t a one-time task; it evolves with time and competing forces like trends or shifts in demand. By revisiting this blueprint often, businesses ensure enduring relevance.

Examples

• An electronics firm updates messaging every year to account for changes in tech trends.
• An FMCG company uses the positioning document to shape seasonal advertising across regions.
• SaaS companies revisit positioning after IPOs or partnerships significantly expand global reach.

Takeaways

1. Regularly revisit positioning to keep it aligned with both market trends and evolving customer expectations.
2. Involve a cross-functional team in developing and refining positioning for broader perspectives and greater consistency.
3. Anchor product features in customer-facing benefits to clearly communicate value, not just technical specs.