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Obviously Awesome
April Dunford
The TL;DR
Most products fail not because they're bad, but because they're positioned badly — too vague, too broad, or compared to the wrong alternative. Dunford's 10-step positioning process finds the specific context that makes your product the obvious choice for the right customer. The competitive alternative defines the frame; you're not competing against every product in your category, but against what your customer would do if you didn't exist. Unique attributes enable value that matters to a specific segment. Best-fit customers should feel the value within seconds. When growth stalls, reposition rather than rebuild — most products have untapped positioning potential.
Core ideas
- 1Positioning = the context that makes your product the obvious choice.
- 2Pick competitive alternatives carefully — they define the frame.
- 3Unique attributes → enable value → matter to a specific segment.
- 4Best-fit customers should feel the value within seconds.
- 5Reposition rather than rebuild when growth stalls.
Key quotes
"Weak positioning makes good products invisible."
"Your competition is whatever your customer would do if your product didn't exist."
"The alternative is the most important word in positioning."
Apply it this week
- →Run the 10-step positioning exercise for your product.
- →List the real alternatives — including 'do nothing' and spreadsheets.
- →Rewrite your home page hero around the new positioning.
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