Stop Calling Positioning a Marketing Exercise

How April Dunford’s method helps product, sales and marketing fall into place.

I met April Dunford when I was at Google. I was helping scale our Enterprise Software business and I needed to align our work closer to Clay Christensen’s Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) methodology.

One of my managers recommended her book. I devoured it over a weekend and was hooked—not because it offered clever marketing tricks, but because it reframed how we thought about building products in the first place.

I called her up, brought her in to run a workshop.

Within months our product, sales, marketing, support, and engineering teams were working from a completely different playbook.

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Here’s what too many people overlook: April’s framework isn’t a marketing playbook at all.

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Most people think April teaches better marketing. WRONG!

Her methodology is about building from the outside in—getting laser-clear on:

• The customer.

• The value you deliver.

• How you uniquely fit into their world.

• and only then letting marketing tell that story.

Using her book, you will learn how to articulate your value proposition with precision, and make every downstream decision—product, sales, marketing—fall into place.

In this post, I’ll break down the method, why it matters, and why you shortchange yourself if you treat it as “just a marketing exercise.”

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Why Positioning Matters (More Than You Think)

You can build an incredible product. But if you position it in the wrong context, nobody sees the value.

Think of a world-class violinist playing in a subway. Wrong frame, wrong audience. Same music.

Positioning isn’t branding. It’s not messaging. It’s not marketing. It’s strategic product context.

It answers questions like:

• What exactly are we?

• Who are we for?

• Why should they care?

April gives us a method to answer these with clarity.

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The 8-Step Positioning Framework (In Plain English)

1. Find your fans. Who loves your product today? What do they have in common?

2. List the alternatives. What would customers use if you didn’t exist?

3. Isolate your unique features. What do you have that no one else does?

4. Map features to value. Don’t just list benefits—connect them to customer outcomes.

5. Profile your ideal customer. Not everyone is a fit. Get specific.

6. Choose your market frame. Are you competing in an existing category, redefining one, or creating your own?

7. Leverage trends (if relevant). Tie your product to bigger movements—authentically.

8. Document and Action it! This is your North Star. Sales, product, marketing—everyone aligns here and executes!

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Lessons I Keep Coming Back To

• Positioning isn’t static. As your product evolves, so should your story.

• Start with customer truth. The best positioning starts with people who already love what you do.

• Never, Ever Pitch. Provide Context. You’re not trying to convince—you’re trying to help people see.

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Now What?!

If you lead a team, build product, or market anything— Obviously Awesome is a MUST READ.

You can also follow April’s substack here.

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I write about what I’ve learned as a technology executive over the last 25 years.

I’ve help scale startups from inception. I’ve been acquired. I’ve acquired companies. I’ve worked at mid-size companies through IPO. I helped scale Data, AI and Analytics businesses at Microsoft and Google.

The above are my thoughts. No one’s paying me to write this—not my employer, not anyone.

You don’t have to agree. I welcome smart debates. I write this to learn from smart people, regardless of whether they agree with me or not.

Please feel free to comment, share your thoughts and even a book that’s had a strong impact on you.