# Obviously Awesome **April Dunford** | [[Strategy]]  --- > "Most products are exceptional only when we understand them within their best frame of reference." It's not that your product is bad—it's that you've placed it in the wrong context. Positioning isn't a marketing exercise or a tagline; it's the **deliberate act of setting context** so customers immediately understand what you are, why you matter, and why you're different. **If you don't position your product, the market will do it for you—and they'll get it wrong.** Companies fall into "default positioning" all the time, letting competitors or confused early customers define them. By the time you realise what's happened, you're trapped fighting battles you were never meant to fight. Dunford's **10-step positioning process** is a workshop-in-a-book that forces you to work backward from your happiest customers to discover what you actually do well, who truly cares, and what market category amplifies your strengths rather than obscuring them. --- ## Core Frameworks ### [[Positioning as Context Setting]] Positioning works like the opening scene of a film. Within seconds, the genre, tone, and stakes are set—which shapes how you interpret everything that follows. Customers encounter something new and immediately search for context. They ask "What is this thing? What else is like it? How should I judge it?" The context you provide (or that gets applied by default) determines what attributes they'll value and what trade-offs they'll accept. If your accounting software gets lumped in with Excel and spreadsheets, customers expect it to be free or cheap. If you're positioned as "enterprise workflow automation," suddenly the same product justifies a £50k annual contract. ### [[The Five Components of Positioning]] Dunford argues positioning has five essential elements: 1. **Competitive alternatives** – What would customers use if you didn't exist? (Not your direct competitors—what customers *actually* compare you to) 2. **Unique attributes** – Features or capabilities you have that alternatives don't 3. **Value (and proof)** – The meaningful benefit those attributes enable 4. **Target market characteristics** – Who cares enough about that value to pay for it? 5. **Market category** – The frame of reference that makes your strengths obvious Plus one bonus: **Relevant trends** – market shifts that make your solution timely. The order matters. Most companies start with category or try to invent differentiators. Dunford says start with your happiest customers and work backward. ### [[The 10-Step Positioning Process]] This is the operational core of the book—a facilitated workshop structure: 1. **Identify your happiest customers** – they reveal what you're actually good at 2. **Form a cross-functional positioning team** – sales, product, marketing, leadership 3. **Reset vocabulary and drop baggage** – see the product with fresh eyes 4. **List competitive alternatives** – what customers compare you against (not what you wish they did) 5. **Isolate unique attributes** – proof-backed differences that matter 6. **Map attributes to value themes** – features mean nothing; outcomes mean everything 7. **Determine who cares a lot** – segment by intensity of need, not demographics 8. **Choose a market frame of reference** – pick the category that does half your selling for you 9. **Layer on trends (carefully)** – add urgency if genuine, skip if forced 10. **Capture and share positioning** – codify it so the whole organisation aligns --- ## Key Insights **Don't confuse your competitors with your customer's alternatives.** If you sell CRM software, your real competition might be "spreadsheets and email"—not Salesforce. Positioning is relative: you're only "better" in comparison to something specific. **Attributes are features; value is what those features enable.** "Your opinion of your value does not count as proof"—only customer testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation count. Focus on *consideration* attributes (what drives purchase decisions) not *retention* attributes (what matters after they buy). **Category choice is strategic, not descriptive.** The wrong category makes your strengths look like weaknesses. A well-chosen category does half your selling: "We're like X, but for Y." Creating a new category is expensive and risky—only do it if no existing frame works. **Positioning translates directly into sales storytelling.** Define the problem customers face. Show how they solve it today (and where that fails). Describe the "perfect world" solution. Position your product as delivering that solution. Prove it with value themes, case studies, and objections handled. End with a clear next step. --- ## Connects To - [[Playing to Win]] – "Where to play" is tightly coupled with market category choice; both require choosing what you're *not* - [[7 Powers]] – [[Counter-Positioning]] often requires category repositioning (Vanguard wasn't a "mutual fund company," they were "low-cost index investing") - [[Better, Simpler Strategy]] – Positioning creates [[WTP]] (willingness-to-pay) by clarifying value in customer minds - [[Alchemy]] – Perception creates reality; positioning is applied psycho-logic - [[$100M Offers]] – Both focus on creating irresistible value propositions through framing and context --- ## Final Thought *Obviously Awesome* is the tactical playbook for making products comprehensible. Products aren't inherently good or bad, they're good or bad *within a context*. If your product isn't landing, the problem might not be the product. It might be the frame. What makes this book valuable isn't the theory (positioning has been around since Ries and Trout). It's the **process**. The 10-step framework is a forcing function that makes you confront uncomfortable truths: who actually buys from you? What do they compare you to? What do they care about? These aren't philosophical questions—they're research you can do this week. The most dangerous trap is assuming you know the answers without asking. Sales thinks one thing, marketing thinks another, product thinks a third. Meanwhile, customers are comparing you to something no one internally considered. The positioning workshop exists to surface and resolve those disconnects. **Category choice is strategic power.** Choose the right category and half your work is done. The category sets customer expectations, determines your competitive set, and influences pricing power. Get it wrong and you're forever explaining yourself. Get it right and you're obviously awesome.