Positioning
Definition
Positioning is the deliberate act of defining how a product is different from its alternatives and why those differences matter to a specific set of customers — determining the mental slot the product should occupy in the target customer's mind.
The concept of positioning was introduced by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their 1981 book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. April Dunford modernized it for software products in Obviously Awesome (2019), offering a practical, workshoppable process.
Dunford's positioning framework has five components:
- Competitive alternatives — what customers would do if your product didn't exist
- Unique attributes — the features or capabilities you have that alternatives don't
- Value — what those attributes enable for the customer
- Target customer — the customers who care most about that value
- Market category — the context that makes the value obvious
Positioning is upstream of messaging. You decide the position first, then write the messages that communicate it. Changing your messaging without changing your positioning produces inconsistency.
Positioning failures are common. The most common: defining your position as the category you're competing in rather than the differentiated place you occupy within it. "We're an AI whiteboard app" is a category. "The only whiteboard app that produces brand-aware action plans for project teams" is a position.
Positioning workshops involve competitive analysis, customer research synthesis, and a lot of whiteboard work — positioning maps, alternative comparisons, value mapping. BoardSnap captures those sessions as structured summaries.
Examples
- A 2x2 positioning map placing the product against three competitors on speed vs. action-item quality axes
- A positioning statement following the Dunford format: competitive alternative, unique attribute, value, customer, category
- A workshop where the team lists every alternative a customer might use and identifies what's missing from each
Snap a positioning. Ship its actions.
BoardSnap turns any whiteboard — including this one — into a summary and action plan.