According to Louis Grenier, who is an expert at Positioning and Differentiation, “Positioning lies at the intersection of these 3 things – Category, Value, Audience”.
While I have learned a lot from Louis, this has got to be the most profound thing that I have picked up. Today, I hope to arm you with this positioning framework, so that you can apply it to your brand.
Let’s try to decode this, shall we?
This is going to be a masterclass in positioning, so grab your hot chocolate and give me your undivided attention. Okay?
Disclaimer
This is me sharing Louis Grenier’s advice. I hope (for the sake of my ego, because I am a sensitive person), that I don’t screw this up. I can only hope that I have learned what Louis has tried to teach.
But there is a chance that I may be off the mark. If I am right, all the praise goes to Louis. If I am wrong, all the blame goes to me.
Framework for Positioning
Going back to what Louis said, Positioning lies at the intersection of Category, Audience, and Value.
The category refers to the bucket that your audience puts you in. When my friend Rohan introduces himself at parties, he says “I make WordPress websites.” Immediately the listener puts him in the category of “WordPress Website service provider”.
The audience is the group of people that you want to serve. Your target market.
The value… well, is the value that your product or service is going to provide to the audience.
To take an example, let’s enter my time machine and go back to 2015.
Okay, the world looks nice in 2015. Strangely no one here wears a mask… Anywho…
In 2015, we see that Mailchimp is a giant in Email marketing. In fact, whenever you think of email marketing, you think of Mailchimp. Such is the power of this brand.
Here’s what their home page looks like in 2015
Let’s go back to the framework.
For Mailchimp, the positioning is at the intersection of –
Category – Email marketing tool
Audience – All businesses
Value – Send better email
Clear?
Okay.
Now along comes Nathan Barry’s ConvertKit.
Nathan knows that ConvertKit can’t take beat Mailchimp in the email marketing game. In order to win, ConvertKit needs to change the game. In other words, they need a different positioning.
Nathan decides to focus on a niche audience – Bloggers.
With some research, Nathan finds out that bloggers have certain frustrations while using Mailchimp for their email marketing. And this exact frustration is what ConvertKit decides to capitalize on.
Here’s what the home page of Convertkit looks like in 2015
Convertkit’s positioning thus becomes –
Category – Email marketing tool
Audience – Professional Bloggers
Value – Email Marketing
Okay, enough of time-traveling. Let’s enter the time machine, come back to 2022, and do some introspection.
Last I checked, ConvertKit has an ARR of USD 29 million. There’s little doubt that ConvertKit was super successful in creating a unique positioning for itself.
In hindsight, it’s not hard to figure out why they succeeded. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine that you are a professional blogger who is evaluating different email marketing tools to promote your blog. Which one would you choose? A generic email marketing tool or an email marketing tool that has specially been created for bloggers?
By just changing one variable(the audience), Convertkit was able to stand out.
What does this mean for all of us?
It seems that positioning does indeed lie at the intersection of 3 variables – Category, Audience, and Value.
If there is a giant in your industry, you can find your footing by serving an underserved audience. Figure out the ‘bleeding neck’ problem of this underserved audience and become a no-brainer solution for them.
Choose a tiny, underserved audience and create a unique positioning for yourself.
What about the other variables?
What would happen if you change other variables -“Value” and “Category”? Will this help in your positioning? Definitely, yes. But more on that, later.
For now, let’s just be happy that we got to be Doctor Who today. If you didn’t get that reference, your life choices are questionable.
According to Louis Grenier, who is an expert at Positioning and Differentiation, “Positioning lies at the intersection of these 3 things – Category, Value, Audience”.
While I have learned a lot from Louis, this has got to be the most profound thing that I have picked up. Today, I hope to arm you with this positioning framework, so that you can apply it to your brand.
Let’s try to decode this, shall we?
This is going to be a masterclass in positioning, so grab your hot chocolate and give me your undivided attention. Okay?
Disclaimer
This is me sharing Louis Grenier’s advice. I hope (for the sake of my ego, because I am a sensitive person), that I don’t screw this up. I can only hope that I have learned what Louis has tried to teach.
But there is a chance that I may be off the mark. If I am right, all the praise goes to Louis. If I am wrong, all the blame goes to me.
Framework for Positioning
Going back to what Louis said, Positioning lies at the intersection of Category, Audience, and Value.
The category refers to the bucket that your audience puts you in. When my friend Rohan introduces himself at parties, he says “I make WordPress websites.” Immediately the listener puts him in the category of “WordPress Website service provider”.
The audience is the group of people that you want to serve. Your target market.
The value… well, is the value that your product or service is going to provide to the audience.
To take an example, let’s enter my time machine and go back to 2015.
Okay, the world looks nice in 2015. Strangely no one here wears a mask… Anywho…
In 2015, we see that Mailchimp is a giant in Email marketing. In fact, whenever you think of email marketing, you think of Mailchimp. Such is the power of this brand.
Here’s what their home page looks like in 2015
Let’s go back to the framework.
For Mailchimp, the positioning is at the intersection of –
Category – Email marketing tool
Audience – All businesses
Value – Send better email
Clear?
Okay.
Now along comes Nathan Barry’s ConvertKit.
Nathan knows that ConvertKit can’t take beat Mailchimp in the email marketing game. In order to win, ConvertKit needs to change the game. In other words, they need a different positioning.
Nathan decides to focus on a niche audience – Bloggers.
With some research, Nathan finds out that bloggers have certain frustrations while using Mailchimp for their email marketing. And this exact frustration is what ConvertKit decides to capitalize on.
Here’s what the home page of Convertkit looks like in 2015
Convertkit’s positioning thus becomes –
Category – Email marketing tool
Audience – Professional Bloggers
Value – Email Marketing
Okay, enough of time-traveling. Let’s enter the time machine, come back to 2022, and do some introspection.
Last I checked, ConvertKit has an ARR of USD 29 million. There’s little doubt that ConvertKit was super successful in creating a unique positioning for itself.
In hindsight, it’s not hard to figure out why they succeeded. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine that you are a professional blogger who is evaluating different email marketing tools to promote your blog. Which one would you choose? A generic email marketing tool or an email marketing tool that has specially been created for bloggers?
By just changing one variable(the audience), Convertkit was able to stand out.
What does this mean for all of us?
It seems that positioning does indeed lie at the intersection of 3 variables – Category, Audience, and Value.
If there is a giant in your industry, you can find your footing by serving an underserved audience. Figure out the ‘bleeding neck’ problem of this underserved audience and become a no-brainer solution for them.
Choose a tiny, underserved audience and create a unique positioning for yourself.
What about the other variables?
What would happen if you change other variables -“Value” and “Category”? Will this help in your positioning? Definitely, yes. But more on that, later.
For now, let’s just be happy that we got to be Doctor Who today. If you didn’t get that reference, your life choices are questionable.