What we cover on Episode 36
Is brand your only moat left?
We talk to April Dunford on how a clear and differentiated point of view is what helps to make a company successful, not the brand.
We also cover:
- What do we mean by brand? How does it differ from creating a point of view in the market?
- Does every great brand position themselves against an enemy?
- Why most brands over complicate their positioning
- Why freemium is probably the wrong model for most SaaS companies
Happy Growing!
Time Stamped Notes
[4:46] We play the prize-winning quiz 'Positioning Hero OR Positioning Zero.' Here are the products we cover:
a. Crazy Cat Lady Cat Butt Crochet Drink Coaster Set >> https://amzn.to/2KCpOCU
b. Dad Bag Beer Belly Fanny Pack >> https://amzn.to/2UZvCKI
Find out what ones April thought where a hero and zero.
[10.38] We talk about the latest craze in B2B, brand. April details why the concept of brand hasn't changed in years, and what people are often referring to is a well-shaped point of view.
[13:30] There are lots of examples where companies didn't invest in the brand, like fonts, style guides, images, and became big companies, but they did have a clear point of view in the market.
[14:32] Having a differentiated point of view and being consistent with your messaging around are very powerful in making your company a success.
[18:26] April talks about why she doesn't necessarily care about how people feel about her company, but she does care if people understand their point of view in the market and how it's differentiated from competitors.
[20:38] We talk about the importance of positioning and how it tells people, what your product is, and why they should care about it. We discuss if you need to position against something if you should identify an enemy.
[24:30] April talks about her experience in creating a strong position for a platform she worked on and identifying competitors as point solutions.
[25:30] Scott throws out some other examples of brands which created a strong positional statement with a clear enemy.
[27:50] April talks about LevelJump and how they've created a strong position for their sales enablement platform.
[29:30] We talk about the simplicity of Zoom's positioning statement and why it's so effective, and why a lot of brands over complicate their positioning.
[32:10] A great brand is dependent on having a great product
[35:30] Why freemium isn't a great model for most SaaS products and founders should get better at asking for money. It's a lot harder to get people to pay you money when you peg the core value of your product to $0.
[37:40] Freemium should be a last resort for most SaaS businesses unless the product has some natural virality.
[40:40] Why would companies choose to go freemium? We cover some examples of companies who wouldn't have been as successful if they didn't select freemium as an option.
[44.10] One of the significant challenges with freemium is getting monetization right. How do you give away part of the product for free, but not so much that people don't know why people should pay you money.
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