Marcus Owens argues that category strategy should reduce the buyer’s effort to understand and choose—not reward the company for inventing unfamiliar language.
Start with the buyer’s frame
Understand how customers describe the problem, what budget or priority it competes with, which alternatives they consider, and what event makes action urgent. A company can challenge the frame only after understanding it.
Distinctiveness without confusion
Use familiar language for the problem and become distinctive through a sharper point of view, specific customer, credible mechanism, and consistent proof. Novel terminology without a buying advantage adds educational cost.
A category decision checklist
Before naming a new category, test the commercial value of doing so.
- Does the existing frame materially hide our value?
- Can customers repeat the new idea after one explanation?
- Do we have evidence and resources to teach the market?
- Will the category change how buyers evaluate alternatives?
- Can product and sales deliver the promised difference?
Consistency creates memory
Repeat the same strategic idea across product, site, sales, onboarding, and customer proof. Frequent reinvention may feel creative internally while preventing the market from associating the company with anything specific.
What to take into your next growth conversation
- 01Category strategy must make buying easier, not merely make the company sound different.
- 02Customer language provides the raw material, not the final positioning.
- 03Consistency across touchpoints creates more distinction than novelty alone.
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