The biggest question is how is product positioning actually different than the brand positioning. And are both the process different or require different processes?
I think some folks use those terms interchangeably and I hate that! In my mind branding is separate from positioning. Positioning should be an input (who is our best fit customer, how are we different from competitors) that allows you to better shape the branding elements to help communicate that positioning (tone, imagery, design).
I have heard brand people define the word "brand" as something that includes both brand and positioning. I disagree with that but however you define the words, you need both things.
Are you saying brand positioning is not required? Just product positioning makes sense.? Then the entire brand is positioned on the product positioning?
There is so much chaos around this. Wanted some clarity of how this works.
We can position products or groups of products or the entire company. We don't position "brands" - in my mind there is no such thing as "brand positioning." We have positioning (for a product, set of product or a company) and we have branding (which can also be applied to a product, set of products or company).
I suspect you define "branding" in a different way than I do (which is fair!), but coming from B2B tech, that's how I see it.
Simple as it has a non derivative understanding of what is needed to be done and powerful as it is, in fact, what will make we loose a screw and do lots of rework if not to be decided early.
Amazing that you will be delivering a second edition since the book it self, in that way, proves your statement that, the market pulls the product/brand/company and..book (why not?) into what resonates and for whom, changing the original thesis.
Totally agree. What I see is that even if the companies have done a reasonable job of customer development pre-launch, they still need to understand how customers make decisions in a purchase process. What competitors do they really compare us to? How do they get a budget for a project? Who else is truly involved in the decision? Who is the real champion in a deal? There is no way to figure this out beyond closing a first wave of deals. If we over-tighten our positioning before that, we could prevent ourselves from learning exactly what we need to learn to make the product really successful.
These questions are all part of the customer development exercise that I normally do - regardless whether you have customers or talking to prospects that are in different parts of the buying committee. That is customer discovery, then customer validation, then customer demand, company demand.
I find that once you have these nailed down - you can have a loose positioning hypothesis. Neither PMF nor positioning are static.
What works for 10 customers won't for 50; new segments, new markets, new competitors, etc.. It is an open system with 80% of the time variables that are outside of the company's control. It is also highly probabilistic and has a time lag.
As long as we are comfortable with uncertainty at times and flexible enough to pivot, that is what the end goal is.
These “pre-decisions” are the whole game - without them, positioning turns into an endless debate about wording. It’s less a slide, more a commitment you’ll defend later
The biggest question is how is product positioning actually different than the brand positioning. And are both the process different or require different processes?
Thanks / Sandeep.
I think some folks use those terms interchangeably and I hate that! In my mind branding is separate from positioning. Positioning should be an input (who is our best fit customer, how are we different from competitors) that allows you to better shape the branding elements to help communicate that positioning (tone, imagery, design).
I have heard brand people define the word "brand" as something that includes both brand and positioning. I disagree with that but however you define the words, you need both things.
Hi April,
Are you saying brand positioning is not required? Just product positioning makes sense.? Then the entire brand is positioned on the product positioning?
There is so much chaos around this. Wanted some clarity of how this works.
Thanks.
Sandeep.
We can position products or groups of products or the entire company. We don't position "brands" - in my mind there is no such thing as "brand positioning." We have positioning (for a product, set of product or a company) and we have branding (which can also be applied to a product, set of products or company).
I suspect you define "branding" in a different way than I do (which is fair!), but coming from B2B tech, that's how I see it.
I would love for you to do a podcast on an article or a post on positioning a company (because that's what I am confusing brand positioning with.
Process to position product and process to position a company.
Thanks!
I think the process is the same! For a company you look at the total capabilities across all of the offerings. Otherwise it is the same.
Thank you.
That’s just simple but powerful decisions.
Simple as it has a non derivative understanding of what is needed to be done and powerful as it is, in fact, what will make we loose a screw and do lots of rework if not to be decided early.
Amazing that you will be delivering a second edition since the book it self, in that way, proves your statement that, the market pulls the product/brand/company and..book (why not?) into what resonates and for whom, changing the original thesis.
Great work.
Thanks so much!
Working with pre-seed/seed stage startups; I see the broken customer development before you can even get to positioning.
Tech founders are brilliant product developers. But that process is linear while customer development is not:
A lot of the questions you ask above have to be grounded in customer development first which leads to PMF.
Even positioning thesis before PMF fails otherwise.
Can’t wait for the second edition of the book. Loved the first one and the sales pitch.
Totally agree. What I see is that even if the companies have done a reasonable job of customer development pre-launch, they still need to understand how customers make decisions in a purchase process. What competitors do they really compare us to? How do they get a budget for a project? Who else is truly involved in the decision? Who is the real champion in a deal? There is no way to figure this out beyond closing a first wave of deals. If we over-tighten our positioning before that, we could prevent ourselves from learning exactly what we need to learn to make the product really successful.
These questions are all part of the customer development exercise that I normally do - regardless whether you have customers or talking to prospects that are in different parts of the buying committee. That is customer discovery, then customer validation, then customer demand, company demand.
I find that once you have these nailed down - you can have a loose positioning hypothesis. Neither PMF nor positioning are static.
What works for 10 customers won't for 50; new segments, new markets, new competitors, etc.. It is an open system with 80% of the time variables that are outside of the company's control. It is also highly probabilistic and has a time lag.
As long as we are comfortable with uncertainty at times and flexible enough to pivot, that is what the end goal is.
It's almost like we're seeing these principles play out in real time, with the release of Obviously Awesome 2nd Edition.
These “pre-decisions” are the whole game - without them, positioning turns into an endless debate about wording. It’s less a slide, more a commitment you’ll defend later
possible to give examples in this?