Create a New Game

"Create a New Game" is a style of positioning where you create a new market category from scratch. This is the most difficult and risky style of positioning, but it also has the biggest potential payoff.

When to Use This Style

• Your product is truly new and different: Your product is so different from existing solutions that it doesn't fit into any existing market category.
• There has been a major shift in the market: A new technology, a change in customer behavior, or a new regulation has created an opportunity for a new type of solution.
• You have the resources to educate the market: You have the time, money, and patience to convince customers that a new category of product deserves to exist.

The Work Involved

• Sell the problem, not the solution: You need to convince customers that they have a problem that they didn't even know they had.
• Define the category: You need to define the boundaries of the new market and the buying criteria for solutions in that market.
• Position yourself as the leader: You need to convince customers that you are the best company to solve the problem that you have just defined.

Cautions

• This is a long and expensive process: It can take years to create a new market category.
• You may do all the work and have a competitor reap the rewards: If you are not careful, a larger or faster competitor may swoop in and steal the market that you have created.

Related Concepts:

• Three Styles of Market Positioning
• Head to Head
• Big Fish, Small Pond