Article · ~8 min read

Everything You Know About Positioning Is Wrong

April Dunford · aprildunford.com Free Advanced

The argument for treating positioning as iterative and cross-functional rather than a one-time launch decision, which is what separates companies that keep it sharp from ones whose story rots. Also the case for reframing a market instead of accepting its boundaries.

  • Positioning dates to Jack Trout in 1969 and the Ries and Trout book, written for an era of scarce channels.
  • Digital changed three things: buyers now gather data outside the company, feedback arrives in hours not months, and market boundaries keep moving.
  • So positioning has to be iterative and cross-functional (product plus market), not a one-time marketing exercise.
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It answers 3 questions

  1. Our positioning reads fine on the website but every rep says something different on calls. How do I fix that?
  2. Do we need to create a new category, or should we position inside one that already exists?
  3. How do the best B2B companies get positioning agreed when product, sales and the founders all disagree?

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