Product Positioning: The Strategic Setup
If you struggle with the strategic setup in: Design/Sense, Execution/Analytics and/or Strategy prompts, try reframing your approach in terms of product positioning.
I have been using product positioning for years without thinking about it as such for years. A few pieces I read this week helped me attach a better framework to what I like to call the strategic setup.
Let's Dive In...
To create a positioning statement, you have to think strategically about:
Target market
Define Unique Selling Point (USP)
Core Components of a positioning statement include:
Competitive Alternatives
Unique Attributes
Value
Target Market Characteristics
Market Category
Current Trends
Writing a Positioning Statement
The bones of a product positioning statement are:
target audience
unique value
standing out from competitors
key benefits
If you struggle with your strategic setup, try this quick checklist.
Let’s look at a real product. Think about MailChimp:
Imagine you were asked to improve MailChimp. Their positioning statement is likely: “Mailchimp empowers small businesses with an all-in-one marketing platform, offering innovative technology, award-winning support, and inspiring content.”
This positioning statement is very visionary, so if could also double as a mission. Stating it kills two birds with one stone and reduces your verbosity.
Positioning Strategies
Another approach is to think about the types of positioning strategies:
Characteristics
Pricing
User (Jobs to be Done)
Quality or Prestige
Competitor
This could be another 5-point checklist for you to use when you get nervous. You could turn it into a simple 1 to 3 sentence observation of the product/space/competitor before diving in.
If you can remember 8 things, this is a nice list as well:
What category are you in?
What are your capabilities?
What are your features?
What are the benefits?
Who is the person?
What do they do?
What is their problem?
What is the context?
Is 8 too much? Try just ask yourself these 5 questions instead of spinning your wheels:
What category?
What capabilities/benefits?
Who is the person?
What is their problem?
What is the context?
If you struggle with the strategic setup, even if that struggle is being concise, give one of these checklists a try as you practice this week.
You can use these for all the major case types”: ‘
Design/Sense: Talk about the general space by thinking about the category (broad prompt) or product (specific prompt).
Metrics: Get on the same page about the product by discussing the category, competition, unique benefits and common users.
Strategy: Set the scene before taking a point of view. What is the category, top trend(s), users, pain points, needs, and most importantly the competition.
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