Many companies approach me with excitement about their future. Typically, they have a powerful product that adds significant value, but it operates within a specific niche, such as automating processes or organizing data for businesses.
aOften, the company's leadership, whether the founder, CEO, or head of marketing, aspires to be a "category of one." This means creating a new space or market where no other company provides a similar service—a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind approach. The belief is that being unique in this way will benefit the company more than being part of an existing landscape, potentially attracting investment, increasing valuation, or facilitating a sale.
The question is whether building a brand is better achieved by excelling within a familiar category or by creating a completely new space—traditional brand positioning versus establishing a category of one.
Examples of successful brand positioning include Volvo, Coors Light, and Virgin Airlines. Despite being part of commoditized and competitive markets, these brands excel by highlighting unique features and benefits. By creating emotional connections with customers and emphasizing specific equities, they drive long-term choice—a classic and still relevant brand strategy.
Conversely, category-of-one businesses, such as Salesforce, Uber, Netflix, and Tesla, have revolutionized their respective industries. Salesforce pioneered "Customer Relationship Management" with cloud-based customer data management. Uber, Netflix, and Tesla each introduced entirely new concepts—ridesharing, streaming video, and electric vehicles.
Creating a category of one involves a business strategy decision to provide a product or service in a way that no one else does, followed by marketing efforts. However, this approach does not guarantee success, as competitors and challenges will still arise.
From a marketing perspective, advocating for a new category requires substantial effort to educate the market about its benefits. It can take years to establish and requires a strong commitment to defend the idea over the long term.
Ultimately, aiming to create a category of one is advisable if you have a solid business strategy and are willing to invest in long-term customer education and market positioning. For those not fully committed, there is an alternative—disrupting established categories without necessarily creating entirely new ones, as exemplified by companies like Toms Shoes and Dyson, introduced radical innovations that resonate with the values and expectations of specific target audiences.
So, whether following traditional brand positioning or forging a category of one, both approaches demand a strategic exercise to define your company's identity and resonate with customers.
