Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It
- Downloads：9907
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-24 09:55:31
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：April Dunford
- ISBN：1999023005
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
You know your product is awesome—but does anybody else？ Forget everything you thought you knew about positioning。 Successfully connecting your product with consumers isn’t a matter of following trends， comparing yourself to the competition or trying to attract the widest customer base。
So what is it？ April Dunford， positioning guru and tech exec， will enlighten you。
Her new book， Obviously Awesome， shows you how to find your product’s “secret sauce”—and then sell that sauce to those who crave it。 Having spent years as a startup executive （with 16 product launches under her belt） and a consultant （who’s worked on dozens more）， Dunford speaks with authority about breaking through the noise of a crowded market。
Punctuated with witty anecdotes and compelling case studies， Dunford’s book is at once entertaining and illuminating。 Among the invaluable lessons you’ll learn are:
- The Five Components of Effective Positioning
- How to instantly connect an audience to your offering’s value
- How to choose the best market for your products
- How to use three distinct styles of positioning to your advantage
- How to leverage market trends to help buyers understand why making a purchase is important right now
Whether you’re an entrepreneur， marketer or salesperson struggling to bring inventive products to market， Dunford’s insights will help you find your awesome， so that your customers can too。
So what is it？ April Dunford， positioning guru and tech exec， will enlighten you。
Her new book， Obviously Awesome， shows you how to find your product’s “secret sauce”—and then sell that sauce to those who crave it。 Having spent years as a startup executive （with 16 product launches under her belt） and a consultant （who’s worked on dozens more）， Dunford speaks with authority about breaking through the noise of a crowded market。
Punctuated with witty anecdotes and compelling case studies， Dunford’s book is at once entertaining and illuminating。 Among the invaluable lessons you’ll learn are:
- The Five Components of Effective Positioning
- How to instantly connect an audience to your offering’s value
- How to choose the best market for your products
- How to use three distinct styles of positioning to your advantage
- How to leverage market trends to help buyers understand why making a purchase is important right now
Whether you’re an entrepreneur， marketer or salesperson struggling to bring inventive products to market， Dunford’s insights will help you find your awesome， so that your customers can too。
Reviews
Andrew Oliver
，
Wonderful summary of product marketing and positioningApril Dunford really pulls together the exercise of product marketing and positioning。 This book is concise， clear， and thoughtful。 She also isn't afraid to call BS。 Wonderful summary of product marketing and positioningApril Dunford really pulls together the exercise of product marketing and positioning。 This book is concise， clear， and thoughtful。 She also isn't afraid to call BS。 。。。more
Artist
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the most quality-dense book I have read， and it's a shame it isn't any longer。 really looking forward to a sequel。 until then I will have to find books that are just like it， which are heavily unlikely to be as good as this gold the most quality-dense book I have read， and it's a shame it isn't any longer。 really looking forward to a sequel。 until then I will have to find books that are just like it， which are heavily unlikely to be as good as this gold 。。。more
Cat
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Dunford writes about how to position products in a context that sets accurate expectations and makes their value stand out。 While I don't have any background in marketing， I found parallels to how we position products or services when conducting user research to make sure we're talking to the right people and setting ourselves up for the most useful feedback。She breaks positioning into six components: competitive alternatives， unique attributes， value， target market characteristics， market categ Dunford writes about how to position products in a context that sets accurate expectations and makes their value stand out。 While I don't have any background in marketing， I found parallels to how we position products or services when conducting user research to make sure we're talking to the right people and setting ourselves up for the most useful feedback。She breaks positioning into six components: competitive alternatives， unique attributes， value， target market characteristics， market category， and relevant trends。 Then she shares a 10-step process for completing these components and capturing the resulting positioning so it can be shared and put into practice。This book was fun to read and easy to follow。 Dunford makes a compelling case about the importance of considering a product within the right context， both in terms of sales but also in terms of developing a product roadmap and choosing which features to invest in。 I would recommend it to anyone involved in bringing new products to market。 。。。more
Kair Käsper
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Basic， but useful。 The author highlights clear， easy-to-follow steps on how to approach positioning and does so emphasizing that you shouldn't trust your preconceived ideas。 An essential read to anyone building their own business and a good reminder for marketing people to put focus on the fundamentals。 Basic， but useful。 The author highlights clear， easy-to-follow steps on how to approach positioning and does so emphasizing that you shouldn't trust your preconceived ideas。 An essential read to anyone building their own business and a good reminder for marketing people to put focus on the fundamentals。 。。。more
Druvis Timma
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Nice little book。 Not too much information in it， more of a checklist book for actually doing the work of positioning a product or a business。
Div
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Positioning is the key to defining the best customer and why they love your product and company。Thanks April for your wisdom and for sharing your insights and experience with us。 10step template for positioning 。。 check it out and be obviously awesome 👍😎
Daniel Cardona
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Leads are not flowing， the ones that got to your CRM or your sales reps have difficulty understanding what your product does or whom your company serves。Do you have a hard time understanding what do you do for work？ Well， you are not alone， like thousands of businesses or marketers you can end this by entering the world of positioning。As an expert in the field， April manages to explain the process of what a great position looks like and why you should have it in place for your business。Give it a Leads are not flowing， the ones that got to your CRM or your sales reps have difficulty understanding what your product does or whom your company serves。Do you have a hard time understanding what do you do for work？ Well， you are not alone， like thousands of businesses or marketers you can end this by entering the world of positioning。As an expert in the field， April manages to explain the process of what a great position looks like and why you should have it in place for your business。Give it a try you'll not regret it， not your business 。。。more
Lena Kelly
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Delivers on exactly what it says jt will。 An easy and actionable read for anyone tasked with positioning their product。 Slightly less helpful for portfolio/platform positioning， but the takeaways are important nonetheless。 Main gist: play to your strengths （as your customers see them， not as you see them/what you wish to be）。
Jaymie
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A great way to get up-to-speed on product positioning in just a few hours。As product owners or founders of product companies， we know how we present our product to our audience is critical。 What this book teaches you is a process for working through which market（s） your product fits into and gives you three positioning approaches to use。In order to get the most out of the book， you must:* be a B2B product/company* have enough customers to identify a pattern（s） of why your best-fit customers love A great way to get up-to-speed on product positioning in just a few hours。As product owners or founders of product companies， we know how we present our product to our audience is critical。 What this book teaches you is a process for working through which market（s） your product fits into and gives you three positioning approaches to use。In order to get the most out of the book， you must:* be a B2B product/company* have enough customers to identify a pattern（s） of why your best-fit customers love youI found having both the ebook and Audible narration a perfect complement to my learning style （i。e。 reading is mono-tasking， but diagrams are important）。April delivers her message in a calming， logical style， with a gentle humour， and the examples she gave resonated with me - enhancing the clarity of the message。 This is her only book to-date。 Hopefully her next one will provide some guidance on running a positioning session with your team - something her consultancy offers as a paid service。 。。。more
Alex
，
Good book， it explain how to position your product on the market。 I learned what positioning is and how it's different from marketing in this book。 The book also provides some great examples of good positioning in software related companies。 Good book， it explain how to position your product on the market。 I learned what positioning is and how it's different from marketing in this book。 The book also provides some great examples of good positioning in software related companies。 。。。more
Rūta Turskytė
，
- Positioning is all about the context。- What alternatives users consider when they want to solve their problem？ Identify those because people tend to put everything into categories。 Then point out critical advantages of your business （not all benefits）。- Avoid inductive reasoning。 The most common market is not the only one where your product can be positioned。
Augusto Barros
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A must if you’re new to positioning and working to define your product
Christoph
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I like that April Dunford explains the topic of positioning as a customer-centric process。 The book's backbone is a clear 10-Step process to create a product market position。 This clear structure makes the book quite actionable。 But to be truly actionable it misses the specific methods to tackle each of the 10 steps。 It would have been great to have more real-life examples from these workshops， to see which methods work and which methods fail in the author's experience。 The real-world examples a I like that April Dunford explains the topic of positioning as a customer-centric process。 The book's backbone is a clear 10-Step process to create a product market position。 This clear structure makes the book quite actionable。 But to be truly actionable it misses the specific methods to tackle each of the 10 steps。 It would have been great to have more real-life examples from these workshops， to see which methods work and which methods fail in the author's experience。 The real-world examples are focused on B2B software products since that's the background of the author。 But the general principles are probably adaptable to a lot of different products and services。 。。。more
Enrique
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This book goes to the point， that’s excellent。 I think the part that I liked the most is the change of perspective: you need first to give context to your products， and the question， “if your product doesn’t exist， what your customer would do？” April know her stuff， and the last steps of positioning you need to read and practice by yourself。
Harut Margaryan
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Right positioning is the key to success
Marius Černuševičius
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After reading， I thought maybe this is the kind of case: "When article becomes a book？"In a good way。 + Walkthrough of how to do messaging step by step* + It's practical + Has examples + Has good formating and its easy to read+ Had few jokes that made me laughI heard Peep Laja recommended in one podcast， the recommendation is worth it。 *P。s。 It's not that linear process， as the author puts After reading， I thought maybe this is the kind of case: "When article becomes a book？"In a good way。 + Walkthrough of how to do messaging step by step* + It's practical + Has examples + Has good formating and its easy to read+ Had few jokes that made me laughI heard Peep Laja recommended in one podcast， the recommendation is worth it。 *P。s。 It's not that linear process， as the author puts 。。。more
Dhanya
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Practical step by step guide to introduce positioning to a person or a team。
Brooke
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This book is very helpful and provides strategies for execution and execution is critical for entrepreneurs。
AV
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A good read for people in Marketing and especially， Product Marketing， who are concerned with bringing new products to the market and establishing a footing for those products。 Some great pointers around different kinds of attributes （consideration， retention， etc）， product value， ideal customer profile， target audience/ market。Would have loved to see more questions and maybe， more than the single framework to bring more clarity on how to approach the entire positioning process。
Ashley
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This book is a quick and easy read and written to be incredibly practical。 It's more of a business strategy book than a marketing book， so if you're a marketer， know it's a process that you could use with higher-ups but not keep contained in marketing。 Also the author's disdain for positioning statements and other approaches taken by brand strategists like me made it a little grating in moments。I'd also say that the approach feels incredibly skewed toward start-up and tech （where the author buil This book is a quick and easy read and written to be incredibly practical。 It's more of a business strategy book than a marketing book， so if you're a marketer， know it's a process that you could use with higher-ups but not keep contained in marketing。 Also the author's disdain for positioning statements and other approaches taken by brand strategists like me made it a little grating in moments。I'd also say that the approach feels incredibly skewed toward start-up and tech （where the author built a great deal of her professional credibility） so if you're working with a more established brand， consumer product or professional services， the examples may not resonate because they're so oriented to software。I added a few good thoughts and questions to my own process， though， so a worthwhile read。 。。。more
Rishika S。
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As a marketing professional （yep， that’s right; I don’t spend every day only reading and/or writing）， I’ve had multiple opportunities to work on product positioning。 It is， in fact， one of the things I like most about （and in） marketing。 But， there is always something new to learn in any profession。 Which is why I picked up April Dunford’s Obviously Awesome。 It had some really good stuff and some that was not-so-good。 Read on to know what to expect from this book。Genre:Business， Marketing （Non-f As a marketing professional （yep， that’s right; I don’t spend every day only reading and/or writing）， I’ve had multiple opportunities to work on product positioning。 It is， in fact， one of the things I like most about （and in） marketing。 But， there is always something new to learn in any profession。 Which is why I picked up April Dunford’s Obviously Awesome。 It had some really good stuff and some that was not-so-good。 Read on to know what to expect from this book。Genre:Business， Marketing （Non-fiction）Overall Rating:6 out of 10Writing Style:8 out of 10， for its clarity of thought， and easy-to-follow flow and explanations。Part of a Series:No。Highlighted Takeaway:There are a lot of tips， suggestions， and recommendations in Obviously Awesome。 At the same time， you don’t necessarily have to use its teachings in a “take it all or take nothing” style。 While a lot of the information was not new for me， I still found a few interesting points to be new （or differently approached）。 And the fact that it allows for anyone to do that， I felt， was the highlight of this book。What I Liked:April Dunford offers a structured， well-rounded approach not only to the activity of positioning， but also to the importance and need of it。 This wasn’t the first time I’ve read about positioning， but I found it highly relatable to tech B2B products， which is something I’ve found missing in other content on the topic。What I Didn’t Like:A significant portion of the book （especially the first few chapters） is focused entirely on April Dunford talking about how awesome she is。 I get it – no one will read your book on a specific topic unless you establish that your experience has equipped you to be a thought leader on it。 But sharing this experience， at some point， turned into April Dunford just boasting about herself。 It was quite a turn-off and takes some effort to push beyond it， until you get to the stuff that you can actually learn and apply。Who Should Read It:Any （tech） startup CEO working with a small team （whether pitching to investors or launching in the market， Obviously Awesome has some great tips and ideas on how to ensure that your product is best-placed）， marketing professionals （digital， strategy， and content-focused; the book has tips that can help the entire function）， and anyone who holds an integral position at a startup （positioning is， after all， a team effort）。Who Should Avoid:Anyone looking for information on marketing for B2C products。 It’s not that April Dunford’s tips won’t work， but it will take a lot of adapting。 It would be better for someone interested in B2C positioning to turn to the works of another marketing expert， because April Dunford focuses almost exclusively on B2B。Read It For:A fresh understanding of positioning and how you can go about it （and why you should） if it’s a new concept to you， and a refresher （with some interesting tips） if you’re already in the marketing function。This is one of the few business books I’ve started and actually finished。 Possibly because it was lighter， less jargon-y， and shorter than those I’ve picked up before。 （And because it focuses directly on one of the topics I like。） But if you’re hesitant to pick up Obviously Awesome because you’ve struggled to get through other business books， I will highlight that you probably won’t run into that problem。 And if you’re attempting to broaden your interests and are looking at business books， this is an interesting one to start with。 。。。more
Brian Worthge
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Lot's of great actionable advice for startups。 Lot's of great actionable advice for startups。 。。。more
indy
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Dunford wisely tightened the manuscript until it was short enough to start and finish on an aeroplane flight。 The lack of egotistical name dropping was similarly merciful。 Kim Scott， please take note on both counts！
E Williams
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The most useful marketing book I’ve ever read。 Strongly recommend to executive， marketing， product and sales teams who want to better understand positioning。 Clear， succinct and applicable to your day-to-day work。
肥啾 H
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Interesting concept。 Never read about related concept before。
Ioana
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A must-read book for a marketer。 I found it enlightening， full of excellent information and amazing insight into what I also thought to be a very difficult process-positioning。
Anna Malivska
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Even though the book focuses specifically on product positioning， it will give you a broad frame of understanding product marketing in general。 April’s style is very simple and easy to understand。 As a bonus， she offers real life examples to illustrate every exercise she suggests。 If you need to define your product positioning， you can follow this book’s guidance literally page by page。 It is nice that the book doesn’t require any specific background to comprehend the material and suggest absolu Even though the book focuses specifically on product positioning， it will give you a broad frame of understanding product marketing in general。 April’s style is very simple and easy to understand。 As a bonus， she offers real life examples to illustrate every exercise she suggests。 If you need to define your product positioning， you can follow this book’s guidance literally page by page。 It is nice that the book doesn’t require any specific background to comprehend the material and suggest absolutely intuitive and easy exercises。I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s field of interest lays anywhere in the area of product， marketing or business in general。 。。。more
Ilia Markov
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One of the best business books I've read in the last few years。 An absolute must-read for anyone working in tech。 One of the best business books I've read in the last few years。 An absolute must-read for anyone working in tech。 。。。more
Sam
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This was good — lots of food for thought about the fundamental importance of working through product positioning。 Convinced that we need to spend some more time and thought on this at my current company。
Keith Brooks
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