Most positioning work isn’t positioning at all. It’s framing. And this confusion is costing companies their shot at mental monopolies.

Here’s a simple test. Pull up any company’s “positioning document.” If it starts with “We are…” or “Our product…” or answers “Who’s it for?” and “How’s it different?”

That’s NOT positioning. That’s framing. This isn’t semantics. It’s the difference between owning mental territory and renting attention.

The Fundamental Distinction

Framing is how you present what you have.
Positioning is what concept you own in minds.

Framing works from the inside out: You have a product; now, how do you describe it?

Positioning works from outside-in: What mental territory is available, and how do you own it?

Framing produces messaging. Positioning produces identity.
Framing creates preference. Positioning creates category ownership.
Framing can be copied tomorrow. Positioning takes years to dislodge.

Why Everyone Gets This Wrong

The confusion stems from our product-obsessed business culture. We build something, then ask: “How do we position this?” But that question reveals the flaw. You don’t position products. You position companies to own concepts, then products prove that ownership.

Look at how the “experts” define positioning:

• “How your product is a leader at delivering something” (Dunford)
• “What a product does and who it’s for” (Ogilvy)
• “Where you play and how you win” (various strategists)

Every definition starts with the product and works outward. That’s framing.

Positioning starts with mental territory and works inward. What concept can you own? What noun can become synonymous with your company? Only then do you build products and craft messages that reinforce that ownership.

The Noun Test

Here’s how to spot the difference instantly:

Framing uses adjectives: “We’re the fastest,” “most innovative,” “easiest to use”
Positioning owns nouns: Speed. Innovation. Simplicity.

When you own a noun, competitors are relegated to adjectives. They can only claim to be “innovative too” or “even simpler,” inherently weaker positions that acknowledge your ownership.

Volvo doesn’t make “safe cars” (framing).
Volvo owns safety (positioning).

Tesla doesn’t sell “electric vehicles” (framing).
Tesla owns the future (positioning).

Patagonia doesn’t make “sustainable gear” (framing).
Patagonia owns activism (positioning).

The Five Questions Trap

The standard positioning exercise asks:

1. What is it?
2. Who’s it for?
3. What does it replace?
4. How is it different?
5. Why should they care?

These are useful questions. For framing. They help you articulate your product’s place in the market. But they don’t help you own mental territory.

The only question that matters for positioning: What noun do you want to own?

Everything else (including how you answer those five questions) flows from that ownership.

Why This Distinction Matters

Companies waste months on framing exercises, perfecting their articulation without claiming any mental real estate. They craft elaborate messaging architectures, value proposition canvases, and positioning statements that describe what they do rather than establish what they are.

It’s like spending a fortune on interior design for a house you’re renting.

When you focus on framing without positioning:

• Every competitor can match your claims
• You compete on features rather than identity
• Your differentiation erodes with every product cycle
• Marketing becomes increasingly expensive as you fight for attention
• Employees can’t make consistent decisions because there’s no North Star

When you establish positioning first:

• Your identity becomes your moat
• Products flow from concept ownership
• Competitors must accept derivative positions
• Marketing amplifies what you already are
• Every decision filters through one question: “Does this deepen our ownership?”

The Four Levels of Reality

Positioning doesn’t live in PowerPoints. It lives in organizational reality. My research identifies and applies four levels of positioning depth:

Level 1: Saying It (Messaging)
You claim a position through messaging. This is where most companies stop. It’s pure framing.

Level 2: Proving It (Evidence)
You back claims with proof points. Better, but still imitable. Advanced framing.

Level 3: Being It (Commitment)
You make painful trade-offs that only make sense if you’re committed to that position. This is where framing becomes positioning.

Level 4: Owning It (Architecture)
Your entire business model serves one concept. The positioning owns you as much as you own it. Tesla can’t stop being the future. Amazon can’t stop being everything.

Most companies never get past Level 2 because they’re solving for articulation, not ownership.

From Framing to Positioning: A Practical Path

Step 1: Stop starting with your product
Instead of asking “How do we position our AI-powered CRM?” ask “What concept in the CRM space is unowned?”

Step 2: Map mental territory
What nouns do competitors own? What’s contested? What’s vacant? Where could you build a monopoly?

Step 3: Choose a noun, not a niche
Don’t be “CRM for dentists” (framing). Own “practice growth” (positioning).

Step 4: Make it architecturally inevitable
Every hire, every feature, every partnership, every decision should deepen your ownership of that concept. This is where positioning transcends framing.

Step 5: Let framing serve positioning
Now (and only now) craft your messages, answer those five questions, build your value props. But let them flow from the concept you own, not the product you built.

The painful pill

Most positioning consultants are really framing consultants. Most positioning workshops are framing exercises. Most positioning documents are framing artifacts.

There’s nothing wrong with framing. You need it. Every company needs a clear articulation of value.

But let’s stop confusing articulation with ownership. Let’s stop mistaking messaging for mental territory. Let’s stop pretending that answering “who’s it for?” is the same as owning a concept in their minds.

By all means, perfect your framing. Nail those five questions. Craft compelling messages. But recognize that you’re decorating, not building. You’re describing, not owning.

The Ultimate Test

Here’s how to know if you have positioning or just framing:

Can you reduce your entire company to one noun that you own in customers’ minds?

If yes, you have positioning. Everything else is articulation.
If no, you have framing. Everything else is hope.

The companies that understand this distinction don’t just win customers. They own categories. They don’t just create preference. They become inevitable.

The question isn’t whether you need framing. You do.

The question is whether you’ll build it on owned mental territory or borrowed attention.

Choose ownership. Choose positioning. Let framing serve that choice.

Because in the end, the market doesn’t remember what you said. It remembers what you own.

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Next time someone shows you their “positioning,” ask them: “What noun do you own?” Watch how quickly the conversation shifts from tactics to strategy, from description to ownership, from framing to actual positioning.