Page 83 · Module 03, Know Your Market · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworksMarket Positioning Statement
Your team describes your product differently to every prospect. Your website headline
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace theseSwap the role below
Pro tip, from the book
After writing your positioning statement, do a simple test: remove your company name and replace it with a competitor's. If the statement still works for them, you don't have a positioning, you have a category description. Push harder on the 'because' clause. That's where real differentiation lives.
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should read your competitive landscape? Every market looks different depending on where you are standing. A market researcher sees data. A competitor's strategist sees opportunity. A customer sees none of your positioning — only their own problem. Use this page to choose the right lens before drawing any conclusions about the market you operate in.
Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solveschanges every six months. Competitors are eroding your differentiation and you can't articulate a sharp, ownable reason to choose you.
How the framework works
From the printed pageAl Ries and Jack Trout established in their 1981 work Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind that positioning is not what you do to a product, it is what you do to the mind of a prospect. Most businesses position by accident: they describe what they do and hope the right customer self-selects. Deliberate positioning works the opposite way you choose the customer, the category, and the comparison point, then build every word of your message to reinforce that choice. The goal is a statement so specific it automatically excludes the wrong customer and makes the right one feel it was written for them.
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderDraft three positioning statements before deciding AI can generate all three.
Test each one: does it exclude anyone? If it appeals to everyone, it works for no one.
Share with 5 real customers and ask which one makes them lean forward.
Once locked, use it as the master filter for all marketing and sales copy. Oatly's positioning statement wasn't built around 'plant-based milk alternative.' It was built around a specific enemy: the dairy industry lobby. Their statement polarised the market intentionally , people who agreed with their position became advocates, not just customers. Positioning works best when it defines who you are NOT for as clearly as who you are for. IN PRACTICE The one sentence that tells your customer exactly why you not anyone else
Where the framework comes from
Al Ries & Jack Trout, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 1981
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 03 — Know Your Market
See your competitive landscape clearly before you move.
10 frameworks, printed on pages 70–89.
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