Market Positioning Framework

Positioning (Global)

Positioning is not a pretty tagline. It is an explicit decision: who you serve, what you solve, and who you beat. Sharp positioning gives content an angle, ads a hook, and the team one story. Vague positioning makes everything generic. Run 08-competitor-research-global and 09-customer-insight-global first if you do not yet have competitor data and customer insight.

Information gathering

Read .agents/product-marketing-context-global.md and the Brand Hub if available. If missing, ask up to 4 questions:

1. What is the product or service — what concrete result does the buyer get, at what price, in what category?
2. Who buys today and why (ask real customers, do not guess)? What words do they use when they recommend you to someone else?
3. How are the main competitors positioned — what is their message, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
4. Where are you genuinely better (with evidence)? Where are you genuinely worse, so you avoid positioning into a weak spot?

Principles

1. Positioning requires a choice. You cannot be cheapest, most premium, and fastest at the same time. Pick one lead direction and accept losing the others.
2. Every claim needs proof. Differentiation without evidence is a slogan. Buyers do not believe it, and under FTC substantiation rules an advertised claim needs supporting evidence on file before it runs.
3. Know who you are NOT for. Naming the segment you do not serve sharpens the message and stops budget waste.
4. Positioning is stable, messaging is flexible. Review positioning every 6 months as the market and competitors move. Campaign messaging can change; positioning should not change monthly.
5. Feature to value to message. Do not sell the feature ("real-time dashboard"). Convert it to value ("know today whether you are profitable"), then to a message that lands emotionally ("stop finding out at month end that you were losing money").

Workflow

1. Pick a positioning strategy

Six common directions — choose the one your real strengths can defend:

Strategy	Description	Example message direction
By attribute	Lead on one distinctive property	"The only CRM built for field service teams"
By price and quality	Premium, or value-for-money	"Agency-grade creative at in-house cost"
By use case	Own a specific situation	"Built for teams shipping weekly, not quarterly"
By user	Aim at one narrow buyer	"For solo founders doing their own marketing"
By category	Category creator or leader	"The first compliance layer for AI agents"
Against a competitor	Define yourself by contrast	"Not another course. A working system."

Define your category: narrow enough to win, wide enough to have a market.

2. Write the positioning statement

Two layers, use both:

Layer 1 — Full statement (internal, used in every brief):

For [target audience] — people who [specific pain or desire],
[brand/product] is the [category]
that helps them [core outcome],
unlike [competitor or alternative], because [real differentiator].

Layer 2 — Promise + Proof + Path (for content, sales, and landing pages):

Component	Question	Example (DTC skincare)
Promise	What do you commit to, based on real customer insight?	"Know exactly what your skin needs before you spend on the wrong products" — not "effective skincare"
Proof	What evidence shows the promise is real?	Verified before/after photos, dermatologist review, third-party ingredient testing, published pricing with no hidden fees
Path	What steps does the buyer walk to get the promise?	1. Free skin quiz > 2. Personal routine > 3. Follow the routine > 4. Reassess at 8 weeks

The Promise fails if it is generic. The Path fails if the buyer cannot picture the next step.

3. Build the differentiation matrix

Pull data from 08-competitor-research-global:

Competitor / Alternative	Their positioning	Strengths	Weaknesses	How you differ (with proof)
Competitor A
Competitor B
Alternative (DIY or do nothing)

Then lock 3 real differentiators — each a Claim plus its Proof:

#	Claim	Proof / reason to believe
1
2
3

Primary differentiator: one sentence. This is what every piece of content and every ad will reflect.

Market gap (what nobody does well yet): write it down explicitly so you can take it.

4. Map category entry points

Category entry points are the situations that make a buyer think of the category and start looking. Strong positioning means being remembered first in those moments.

Trigger situation	What the buyer is thinking or searching	How you want to be remembered	Content / channel that serves it
[e.g. breakout two weeks before a wedding]	[needs a fast fix, afraid of being scammed]	[transparent, diagnosis before selling]	[short-form diagnostic video, search]
[e.g. month-end and still no idea if we are profitable]
[e.g. current vendor raised prices or missed a deadline]

Pick 2-3 priority entry points and map them to awareness stages: unaware (educate — name the problem) > problem-aware but not motivated (agitate) > solution-aware but undecided (compare — differentiate) > ready (close — offer).

5. Build the message hierarchy and tagline directions

Level	Where it is used	Content
Level 1 — Core message	Headline, ad hook	Shortest possible: biggest benefit, clearest audience
Level 2 — Supporting messages	Body copy, landing page	2A proof/social proof · 2B differentiation · 2C objection handling
Level 3 — Proof points	Testimonials, case studies	Specific numbers, real customer quotes, outcomes achieved

Tagline directions: 3-5 options, each 5-8 words, anchored on the primary differentiator or the promise. Note which direction to test — the final tagline is chosen after message testing with real buyers, not in a meeting room.

6. Validate

• Read the statement to someone who knows nothing about the product. Do they understand it immediately?
• Does every claim have proof attached, and is that proof documented well enough to defend under FTC substantiation?
• Do sales and content, reading the same doc, say the same thing?
• One-minute check: fill in "[Product] helps [specific segment] achieve [measurable outcome] through [distinct mechanism]." If it fills cleanly, the positioning holds.

Output structure

File name: positioning-[product-name]-[YYYYMMDD].md

# Positioning — [Brand / product]

## 1. Positioning statement
- Full statement: "For... is the... that helps... unlike... because..."
- Promise: | Proof: | Path (steps):

## 2. Target segmentation
| Segment | Description | Main pain | Main desire | Priority |
| Primary / Secondary / Tertiary |
- Who this is NOT for:

## 3. Differentiation matrix
| Competitor | Their positioning | Strengths | Weaknesses | How you differ |
- 3 differentiators (Claim + Proof):
- Primary differentiator (one sentence):
- Market gap:

## 4. Category entry points
| Trigger situation | What they think | How you want to be remembered | Content / channel |

## 5. Message hierarchy
- Level 1 core message:
- Level 2 supporting (proof / differentiation / objection):
- Level 3 proof points:

## 6. Tagline directions
| # | Option (5-8 words) | Anchored on which differentiator | Test note |

## 7. Positioning map
[Two axes fitting the category — your position vs competitors — open space]

## 8. Rollout plan
| Where applied | What to update | Owner | Deadline |
| Ads / Landing page / Content pillars / Sales script / Brand Hub |

Positioning map

Pick two axes that fit the category (price x perceived quality; specialist x approachable; premium x mass; trust x entertainment). Read the map: crowded corners are brutal auctions; empty corners are open space you can take — but verify real demand exists there before jumping in.

Related skills

• 08-competitor-research-global: run first — supplies the competitive landscape for step 3.
• 09-customer-insight-global: run first — pain, desire, and triggers are the raw material for the Promise and entry points.
• 31-offer-design-global: run after — offer architecture must align with positioning (do not position premium then discount everywhere).
• 59-go-to-market-global: uses the positioning statement as the source message for the GTM plan.
• 02-campaign-brief-global: the core message in the brief comes from message hierarchy Level 1.

Quality checklist

• Exactly one lead positioning strategy chosen — not a blend of three
• Full statement covers target + category + outcome + differentiator
• Promise is based on real customer insight, not internal wishes
• Every claim has proof, and the proof is documented well enough to substantiate
• Contains an explicit "who this is NOT for" section
• Differentiation matrix has at least 2 competitors plus 1 alternative
• At least 2 category entry points with concrete triggers
• Message hierarchy has all 3 levels, Level 1 short enough to use as a hook
• 3-5 tagline directions plus a test plan
• Not positioned on a dimension where you are weaker than competitors
• Rollout plan covers ads, landing page, content, sales, and Brand Hub with one message