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Product positioning: the method operators actually use

Product positioning is the context you set around your product. A buyer should see what it is and who it is for. They should see why it beats the alternative they would settle for. Strong positioning is not a tagline or a logo. It is a sequence operators run. April Dunford's version starts with what the customer would do if you did not exist. Features come later. This guide walks the method step by step. Each move links to the operator behind it. They disagree in places.

Why this matters. Get positioning wrong and everything downstream inherits the error. Your category. Your price. Your pitch. As Dunford puts it: get the competitive alternatives wrong. Everything downstream is wrong.

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Ask Gavel to position your product against your real alternatives. Use named operators instead of the generic average.

40-60%

of B2B purchase processes end in no decision. Not because the status quo won, but because the buyer couldn't choose. Sharp positioning is what makes the choice obvious.

April Dunford Lenny's Podcast

The short answer

Product positioning in five steps

Positioning isn't a tagline you write; it's a sequence you work through. Run these in order. Your category, pitch and page fall out of them.

  1. 1

    1. Map the real alternatives

    What would your best customers do if you did not exist? A spreadsheet. An intern. A rival. Nothing at all. That set is your reference point, not the competitor you obsess over.

  2. 2

    2. Find your unique attributes

    List the capabilities you have that those alternatives lack. Judge them from the customer's point of view, not from your feature roadmap.

  3. 3

    3. Translate attributes into value

    For each one ask what it means for the customer. Group the answers into two or three value themes people can hold in their heads.

  4. 4

    4. Name your best-fit segment

    The customers who care most about that value. Define them by what they do, not by demographics. Win them first, then widen.

  5. 5

    5. Choose the frame and make it distinctive

    Pick the market category that sets the right expectations. Then keep one idiosyncrasy. It makes you memorable, not just correct.

Counter-positioning is the advanced move layered on top. Where you can, choose a step-three value the incumbent can't match. Use the spokes below to go deep on any single step.

Why generic advice fails here

Where generic AI positioning advice falls short

It can't see your real alternative

Ask a generic model to position your product and it starts from your features. It ignores the spreadsheet or the status quo the buyer would otherwise use. So it differentiates against a named rival. It misses the do-nothing buyer, who is most of the market.

It optimizes you into the average

Tell an LLM to make your positioning stronger and it sands off the idiosyncrasy that made you memorable. It regresses to the mean. That mean comes from its training data. It's the opposite of the distinctiveness that gets you remembered.

It picks one play and sounds sure

Generic advice can't tell you whether to fit an existing category the way Dunford would. Or counter-position out of it the way Helmer would. It averages the tension away into 'know your market,' which is the judgment call that decides the outcome.

The cited playbook

The cited positioning playbook

Six operators who have positioned real products would each own a step in this sequence. Every move traces to a named source you can check. Each one runs against your own product, not the generic average.

  1. 1

    Start from the customer's real alternative

    Before you write a word of positioning, ask what your best customers would do if you didn't exist. A spreadsheet. An intern. A rival. Nothing at all. List your capabilities against each of those alternatives. Translate every one into 'so what for the customer.' Your differentiated value falls out of the comparison. Differentiation only exists relative to a real alternative. That's why this step decides everything downstream.

    April Dunford · Obviously Awesome
  2. 2

    Narrow to the one segment you can win first

    Positioning aimed at everyone lands with no one. Focus your attributes and value on a single beachhead segment. Become the obvious leader there before you expand. Think of it as knocking down the lead bowling pin first. The segment you pick is a positioning decision, not just a sales target.

    Geoffrey Moore · Crossing the Chasm
  3. 3

    Where you can, pick a position the incumbent can't copy

    The most durable positioning is a stance the market leader would have to damage its own business to match. Run the collateral-damage test. If the incumbent copied your model tomorrow, what would it cost them? The honest answer might be real, structural pain. It might mean cannibalized revenue or a channel that revolts. Either way, their size becomes the thing that traps them.

    Hamilton Helmer · 7 Powers
  4. 4

    Make the position distinctive, not just correct

    A logical position optimizes you straight into the category average, where buyers can't tell you apart. Keep one deliberate idiosyncrasy the rational optimizer wants to delete. Make it familiar enough that buyers can place you. Make it strange enough that they remember you. Distinctiveness wins the first glance, not optimized sameness.

    Rory Sutherland · Alchemy
  5. 5

    Translate the position into a pitch

    Positioning is what you are. The sales pitch is how you say it to one buyer in twelve minutes. Build the pitch as two unequal halves. Start with a short setup on the market and your point of view. Spend the bulk of the time on the differentiated value only you deliver. The pitch inherits its content from the positioning rather than replacing it.

    April Dunford · Sales Pitch
  6. 6

    Validate it against the customers who already love you

    Positioning built in a conference room drifts from reality. Interview the best-fit customers who rave about you and refer you. Their words reveal the alternatives they weighed and the value that landed. Their story is the check on whether the position is true, not your feature list.

    April Dunford · Obviously Awesome

Where experts disagree

Where operators disagree: position by logic or by distinctiveness?

April Dunford

builds positioning as a rational chain: competitive alternatives, unique attributes and the value a specific segment can't get elsewhere. Get the logic right for the best-fit customer and the pick becomes obvious. The work is precision, not flourish.

Rory Sutherland

argues a logical position is also forgettable. Buyers run on memory and heuristics, not spreadsheets. A distinctive, weird asset the optimizer would strip out is often what gets you chosen at the moment of decision.

ChatGPT blends this into 'be clear and be memorable.' Gavel shows both sides. You'll know when to sharpen the logic. You'll know when to protect the weirdness that makes you stick.

FAQ

Product positioning questions, answered

How do you do product positioning?

Work it as a sequence, not a tagline. Map the alternatives a customer would use if you didn't exist. List the attributes those alternatives lack. Translate each into the value a specific segment cares about. Name that best-fit segment. Then choose the category frame and make it distinctive. Every step starts from the customer's real alternative.

What are the main product positioning strategies?

Operators run three real approaches. Dunford's competitive-alternatives positioning differentiates against what the customer would otherwise use. Helmer's counter-positioning takes a stance the incumbent can't copy without hurting its own business. Sutherland's distinctiveness uses an odd, memorable asset that beats optimized sameness. Strong positions often combine them.

What's the difference between product positioning and brand positioning?

Product positioning sets the context for a specific product. Who it's for. What it competes with. Why it's the best pick for that segment. Brand positioning is the broader promise and personality across everything you sell. Get the product positioning right first. You build the brand on top of it.

How often should you revisit your positioning?

Revisit it whenever the inputs change. A new competitive alternative appears. Your best-fit segment shifts. Or a bigger incumbent enters. Positioning isn't a one-time doc. Counter-positioning is a closing window. Re-test it as you grow rather than once at launch.

Can ChatGPT do my product positioning?

It can draft something that sounds fine. But it can't see your real competitive alternatives or which customers value your edge most. So it defaults to the category average. That's the exact context Gavel asks for. It answers with named operators and shows where they disagree.

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