re:position
A monthly newsletter and community round-up, shining light on the art and science of powerful market positioning.
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Category Matters
A question for you; did you choose the category that you’re in, or did your category choose you? A little philosophical perhaps, but I suspect that you won’t have thought about your choice of category since your earliest days of proving product market fit.
Category choice does most of the heavy lifting in our market positioning, but rarely gets the credit. It’s become a set and forget decision as we set out, soon becoming cemented as one of those “just what we are” facts of business.
Yet category is a topic that deserves much deeper understanding, far beyond the outset of a venture. Most founders understandably believe that their category is pre-ordained, that it’s a label based on what your product “does”. In reality however, category is a major strategic choice; far from being a passive construct, it’s shorthand for the market where you compete.
Decoding the concept
Before we dive in, it’s useful to be reminded of what a simple concept “category” is.
A category is a theoretical label that describes a group of products which provide similar functional value. Or more bluntly, it's a group of products that broadly offer the same thing to the same customer.
Everything we make or offer has a corresponding category. Often these are quite formal classifications, helping the government to categorise the myriad of businesses that they serve. But for anybody trying to make sales, category provides the essential grammar of commerce. Informing retailers where to range your product on-shelf and helping buyers to find what they really want next.
Your category is a market signpost
Your category does three broad things for you;
It puts you in a default competitor set
Since a category is a group of similar products that compete for the same customer, as soon as you enter that category you are technically in competition for share with every single incumbent. Although you will refine it by channel, price and by features, buyers will mentally group you at a category level first and make hidden comparisons before they enter your sales funnel.
It sets the market’s pricing norms
Categories naturally segment based on value; differentiation on price is essential as categories or technology matures. The current spread of prices vs value in a category will instantly tell you where the current top and bottom thresholds are for pricing. Going beyond those thresholds means challenging the established norms, which takes time and an indomitable value proposition.
It signals your value proposition to buyers
Being seen in a group of similar products enables buyers to intuitively know what to expect from you, even before they’ve engaged. Their expectation of your features or service levels will be based on what they have experienced from your competitors, not by you.
Hence a lack of foresight about the category you compete for can make you appear out of place, like an accidental Frankenstein. So beware of strategic inaction, taking no action just means even less control of how the market sees you.
When you adopt a category by default, you instantly set your market’s expectation of your pricing, product and service levels, before you utter a single word. For example, if you’re launching in Accounting Software, you’re instantly compared with the value offered by Xero, MYOB or Quickbooks, whether you think you’re directly competing with them or not.
Category rules are made to be broken
There is plenty of advice out there about the fabled “category of one”. Indeed, when you have a truly innovative proposition for the market, it’s tempting to convince yourself that you don’t fit it anywhere, that you’re just “too ahead of the curve”. In my experience this is ego talking so don’t be fooled into conflating category choice with differentiation, as you simply don’t need your own category to differentiate.
Choosing to set up your personal category of one is choosing to build your market from scratch. You have to educate your buyer on everything you do, every little detail and nuance. There is no budget line ready for you, or easy way for buyers to compare and justify their purchase decision. This is a slow, hard and expensive path. I’ve personally made this mistake once, so take it from one who has lived to regret it deeply.
But don’t despair, competing inside a well defined category isn’t a sentence to conformity. It just means using what buyers instinctively understand about a category already to free you to position more precisely based on your own strengths.
Categories do evolve over time, particularly the elasticity of their value segments, so don’t ever stop challenging the norms of your collective competitors.
Does changing category create more value?
This is a common question where I always find the fence. It depends. Category shifts are usually triggered by extensive product development or by range extension. The shift gives you access to a different customer need or pain point, but not always a different buyer. It is common for a product portfolio to stretch across categories over time, although this always creates significant comms challenges to counter.
What changing your category won’t do is get you away from competitors. It simply offers a different competitive set to tangle with, but perhaps one that you are better suited to overcome.
Check in on your category choice
Even if you’re not actively repositioning at the moment, it’s worth knowing how effectively your category choice is working for you. So while you hit your second coffee today, try this quick exercise.
Q: Spotlight on your category norms
What are the unspoken rules of your category?
Do you adhere to these rules or challenge them? Why?
What advantage does that give to you?
Remember, when you’re choosing your category, you’re choosing what metric you want to be judged on. In many ways it pre-defines how you compete. Whether you are a category agitator or a category conformist doesn’t determine success. But being aware of the value your category provides certainly helps you stay one step ahead.
Article from the March 2026 re:position
When your edge becomes expected. Two simple tests to protect your positioning when trends fade. READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE and SIGN UP HEREif you’d like to receive this in your inbox next time.
Browse our past issues of re:position, and sign up at the bottom of the page if you’d like to get it in your inbox.
February 2026 re:position
When your edge becomes expected. Two simple tests to protect your positioning when trends fade. Read here
January 2026 re:position
Why certainty should make you nervous. Confidence feels like relief. That’s the problem. Read here
November 2025 re:position
Do it til it’s done. Celebrate the year's end with us.Read here
October 2025 re:position
The question every board should be asking. Who really owns your positioning? Read here
September 2025 re:position
The most valuable asset in your business.A simple exercise to reset positioning and performance around reality .Read here
August 2025 re:position
Value is the villain.Most businesses kill their positioning by talking about “our value” instead of the outcomes their customers actually care about. Read here
July 2025 re:position
In praise of Plan B. Rethinking the back‑up plan: why 2025 might call for a Plan B renaissance. Read here
June 2025 re:position
Is export the wrong problem to solve? Forget “build it and they will come.” It’s time to rethink how we scale. Readhere
May 2025 re:position
A little south of Huntly. Inspired by a flight home from a recent workshop, I found myself connecting the dots of light below, which made me think about how our words work in similar ways - guiding decisions and perceptions. Read here
April 2025 re:position
Change is inevitable. 2025 has been a bumpy ride so far, and it’s not slowing down. Find out why focusing on what you can control is essential for your strategy. Read here
March 2025 re:position
Scared of similar? Marketers are obsessed with originality, but maybe it’s time to stand up for being more alike. Here’s why. Read here
February 2025 re:position
A productivity challenge for 2025. Execution is where strategy comes to life. Why do we get stuck, and how do we move faster?
January 2025 re:position
2025, we made it. So what now? The truth about January. It’s tempting to let the month slip by in a summer haze, but January could be your most strategic month yet.
November 2024 re:position
Embrace sales! It's time to grow📈 Let’s address sales investment phobias and the impact this has on growth.
October 2024 re:position
Don't let ghost value haunt your strategy - Ghost value can creep in unnoticed - let's explore how meaningful differentiation can keep your strategy sharp and scare off sameness.
