One-line summary: If your product isn't selling, it may be because customers misunderstand it. In this video, positioning expert April Dunford breaks down what positioning truly means, the common mistakes companies make, and concrete methods for gaining market competitiveness through proper positioning. She emphasizes that positioning is where all marketing and sales begin.
1. The Meaning and Importance of Positioning
April opens with a humorous story about the "grandmother test" to address common misconceptions about positioning.
"Can your grandmother understand it? If you're not selling to grandmothers, that doesn't matter. If I'm selling a specialized product to specialized customers, it only needs to resonate with them."
April points out that positioning is commonly confused with "creating slogans," "crafting messages," or "branding." In reality, positioning and branding are entirely different. If you think of a house, positioning is the foundation -- the bedrock of all marketing and sales activities.
"Positioning defines where your product has strengths and which customers get the most value from it."
She also emphasizes that positioning provides context for your product.
"It lets customers start a conversation about what this product is and why they should care."
A Real-World Example
April explains the power of positioning with the "double chocolate salted caramel muffin" example. Labeled as a "cake," it sells at a premium on the dessert menu, but the exact same product labeled as a "muffin" sells cheaply on the breakfast menu. The point: the same product positioned differently changes the competitive set, the price, and customer expectations entirely.
2. Why Positioning Goes Wrong and Common Mistakes
April pinpoints that the biggest problem is many companies don't think about positioning at all. A product category that felt clear at the start naturally shifts as the market or product evolves, yet companies fail to update their positioning accordingly.
For example, a product that started as "email" gradually became closer to "chat," but internally the company keeps positioning it as "email," leaving customers confused.
"Customers look at it and think, 'This doesn't look like email -- it looks like a chat service.' That's where the confusion starts."
Viewing the product in isolation is also a problem. Many companies fail to rigorously consider "why we're better than competitors and why customers should choose us."
"The real question we need to answer is, 'Why should customers choose us instead of the competition?'"
3. Successful Positioning Strategy: Start with a Niche, Then Expand
Based on real experience, April advises that you need to slice the market and conquer a very small niche (target sub-segment) first.
"Most successful tech companies find an underserved segment of the market, dominate it, and then expand from there."
She shares a CRM company example: initially they targeted the entire enterprise market and struggled against giant competitors. But after discovering that one unique feature was particularly useful for investment banks, they repositioned as "the CRM for investment banks" and carved out an entirely new market.
With this strategy, you can establish a strong brand position much more easily and gradually expand into adjacent markets.
"Win in a small market first, and then use that success to move into bigger markets."
4. The Difference Between B2B and B2C Positioning
B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) differ significantly when it comes to positioning.
- In B2C, emotion, brand, and aesthetics all influence consumers.
- In contrast, B2B focuses on "tangible value" -- "Can this make money or cut costs?"
- Purchase decisions involve multiple stakeholders (5 to 11 people), and an intense "fear" of making mistakes dominates.
"The biggest emotion in B2B is fear. If you make a mistake, you don't get promoted, and if it goes badly enough, you could get fired."
This is why market leaders have such a huge advantage. Nobody ever got fired for buying Salesforce.
She also emphasizes that the rate of purchase indecision in B2B is very high.
"50 to 70% of B2B deals end with 'we just don't buy anything.' Every product looks too similar, and making any choice feels like it could be your fault, so you do nothing."
5. Failed Positioning and Lessons Learned
She also shares a story of "new technology that nobody wanted."
A new technology that solved slow query processing for banks was positioned as a database, but it was ignored because incumbents like Oracle had a firm grip on the market. They repositioned it for the data warehouse space, but it turned out the core assumption -- that speed improvement was truly needed -- was wrong.
"It turned out the work could be done over the weekend. There were fewer than 10 companies worldwide that actually needed instant responses."
This experience underscores the importance of customer discovery and the necessity of validating assumptions.
6. Positioning in Practice: Landing Pages and Sales
April suggests four things you must consider when applying positioning in practice:
- Competitive Alternatives: What would customers use if our product didn't exist?
- Differentiated Capabilities: What makes us unique compared to competitors?
- Value of Those Differentiators: Why do those capabilities actually benefit the customer's business?
- Target Customer: Who truly cares about this value?
When these four elements are clearly articulated, precise messaging -- "who you serve, why, and what value you deliver" -- becomes clear on your homepage and in your sales pitch.
"Especially with new technology, customers don't easily understand why that differentiated feature matters. You have to explain the value."
7. Digital Transformation and the Essence of Positioning
In the digital age, choices have become virtually infinite, and the importance of positioning only grows.
"Now customers are bombarded with thousands and thousands of messages. Instantly communicating 'what is this?' and 'why do I need it?' is more important than ever."
She explains that small companies with strong positioning can become "king" within their niche.
8. Evaluating and Improving Positioning
When evaluating whether product positioning is good or bad, the "grandmother test" (explain it simply enough for anyone to understand) does not apply to B2B. What matters is that it resonates with your target audience of specialists.
Three situations reveal positioning problems:
- Customers don't understand the product in the first meeting
- Customers compare you to the wrong competitors
- Customers ask "Why should I pay for this?"
All of these signal that positioning is broken and must be fixed.
9. Positioning Ownership and Cross-Functional Collaboration
On the question of who should own positioning, April emphasizes that it's not just the marketing department. A cross-functional team including product, sales, customer success, support, and leadership should discuss and make the final decision.
"Positioning can change the very nature of a company. If you focus on a specific industry or specific customer, you become a completely different company."
Ongoing message management falls to marketing, but company-wide reassessment with every market shift is ideal.
10. Storytelling, Market Perspective, and Leveraging Influencers
Storytelling is often discussed in B2B, but in practice, the sales team plays a more central role. True storytelling is the process of persuading customers by explaining "why us" within the market context, compared to competitors.
"If we present our view of this market from a different perspective than incumbents, customers can more easily understand the value of our product."
When creating a new market category (e.g., API platform), defining and owning the terminology itself is critically important.
"If it's truly innovative, you need to define the language of the category and concept and make it your company's own."
In the enterprise market, the reputation of analysts like Gartner matters, while in the SMB and consumer markets, recommendations from podcasters, influencers, and industry experts have the biggest impact. She adds: "Identify who influences your customers and proactively build relationships and educate them."
11. B2B Positioning and Decision-Making Realities That Schools Don't Teach
April also sharply critiques the limitations of university marketing courses and textbooks.
"Most research and education is focused on consumer marketing. The real B2B world is completely different."
B2B requires a fundamentally different mindset: buying committees, large dollar amounts, fear of mistakes, and endless indecision.
Purchase indecision (no-decision) is "the most terrifying competitor."
"Don't forget that 40 to 60% of B2B purchases end with 'we just didn't buy anything.'"
12. The Meaning of Success and Closing Thoughts
In the final question, April shares that what gives her the greatest fulfillment is when clients say, "Now we know exactly what our company does and how to sell -- it's so clear."
"When you arrive at truly good positioning, everyone says 'isn't that obvious?' But the path to get there is extremely difficult. That's why I find great satisfaction in both the process and the result."
Closing
April Dunford repeatedly emphasizes that positioning is not just a flashy slogan or branding exercise -- it is the core of a company's entire strategy and growth. Regardless of the market or product, success comes from making customers instantly understand "why they should buy this," and to achieve that, you need a strategy of winning passionate fans in a small market first, then expanding. Positioning is everyone's responsibility and nothing less than a secret weapon for a company's survival and growth.
Key terms:
- Positioning
- Differentiated Value
- Niche Strategy
- Fear / Indecision
- Market Category
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- The Fundamental Difference Between B2B and B2C
Marketing and sales without positioning are just froth. It's time to put your product and company's positioning under the microscope