Positioning

Positioning is the answer to four buyer questions, in this order: (1) What is this? (2) Who is it for? (3) What does it do better than the alternatives? (4) Why should I care?

Strong positioning is concrete enough that a buyer can repeat it back to you in their own words. Weak positioning is generic enough that the same description could apply to a dozen competitors.

The most useful positioning framework in current practice is April Dunford's 5-step canvas:

1. Alternatives. What would the buyer use if your product didn't exist?
2. Unique attributes. What does your product do that those alternatives can't?
3. Value. What does that enable the buyer to do?
4. Best-fit customer. Who cares most about that value?
5. Market category. What space does the buyer mentally place you in?

Positioning is often confused with marketing copy. Marketing copy is the surface-level expression of positioning, but the positioning itself is the strategic decision behind the copy. Two products with the same tagline can have very different positioning depending on alternatives, customer, and category.

In competitive contexts, positioning is also a moving target. When a competitor occupies a new category word, your positioning may need to shift in response — either to share the category or to claim an adjacent one. Tracking positioning shifts at competitors is one of the core jobs of competitive intelligence.