How to Own Your Market Category - Take Control and Define It So You Do
In today's crowded and competitive business landscape, it's becoming increasingly difficult for brands to truly stand out and lead within their respective markets. Trying to outmuscle established players in a saturated product category is an uphill battle that often leaves newcomers struggling for market share.
However, there's an alternative path that many successful companies have taken to sidestep this competition entirely: defining and owning an entirely new market category tailored to their unique offering.
Rather than fighting for a slice of an existing pie, smart brands are baking their own pies from scratch - creating novel product categories that instantly position them as the pioneering leaders before any rivals even enter the space.
Companies like Salesforce fundamentally altered the business software market by introducing and branding the concept of "cloud computing." Red Bull carved out the "energy drink" category when launching its signature beverage. And Uber reinvented urban transportation by defining and capturing the "ridesharing" space before competitors like Lyft arrived.
In each case, these brands didn't just disrupt industries - they proactively created and owned new categories from the ground up, allowing them to set the terms for how their offerings would be defined, positioned, and ultimately perceived by the mass market.
The Power of Owning Your Category
So what makes this strategy of defining your own market category so powerful and effective? By introducing a novel space where you have no direct competitors (at least initially), you eliminate the need to relentlessly one-up rivals on features and pricing. This allows you to focus on articulating a clear value proposition and brand narrative that shapes customer expectations from day one.
As the de facto leader of your hand-crafted category, you control the conversation around it - setting benchmarks, creating terminology, and steering market education through content marketing and PR. This thought leadership cements you as the go-to brand for that particular product concept in the minds of prospective buyers.
Furthermore, by filling an untapped niche with a distinct offering broader categories couldn't satisfy, you uniquely appeal to a new customer segment that was previously underserved or ignored. This blue ocean strategy opens fresh revenue streams and a base of brand loyalists grateful for your innovative solution to their needs.
So how exactly can you go about defining and claiming ownership over your own market category? Here are some key steps to bring this powerful strategy to life:
Identify Your Unique Differentiators and Deficiencies in Current Categories The first step is conducting a thorough evaluation of how your product or service differs from existing solutions, as well as where those current categories and classifications fall short.
What fundamental customer needs or use cases is your offering uniquely addressing that competitors aren't able to satisfy today? Perhaps you leverage a breakthrough technology, delivery model, or design philosophy that allows you to provide greater ease-of-use, flexibility, customization, cost savings, or other compelling benefits.
Honing in on your key strengths and advantages over the status quo is critical for crafting a new category definition highlighting the value only you can provide.
Craft a Clear, Benefit-Oriented Category Description With a firm grasp of what sets you apart, the next step is articulating a succinct category description that communicates those unique value propositions in a compelling, customer-centric way.
While your internal codename or working project title may be satisfactory for your own team, you'll want to invest effort into naming and framing this new category through the lens of what tangible benefits it offers to end users.
"Cloud computing software" is infinitely more evocative and appealing than "web-based enterprise applications." "Ridesharing" conveys flexibility and access better than "gig car service." And "energy drinks" aligns perfectly with the use case of convenient caffeinated beverages for a boost.
Choose a name for your category that explains its purpose while leaving room for your brand to own that association. The description should align how you want your products to be perceived by customers.
Develop Category Education Through Content Marketing
Once you've solidified your category concept and branding, it's time to launch a coordinated content marketing push to build awareness and cement your ownership of that narrative. Your goal is to proliferate the core tenets and advantages of this new category across your website, sales materials, PR, analysts briefings, case studies, and any other educational channels.
Lean into industry publications, conferences, webinars, podcasts, and any available platform to evangelize the tangible impact and benefits customers can expect from this new breed of solution you've pioneered. Become a relentless educator on the problems this category solves and why it represents a fundamentally improved approach over existing alternatives.
While it may be an uphill battle at first, methodically increasing mindshare around your novel concept will pay dividends over time as more buyers begin to recognize and validate the category you've defined.
If executed effectively, before long the name and description you've created for this space will become baked into the broader market vernacular - making your brand inextricably synonymous with that entire product philosophy and use case.
Cementing Your Category Authority with SEO and Thought Leadership
To truly solidify your ownership over your defined category, it's critical to not only drive initial education and adoption of the concept, but to fortify your brand's lasting authority around it as well. This will insulate you from imitators and keep you top-of-mind even as potential new entrants eventually follow your lead into the space you created.
One powerful avenue is taking a proactive SEO and search marketing stance around the category term itself. By creating a content hub definitively anchored to that core keyword phrase, you can position your website and brand as the undisputed resource when users search for information on that topic. From blog posts and whitepapers to articles, videos, and beyond - own as much SERP real estate around your fresh category name as possible.
Additionally, having executive spokespersons and thought leaders consistently commented on, presenting at events, and distributing insights around the emerging trends and future of your newly-cemented market category. Enduring category leadership is not just about coining a new term, but about dictating where that conversation goes and how it evolves over time.
Examples of Extraordinary Category Ownership
While the concept of defining your own market category may sound like an extraordinary strategy reserved for tech titans and innovative startups, some of history's most iconic brands have harnessed this approach across industries.
When Chrysler Corporation realized their new family van concept didn't squarely fit into existing "truck" or "passenger vehicle" categories, they defined and marketed it as the first "minivan." Despite humble origins, this bold move to create an entirely new automotive category paved the way for Chrysler to own that space for decades as competitors played catch up.
Similarly, athletic apparel juggernaut Lululemon carved out the "athleisure" market for functional yet stylish athletic wear by refusing to conform to traditional "activewear" norms. By defining a novel category around high-fashion athletic apparel you could seamlessly transition between workouts and social occasions, Lululemon was able to pioneer and reign over that exploding niche.
Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention Apple's paradigm-shifting creation of the "smartphone" category back in 2007. While arguably an evolution of existing PDAs and cellular devices, Apple's strategic positioning of the iPhone as something definitively new established it as the flag-bearer for an entirely re-imagined mobile product category going forward.
So whether you're an innovative startup looking to trailblaze into the next frontier, or an established brand seeking fresh avenues for growth, don't get caught up in the rat race of an existing market category. Leverage your core strengths to proactively define the spaces where you want to play and lead. By mapping an entirely new territory and planting your flag as its pioneer, you can own an entire product philosophy from the outset - maximizing mindshare, loyalty, and profitability in the process.
1st May 2024