Part I: Finally, in 2016, a book called Play Bigger was written Should you attempt category design by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, yourself? Category Design and Kevin Maney. While the books I mentioned above Should Be on are great on theory, they are short on execution. At this point, category design might sound pretty Play Bigger changed that by providing the first clear exciting. After all, who doesn’t want to be the next Every Business blueprint for pulling off category design. It’s a must- Salesforce or HubSpot – to build and dominate a Leader’s Radar read for anyone interested in the topic. Once you’ve new market on their own terms? But this process of read it, check out this resource from Category Design “claiming new territory” isn’t something you should Advisors that has further reading ideas. pick capriciously. In fact, it’s not something many companies should even attempt. Instead of pursuing The Beta Phase (2017-Present) category design, you may be much better off pursuing Now that category design has started to become a niche within an existing category. recognized as a business discipline, we are seeing more No one makes this choice clearer than Mike Volpe, the There are really only two companies make an attempt at it. This will only increase founding CMO of HubSpot and CEO of Lola.com, business models: a Better as the pace of change and innovation continues to who said, “There are really only two business models: “ accelerate. We’re seeing category design happen a Better Mousetrap, where you enter an existing market Mousetrap, where you with both single-product companies and enterprise with a product that is better than the current solutions enter an existing market companies. There’s still a lot of experimentation I see in some way, and a Category Creator, where you are happening along the way, and more and more people creating a market that does not exist by inventing with a product that is are documenting their experiences. something new. Neither business model is better, they better than the current You should know that if category design is something just have different implications for what you need to do you choose to pursue on your own, you need to think of in order to grow.” (Here’s my full interview with Mike.) solutions in some way, and yourself as a “beta tester” – we have the broad pieces in Are you better off building a category or competing in a Category Creator, where place, but there is still much that needs to be discovered! an existing one? To find out, take a look at Part II: Does you are creating a market Category Design Make Sense for Your Company? that does not exist by inventing something new. ” Recap: — Mike Volpe Category design provides a different approach to growth. Instead of trying to take away market share from competitors, category designers set up a new category that they can lead themselves. Buyers use categories to make sense of a complex world, so companies need to be thoughtful about their choice of category. The term “category design” was coined in the 2016 book Play Bigger, but books like Positioning, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Crossing the Chasm, and The Innovator’s Dilemma paved the way for this way of thinking. Finally, category design isn’t a marketing strategy, it’s a business strategy. Marketing only happens after category design takes place. The Newcomer’s Guide to Category Design 12