positioning

name	positioning
version	2.4
last_updated	"2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z"
author	marketing-team
description	Develops a positioning strategy with binary strategy selection, primary and secondary anchors, differentiators, and a positioning statement. Produces hero recommendation and one-liners for homepage and campaign use. Triggers on "positioning", "category definition", "differentiation", "how do we position", or "strategic foundation for messaging". Requires icp-behavioural and competitor-research as upstream inputs. Feeds into product-messaging and landing-page-copy. NOT for messaging libraries or taglines — use product-messaging instead.
goal	Develops a positioning strategy with binary strategy selection, primary and secondary anchors, differentiators, and a positioning statement.
outcome	Develops a positioning strategy with binary strategy selection, primary and secondary anchors, differentiators, and a positioning statement. Produces hero recommendation and one-liners for homepage and campaign use. Triggers on "positioning", "category definition", "differentiation", "how do we...
primitive	product-marketing
sub_primitive	strategy
ontology_type	positioning
review_gate	2
inputs	{"required":[],"recommended":["icp-behavioural","competitor-research","win-loss-analysis"]}
outputs	[{"type":"positioning-strategy","feeds_into":["product-messaging","website-copy","sales-enablement"]}]
depends_on	[]
feeds_into	["website-copy","product-messaging","sales-enablement"]
owned_by_agent	pmm
mcps_used	[]
push_targets	["gdrive","notion"]
triggers	{"slash_commands":["/positioning"],"natural_language":[]}
status	draft
locked_by	null
locked_date	null
lock_version	null
sources_count	0
context	fork
effort	max

B2B positioning strategy

Develop clear, defensible positioning for B2B SaaS products. Synthesizes ICP + competitor + brand context into a binary strategy choice (category vs problem), primary/secondary anchors, defensible differentiators, and a positioning statement that survives the 5-second clarity test.

When to run

Invoke when the user says:

• "Help me position [product/company]" / "Positioning strategy for [company]"
• "What category should we be in?" / "How do I differentiate from [competitor]?"
• "Our homepage isn't converting" / "Our messaging is confusing"
• "Should we niche down or go broad?" / "How do I explain what we do?"
• "Multi-product positioning help"

Do NOT invoke when:

• User wants landing page copy directly → landing-page-copy
• User wants full messaging library → product-messaging (run after positioning)
• User wants competitor research only → competitor-research
• User wants ICP research only → icp-behavioural

Workflow sequences:

• Greenfield: positioning → product-messaging → landing-page-copy
• Research-informed: icp-behavioural → competitor-research → positioning → product-messaging
• Audit fix: website-pm-score → win-loss-analysis → positioning → landing-page-copy

Inputs

Required:

• Company/product name and basic description
• Website URL (accessible, fetchable)

Recommended (improve quality):

• icp-behavioural output → sharpens persona + problem anchors
• competitor-research output → enables competitive alternative mapping
• win-loss-analysis output → real decision criteria, objections
• Sales feedback → what's working in conversations
• website-pm-score output → clarity gaps to fix

If inputs missing: Ask for website URL. Offer to run website-pm-score first to assess current clarity. Identify founder type early (customer-focused / technology-focused / competition-focused) — drives the approach sequence.

Steps

1. Phase 1 — Discovery & current state. Fetch website (homepage, pricing, about, product). Apply 5-second clarity test on H1+H2. Identify founder type. Extract current category / differentiation / ICP / problem claimed. → see references/steps.md
2. Phase 2 — Anchor & alternative mapping. Map 6 anchor types (Activity, Product Category, Use Case, Problem, Persona, Competitive Alternative). Map 5 alternative types (Manual/DIY, Legacy incumbent, Direct competitor, Adjacent tool, Status quo). Run Esner Decision Tree (Framework 13) to get a starting hypothesis. Score top combinations on Clarity / Differentiation / Relevance. Classify market maturity (emerging vs mature). → see references/steps.md
3. Phase 3 — Strategy selection. Choose binary strategy (category vs problem). Select primary anchor + secondary anchor + secondary angle archetype (Framework 14: Niche / Low-Cost / Premium / Unique Attribute / Lite — max 2). Define 2-3 defensible differentiators (delivery / guarantee / focus / proprietary). Determine market focus with TAM math. Pick primary competitive alternative.
4. Run clarity ladder. Compress positioning to 1 word, 1 phrase, 1 sentence, 1 paragraph. If any level fails, revisit anchor or differentiator selection.
5. Run guarantee test. For each differentiator: would you guarantee with money on the line? Verdict Pass / Fail / Partial. Cross-reference proof type per anchor (Framework 15: Activity → Before/After, Use Case → Workflow + Outcome, Category → Comparative, Competitive Alt → Switch/Upgrade).
6. Map strategic implications. Document what each decision implies for messaging direction, ICP sharpening, competitive counter-positions. If competitor-research available, include voice calibration. These feed product-messaging, icp-behavioural, tov-guidelines.
7. Compose output. Use template at references/output-template.md. Anchor-specific positioning statement template:
   • Activity: "We help [persona] [do activity] — replacing [manual process] with [product mechanism]."
   • Use Case: "We help [persona] [accomplish use case] without [key friction] — by [differentiated approach]."
   • Product Category: "We are a [category] that [key differentiator] — unlike [competitive alternative] which [weakness]."
   • Competitive Alternative: "We're a [leader]-alternative that [key upgrade] — for [persona] who [unmet need]."
8. Channel emphasis guidance. Same positioning, different facet leads per channel: homepage → primary anchor; thought leadership → Activity/Use Case; comparison pages → Competitive Alternative; sales discovery → Use Case/Activity; case studies → proof type matching primary anchor.
9. Self-evaluation. Run completeness, evidence, guardrail checks. Surface improvements. → see references/evaluations.md
10. Review gate (Level 2). Present full strategy + decisions. Approve or iterate.
11. Suggest chain. If approved: "Want me to run product-messaging next?" Tight coupling.

Frameworks reference (15 total): all detailed in references/frameworks.md. Anti-patterns + gotchas: references/anti-patterns.md. Changelog + MCP integration: references/changelog.md.

What good looks like

References

• references/frameworks.md — All 15 positioning frameworks (Fletch 1-12, Esner 13-15)
• references/steps.md — Phase 1/2/3 detailed walkthroughs + flowchart
• references/output-template.md — Standard markdown output structure
• references/examples.md — Worked examples + reference example capture format
• references/evaluations.md — Self-evaluation + auto-update protocol
• references/anti-patterns.md — Anti-patterns + gotchas
• references/changelog.md — Version history + MCP integration notes
• references/fletch-positioning-posts.md — 96 synthesized Fletch posts
• references/esner-positioning-framework.md — Esner 3-Step framework source

Examples

• Worked contract-management example with H1/H2 fail → pass → see references/examples.md
• User-approved outputs saved to references/examples/[date]-[client-slug].md

Evaluations

• 5-second clarity test passes (H1+H2 answer "which tools" or "which tasks")
• Decision tree hypothesis recorded AND validated against scoring matrix
• Secondary angle archetype selected from Framework 14 (max 2)
• Clarity ladder passes at all 4 levels (word / phrase / sentence / paragraph)
• All differentiators have guarantee test verdicts (Pass / Fail / Partial)
• Proof types align to primary anchor per Framework 15
• No "platform for X" alone, no invented categories, no "AI-powered" as primary differentiator
• ≤3 differentiators (focus discipline)
• Activity anchor used only when no software category exists
• TAM math is realistic (ACV × customers needed) — not hopeful thinking
• Strategic implications mapped for messaging, ICP, competitive (and voice if competitor data available)

Push

• client_folder/strategy/ (Google Docs) — strategic foundation for client review
• Notion "Positioning Database" — searchable record across engagements
• Output filename: MMYY-positioning.md per CLAUDE.md naming convention
• Feeds into: product-messaging (description + core blocks), landing-page-copy (hero formula), sales-enablement (battlecard positioning), competitor-research (focuses analysis on selected primary alternative), tov-guidelines (voice calibration if produced)