Finding Your Signal in the Noise The most powerful question in positioning isn’t “What do you do?”It’s “What do people say when you leave the room?” That’s your positioning. Not your LinkedIn headline. Not your elevator pitch. Not your resume. It’s the mental shorthand people use to define you. The…

It’s about what you own. Disclaimer: I wrote this post to build on the wonderful work Jon has shared, adding depth and nuance to his thoughtful breakdown of Canva’s positioning strategy. Jon’s insights are spot on, and my goal here is to expand the conversation. To highlight not just what…

In the business world, positioning is a concept often misunderstood, oversimplified, or confused with other marketing or strategic elements. Positioning isn’t a model we invent; it’s a force we align with. Just as Newton didn’t create gravity but identified how it works, positioning is an inherent dynamic in business that…

It’s a Force The biggest mistake people make about positioning is treating it like a model we created rather than a force we identified. This isn’t just semantic. It’s the difference between: Think of gravity. Newton didn’t invent gravity. He identified how it works. The apple fell the same way…

Disclaimer: I stole this post and hook idea from Dale W. Harrison. I’m a huge fan. Please take a look at Dale’s article first. Also, I did get his blessing before writing this.) The need to understand fundamental positioning is quite new to many marketers. Twenty years ago (when I…

Kait’s First 90 Days Kait just started as the first marketing leader at a mid-sized SaaS company. The team has never focused on marketing metrics before, and there’s no structure to measure impact. Kait’s excited but knows the road ahead involves setting up processes, getting buy-in, and translating marketing’s value…

Ever feel like ‘marketing’ (yes, quotes for suspicion) advice these days is just one big game of telephone? Someone tweets an idea, others retweet it, and suddenly it’s “the next big thing.” But when you dig deeper, it’s often the same recycled frameworks—louder but not clearer. Positioning is no exception.…

Imagine this: You’re standing in a boardroom, surrounded by executives in tailored suits, their calendars packed, their minds preoccupied with numbers, strategy, and growth. You’re here to advocate for design—not as decoration, but as a driver of meaningful change. You’ve prepared your slides, rehearsed your pitch, and chosen your words…

The push to ban TikTok in the United States may have been intended to protect national security interests, but it has also sparked an unexpected cultural twist: Americans are flocking to alternative Chinese apps. Rather than bowing to the “China is evil and will steal your data” narrative, TikTok users—many…

Imagine you’re on a dating app. Two profiles pop up (pick a camp): Tom: “I’m 6’2″, love hiking, and have a great sense of humour.” Emily: “I’m a yoga enthusiast, foodie, and passionate about sustainability.” If finding a match worked the way some people (won’t name them, but you’ll know)…

Let’s talk about EQ Bank, not from a purely analytical angle, but from the bigger question of what this bank truly means to people and where it might go next. The Canadian banking landscape has long been dominated by a few massive players, leaving most customers with limited choices and…

I recently spoke with a marketing leader who said something that stuck with me: “Our marketing team feels like 10 separate departments speaking 10 different languages.” Their performance marketing team focused on CTRs and ROAS. Their product marketers are fixated on features. Meanwhile, their brand team pushed storytelling—but it wasn’t…