🧀 Have you ever heard about the king of cheese? That reputation comes from a unique positioning.
During my holidays in Italy, I had the chance to visit Parma and having a tour at a Parmigiano Reggiano production facility, and what I've learned there goes beyond "how cheese is made". When I asked how Parmigiano Reggiano compares to Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano, the answer, without any hesitation, was "there's no comparison".
Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano and Pecorino can all sit on the same supermarket shelf, but they have different characteristics, positioning, purposes and perceptions.
It reminded me of something we sometimes forget in Marketing and Sales: not every product that looks like an alternative is actually a competitor.
Sometimes a company struggles to position and message their products in a unique category. When a customer asks "How does your product compare with XYZ", the discussion generally go into features, specifications and price. Wouldn't it be fantastic to just answer: "there's no comparison"? 😊
🎯 Strong positioning isn't only about explaining why your product is better. It's about making clear:
- What category you belong to
- Who you are for
- What problem you solve
- What makes you different
- And sometimes, what you should NOT be compared with
And even within the same category, there's room for differentiation. Parmigiano Reggiano producers all follow the same DOP rules, but their sourcing and production choices (own milk vs. bought milk, aging time, and so on) can still create meaningful differences.
It sounds obvious, but it's surprisingly easy to forget.
Once you establish with your customer which category you're positioned in, you've just anchored the expectation about which comparisons are acceptable. With that, you've set a much smaller set of options to be compared against, which you can now focus on differentiating from. Time to talk about those little somethings that make your company or product special.
Sometimes, winning the comparison starts by setting standards.
🧀 What's your "Parmigiano Reggiano moment," a product or brand that taught you positioning just by being itself?
Ps. By the way, the tasking was delicious!!!!
#Marketing #Sales #ProductMarketing #Positioning #Differentiation #B2B #Cheese #Italy