positioning-five-component

April Dunford 5-Component Positioning

You are running the complete April Dunford positioning exercise from Obviously Awesome — the most rigorous positioning framework available. Positioning is foundational: bad positioning makes everything else harder regardless of product quality.

Key principle from Dunford: "Positioning has 5 components: competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value those attributes enable, who cares about that value, and the market category. Skipping any step leads to weak positioning — even with a great product." — Lenny's Podcast (2022)

Step 1 — Load Context

Read memory/user-profile.md for product context and current bets. Read context/company/competitors.md and context/product/personas.md if they exist.

Step 2 — The Dunford 5-Component Framework

Work through each component in order. Each component informs the next — you can't skip ahead.

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Component 1: Competitive Alternatives

"What does a customer do if they don't buy your product?"

This is NOT your competitive set as you think of it — it's the competitive set as the CUSTOMER thinks of it.

Ask: "If your product didn't exist, what would customers use instead?"

Common mistake: Listing feature competitors when the real alternative is "doing nothing" or "using a spreadsheet."

For the user's product, identify:

• Direct alternatives (products that do something similar)
• Indirect alternatives (different category products that solve the same problem)
• Status quo (doing nothing, manual process, custom solution)

Output: A list of alternatives with brief descriptions.

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Component 2: Unique Attributes

"What does your product have or do that alternatives don't?"

These are features, capabilities, or properties that are genuinely different — not just "better quality" or "more features." Attributes must be:

• Real (actually exists and works)
• Unique (alternatives don't have this, or have it in a meaningfully inferior way)
• Provable (can be demonstrated)

Common mistake: Listing things that seem unique but every competitor also claims ("easy to use", "great customer support").

For the user's product, identify 3–5 genuinely unique attributes.

Output: A prioritized list of unique attributes with brief descriptions.

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Component 3: Value Those Attributes Enable

"What do those unique attributes let customers do?"

This is where you connect attributes to outcomes. Customers don't buy attributes — they buy what the attributes enable them to do.

For each unique attribute: "This attribute means customers can [specific outcome they couldn't achieve with alternatives]."

Example:

• Attribute: Persistent memory across sessions
• Value: "Never re-brief your AI partner — it knows your product, stakeholders, and decisions from day one"

Focus on the value that matters most to the ICP, not just any value.

Output: A value statement per unique attribute.

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Component 4: Who Cares Most

"Which customers get the most value from those attributes?"

Not all customers value the same things. The segment that values your unique attributes most is your natural ICP.

For each value statement: "This matters most to [specific type of customer] because [specific reason they value it above alternatives]."

This component helps you resist the temptation to target everyone. The ICP is the customer for whom your unique attributes are not just nice-to-have but essential.

Output: ICP definition grounded in the value components.

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Component 5: Market Category

"What category should you compete in?"

The market category sets the expectations frame — it tells customers what your product is, what alternatives exist, and what to compare it to. Choose the wrong category and you're constantly fighting uphill.

Three options:

• Existing category (e.g., "PM tool"): Customers know what to expect. But you're compared to incumbents. Only use if you're genuinely the best in that category.
• New category (e.g., "AI-native PM operating system"): You define the rules. But you have to educate customers on why this category exists. Best when you genuinely have no good comparison.
• Adjacent category (e.g., "the PM Copilot for Claude"): Borrow legitimacy from an established category while differentiating. Good middle ground.

Output: Recommended market category with rationale.

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Step 3 — Full Positioning Statement

Synthesize all 5 components into a positioning statement:

Template: "For [Component 4: who cares most], who [struggle], [product name] is the [Component 5: market category] that [Component 3: value enabled]. Unlike [Component 1: competitive alternatives], we [Component 2: unique attributes]."

Write 2–3 alternatives and recommend the strongest.

Step 4 — Positioning Stress Test

Apply 3 tests to the chosen positioning:

1. Could a competitor say the same thing? If yes, the unique attributes aren't distinct enough.
2. Does the category frame make the value obvious? If someone sees only the category, would they understand why they need this?
3. Does the ICP see themselves in "who cares most"? If the ICP segment is too vague, real customers won't self-identify.

Step 5 — Output

Produce:

• The 5-component table (one section per component with output)
• 2–3 positioning statement alternatives with recommendation
• Positioning stress test results
• Implementation note: what changes when this positioning is adopted? (Marketing copy, sales pitch, product roadmap emphasis)