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30.09.2025
WTF is Cloud?
Read Time: 8 Minutes
Hello
HOW FAKE POSITIONING EXPERTS WOULD HAVE KILLED “CLOUD”
A Case Study in Why Copywriters Masquerading as Strategists Fail at Mental Territory Ownership
THE BRIEF
It’s 2005.
You’re in a conference room with the world’s best “positioning experts.”
Here’s what you hand them:
“We have a new service. Instead of storing data on hard drives in your office, you store it on hard drives far away. In a building you’ll never see. Run by people you’ll never meet. You access it through the internet, which sometimes goes down. Oh, and you have to trust us with all your data.”
Watch what happens next.
THE FAKE EXPERT PLAYBOOK
Expert #1: The Value Prop Specialist
“Okay team, let’s start with the value proposition framework.”
Their Approach:
– “For enterprises seeking flexible data storage solutions…”
– “We are the leading provider of remote server infrastructure…”
– “That offers scalability, reliability, and accessibility…”
– “Unlike traditional on-premise storage, which is costly and inflexible…”
Why This Fails: This is what I call “the tactical default trap,” defaulting to value propositions because they seem concrete and actionable. But as the framework makes clear: “Positioning isn’t a value proposition or messaging framework. It’s the foundational lens through which you see the market.”
Value props describe features and benefits. They don’t own mental territory.
The fake expert created a description, not a position.
Anyone could copy this. Dell could say it. HP could say it. IBM could say it.
No mental territory was claimed.
Expert #2: The Messaging Architect
“We need a comprehensive messaging architecture!”
Their 47-Page Deliverable:
– Brand pillars: Security, Scalability, Accessibility
– Audience segments: IT, Finance, End Users
– Value propositions per segment
– Proof points and case studies
– Competitive positioning matrix
– Messaging hierarchy
– Tone and voice guidelines
Why This Fails: This is what I call “tactical positioning masquerading as strategy,” building messaging machines without a unifying idea underneath.
Startups often fall into the trap of building ‘messaging machines,’ a flurry of hero copy, ICP decks, and value prop iterations without a unifying idea underneath.
The expert built a messaging structure. But messaging without positioning is just noise with better organization.
Still no mental territory claimed.
Expert #3: The Category Definer
“First, we need to define our category!”
Their Analysis:
– “We compete in the Remote Data Storage category”
– “Our competitors are: Traditional Storage + Remote Access Solutions”
– “We differentiate through: Better uptime, lower costs, easier access”
Their Positioning Statement:
“In the remote data storage market, we are the company that delivers enterprise-grade reliability with consumer-grade simplicity.”
Why This Fails: This is classic “better than” positioning, the fallacy of defining yourself relative to competitors.
One of the most common positioning mistakes is defining a position in relation to competitors, ‘We’re like X, but better.’ This approach surrenders mental territory to the competitor and accepts their framing of the category.”
The expert accepted the existing category framing.
They claimed to be “better” within the rules someone else wrote.
Mental territory: zero.
Expert #4: The B2B Positioning Specialist
“B2B is different. We need a rational, features-focused approach.”
Their Framework:
– Decision-maker analysis (IT, Finance, C-suite)
– ROI calculators
– TCO comparisons vs. on-premise
– Security certifications and compliance
– Multi-stakeholder buying committee navigation
Why This Fails: This is the B2B vs. B2C false dichotomy. People love dividing the world into B2B vs. B2C as if humans suddenly stop being emotional, story-driven, identity-seeking beings the moment they enter a work setting. Positioning principles remain constant across different contexts. They’re rooted in human psychology, not business type.
The expert assumed B2B buyers are robots who only care about features and ROI.
But humans make B2B decisions. Humans with emotions, identities, and cognitive biases.
Still no mental territory.
Expert #5: The Education-First Strategist
“This is too abstract! People can’t see it. We need market education!”
Their 18-Month Plan:
– Educational whitepapers: “Understanding Remote Server Infrastructure”
– Webinar series: “The Benefits of Off-Site Data Storage”
– Comparison guides: “On-Premise vs. Remote Storage”
– Industry reports: “The Future of Enterprise Data Management”
Why This Fails: This expert confused invisibility with complexity. They assumed that positioning an invisible product requires extensive education.
However, as we established, if religion can claim mental territory without pixels, without product demos, and without explaining categories (across every imaginable demographic), then software positioning isn’t hard due to visibility. Read this.
The expert spent 18 months explaining what the service is.
Not claiming what it means.
No. Mental. Territory.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Someone who understood positioning looked at the same brief.
And said: “Cloud.”
One word.
That’s it.
Why This Worked:
1. It Owns a Noun, Not an Adjective
Not “secure remote storage” (adjective).
Not “scalable data infrastructure” (adjective).
Cloud. A noun. A concept. A mental territory.
2. It Transcends Category
It didn’t accept the “remote storage” category.
It created a new mental schema: Cloud.
Now everything that isn’t in the “Cloud” is… what? On the ground? Old? Limited?
The position reframed the entire market.
3. It Requires Zero Explanation
No value props needed.
No messaging architecture required.
No market education necessary.
Everyone from Fortune 500 CEOs to your grandmother immediately understood the concept.
Not because they understood the technology.
Because they understood the metaphor.
4. It’s Impossible to Copy
Once someone owns “Cloud,” you can’t claim it.
You can only be “cloud-based” or “cloud-native” or “leveraging cloud infrastructure.”
All derivative positions that acknowledge the leader.
THE REALITY CHECK
Here’s the cognitive dissonance:
Every single one of those fake positioning experts now uses “Cloud” in their work.
Their decks say “cloud-native solutions.”
Their websites promise “cloud-based platforms.”
Their LinkedIn content mentions “cloud infrastructure expertise.”
They’re using the thing they could never have positioned to position their own services.
And they still don’t understand what happened.
WHY FAKE EXPERTS FAIL
The pattern is clear:
Fake Experts:
– Focus on features and benefits
– Create value propositions and messaging frameworks
– Accept existing category definitions
– Compete on “better than”
– Treat positioning as communication
– Default to tactics
– Outsource positioning to marketing
– Think B2B is “different”
Real Positioning:
– Owns mental territory (nouns, not adjectives)
– Creates or redefines categories
– Shapes perception, not just communication
– Is a leadership decision, not a marketing deliverable
– Drives business model, not just messaging
– Requires commitment and sacrifice
– Works the same for B2B and B2C
THE CLOUD TEST
Want to know if someone is a real positioning expert or a fake?
Give them the Cloud brief.
If they start with:
– “Let’s define our value proposition…”
– “We need to map stakeholders…”
– “Here’s our messaging architecture…”
– “B2B requires a different approach…”
– “We need to educate the market first…”
They’re a copywriter masquerading as a positioning strategist.
If they start with:
– “What concept can we own?”
– “What mental territory is unclaimed?”
– “What noun defines this category?”
– “How do we reframe the entire market?”
They might actually understand positioning.
THE IRONY
The same people who successfully made “Cloud” a common language (who abstracted physical servers into a concept everyone understands), now complain:
“Software positioning is so hard! People can’t see it!”
“B2B is different! You can see a shoe!”
“How do we position something invisible?”
You already did it.
You took the most invisible, abstract, intangible thing imaginable.
And positioned it so successfully that your grandmother understands it.
But you don’t even realize you did it.
Because you’re not a positioning expert.
You’re a copywriter who got lucky once.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
The Cloud positioning reveals three fundamental truths:
Truth #1: Visibility Is Irrelevant
Mental territory ownership has nothing to do with whether people can see your product.
Religion owns mental territory for invisible concepts.
The Cloud owns mental territory for invisible infrastructure.
Tesla owns “the future,” which literally doesn’t exist yet.
If positioning depended on visibility, none of these would work.
Truth #2: Nouns Beat Features
Every fake expert focused on features:
– Scalability
– Reliability
– Accessibility
– Security
– Cost savings
None of that mattered.
Cloud. A simple noun beat all of them.
Because nouns own mental territory.
Adjectives just describe what’s there.
Truth #3: Real Positioning Doesn’t Require Explanation
The Cloud needs no whitepaper.
No value proposition.
No messaging architecture.
No stakeholder mapping.
No market education.
It just owns mental territory.
And everyone knows what it means.
THE CHALLENGE
If you’re positioning something right now:
Stop.
Don’t start with value props.
Don’t build messaging frameworks.
Don’t map stakeholders.
Don’t write positioning statements.
Ask one question:
“What noun can we own?”
Not what features you have.
Not what benefits you deliver.
Not what category you’re in.
What concept – what mental territory – can you claim ownership of?
If you can’t answer that in two words or less, you don’t have positioning.
You have a description.
THE FINAL WORD
Today’s “positioning experts” would have killed the Cloud.
They would have created:
“Enterprise Remote Data Storage Solutions with Scalability, Security, and Reliability for Multi-Stakeholder B2B Decision-Making Processes.”
And wondered why nobody cared.
Meanwhile, someone who actually understood positioning just said:
“Cloud.”
And changed everything.
—
The difference between real positioning and fake expertise isn’t subtle.
It’s the difference between owning mental territory and renting a paragraph in someone else’s category.
It’s the difference between “Cloud” and “secure, scalable, remote data storage solutions.”
Choose accordingly.
—
Wait.
This didn’t just happen hypothetically.
It actually happened.
At Compaq Computer. In January 1997.
George Favaloro and Sean O’Sullivan claimed “the Cloud” as a position in November 1996. Their PR team changed it to “Internet Computing” in January 1997 because they thought “cloud” was “too vague for the market.”
Nine years later, Eric Schmidt stood on stage and claimed the position Compaq abandoned. Google won thought leadership. Amazon stole permanent ownership through infrastructure and distribution.
And Compaq got nothing.
The fake positioning experts you just read about? They weren’t hypothetical. They were Compaq’s PR team. And they threw away $500 billion in mental territory because they optimized for description over ownership.
Read the full story: The $500 Billion Position That Compaq Threw Away →
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P.S. – If you’re still saying “brand positioning” instead of just “positioning,” you’re probably one of the fake experts.*
*The real ones made the Cloud happen. What will you make?
Yours truly
Paul Syng
