re:position
A monthly newsletter and community round-up, shining light on the art and science of powerful market positioning.
Latest Feature Story from our most recent newsletter.
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When positioning meets the boardroom
Sometimes I’m a contentious choice to lead board-strat. I’m a commercial strategist, unashamedly focussed on the process of active commercialisation, so no problem there. But I’m also known as that Market Positioning fella’ which sometimes raises a quizzical eyebrow, “does that make our strategy better or worse?” they ask.
Why boards don’t get positioning
Let’s face it, Market Positioning just isn’t a discipline that boards are familiar with. It’s not part of formal governance training, at best an abstract strategic concept that some may have heard of once. Thankfully my ego stopped getting bruised by this long ago.
The most important line on your dashboard
Yet it’s true that great commercial strategy is always built around your positioning. After all, your market positioning IS the definitive expression of how you choose to compete for market share. It’s the very essence of your business model, the way you think you can beat your competitors and win. When it’s wrong, your performance tanks and valuation stalls. If you needed a dashboard with only one thing on it, this is it.
For such a fundamentally important discipline, I’m curious why boards aren’t more aware of what it is and how it underpins the performance of the business they are paid to govern. So I’ve been asking a very direct question recently to find out more.
Who governs your positioning?
Spoiler alert: the answer is nobody, which is as useful as it is frustrating. Because I’ve noticed that the more mature the business, the more abstract their market positioning becomes.
How maturity breeds abstraction
For early stage ventures, positioning quite literally is their compass. It guides execution of both product and goto market and so is well understood by the whole organisation. When I was over at Dosh (NZ’s outstanding Neobank) the other week, I was delighted to see that the founders have all the elements of their positioning pinned next to their desks. Top marks to James McEniery and a shout out to that extraordinary team!
But something very human happens as businesses grow; life gets overwhelmingly busy and noisy. More people are hired and so proportionally fewer people have autonomy to make commercial decisions. We take our place in market for granted, as our success doesn’t feel so fine and fragile. So we don’t check our actions against our strategic plans as often as we used to.
By the time a business matures further to have a solid governance layer in place, even the exec will only refer to their positioning infrequently. Positioning becomes an abstract conversation, not an influence on our day to day actions.
When strategy becomes someone else’s job
Practically, we forget what positioning is for because we’re told that strategy is somebody else’s job. After all, if you’re not responsible for navigating, you don’t pay attention to the road signs.
A better question to ask
So back to my question, who should govern your positioning? On reflection, I feel it’s the wrong question for many of us. Instead, ask yourself; “Who is the guardian of my positioning?”
Who is the guardian of your positioning?
Who coordinates all the customer and competitor insights? Who digests the product roadmap and decides where the most profitable place in-market is for you right now? Who takes that and makes it live in your business? So every decision, at every level, by everybody, delivers against the positioning that YOU have chosen?
The answer isn’t a role, a process or a time of year. It’s a person. A person who keeps their head up, so they can see where you’re going. A person who knows that this is what they have to do to help you grow.
Perhaps that person is you?
Article from the September 2025 re:position
The question every board should be asking (and a drink to end the year). Who really owns your positioning? And a December get-together to celebrate a year of good thinking.. READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE and SIGN UP HERE if 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.
September 2025 re:position
The most valuable asset in your business. A simple exercise to reset positioning and performance around reality and your invite to my bi-monthly positioning clinic. 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. Read here
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? Read here
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. Read here
December 2024 re:position
Wrapping up 2024 with gratitude and a special invitation. A quick thank you, a sneak peek at 2025, and a fun chance to kick off the year with an 'Ask Me Anything' clinic. Enjoy your holidays, and see you in the new year! Read here
November 2024 re:position
Embrace sales! It's time to grow 📈 Let’s address sales investment phobias and the impact this has on growth. Read here
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. Read here
