Marketing Minute: Creating Your Own Category – May 2026

By Paul Friederichsen

Many so-called trade or consumer brands are brands in name only. There are many prerequisites for “brand-hood,” not the least of which is to be distinguishable from your competition. Of course, that may become difficult in a crowded category, but that makes it all the more necessary. Roy H. Williams of “Monday Morning Memo” observed, “I am always fascinated when I see business owners all marching in the same direction, doing the exact same things because they believe, ‘This is the way to differentiate yourself.’” It isn’t, of course. But how often do we hear “Well, they did it this way and look how successful they are, so we should do the same thing”? Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, and conformity may be the easiest path, but they rarely win in the marketplace.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO STANDING OUT

In a lot of marketing plans, you’ll hear the terms “differentiation” and “positioning” often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. However, they are linked and are essential for standing out. 

Differentiation: To differentiate your brand means that you determine, focus on and support “what makes you different.” These differences can be both tangible and intangible qualities that set you apart from the competition. So, why should someone buy your product? A clearly defined differentiation holds the key. It could be proprietary technology, superior service, a unique product mix, a direct-to-dealer model, etc.

You may use a third-party brand consultancy to help you discover the way your brand is different via research, executive workshop or both. Often, the key is right in front of you, but you would never know it otherwise.

Positioning: Positioning, on the other hand, is all about perception built upon that differentiation and shaped by consistent messaging, storytelling and advertising. It’s reframing the argument for your brand in such a way that you own a piece of your customer’s mind. 

For example, a friend of mine who managed the Coors Beer account at JWT called it winning “The Cooler of the Mind.” To them, it was all about being within easy reach of the beer drinker’s acceptable options. Or as my marketing colleague Chris Ramey observes, being a beer that you aren’t embarrassed to drink in front of others, because the brands you choose say a lot about who you are.  

Coors was brewed in Colorado, not Milwaukee, therefore setting it apart from other major competitors. As a result, the agency built an entire introductory campaign around scarcity and positioned the brand as so desirable and hard to get that it had to be “smuggled” to other parts of the country.

In a similar fashion, Cali has capitalized on its bamboo beginnings and California home base as strong differentiators to create a desirable lifestyle positioning using their flooring as a means of owning that breezy, laid-back California vibe…even if you live in Indiana. And who doesn’t want that?

CREATING YOUR OWN CATEGORY

Both Coors and Cali are also the fulfillment of a marketing axiom that Al Ries and Jack Trout first advanced in their book “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind,” that goes, “If you can’t be #1 in your category, create a category you can be #1 in.” Both brands have larger competitors, yet both succeed. That’s because both brands leverage their unique differences to create positions in the marketplace where they can excel…on their terms. If Apple had played by IBM’s rules, or Red Bull had played by Coca-Cola’s rules, neither brand would be what it is today, and our world would be the lesser for it.

There is a common pattern across all these examples:

• They rejected the existing category rules

• They introduced a meaningful difference

• They named and owned a new space in the mind

The importance of this cannot be overstated. Brands not only separate goods and services from the world of commodities, but they also provide the mental “shorthand” of something that the consumer needs or wants to have fulfillment. Each of us is inundated with tens of thousands of marketing stimuli every day, so the misguided strategy of “following the leader” really is your ticket to performance mediocrity. Your brand must be memorable to be a consideration. Period.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU

In the flooring market, the stakes have been rising over the last ten to 15 years, with an explosion of new brands, driven largely by the popularity of rigid-core resilient flooring. This trend shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. So, for many, the hard work of marketing is upon us. The market has only so much room, and it’s getting pretty crowded. Many won’t survive.

If you’re the marketing decision maker of a new or existing flooring brand, consider these fundamental steps to assess, articulate and implement your brand’s positioning. You may be on the right track, you may need an adjustment or you may need a re-launch.

1. Where are you right now? Pay attention to how you are viewed in the field.

2. Do you know your competitors? What do you assess they “own”? 

3. How are you different? Must be real. Must be provable. Be honest.

4. Based on that, what can be your category?

5. Can you own it? Can you prove it? Can you scale it? Can you sell it?

6. Are you committed to supporting it? Consistently, everywhere?

7. Can you and your territory managers articulate it (elevator pitch it) flawlessly?

8. Can your creative team lock it up with outstanding, memorable messaging? And are you prepared to make the necessary advertising investment to make it stick?

RISK VS. REWARD

Let’s be honest, there is a potential downside to altering brand positioning. Beware of choosing a position you simply can’t deliver on, concentrating on a difference that doesn’t resonate with your customer, drifting into a “me too” promise, boxing yourself in so you cannot scale, insufficient training of your sales team, unintended channel friction and becoming impatient to see the fruits of all your work. And then there’s the potential of losing some existing business. It takes guts.

When Steve Jobs came up against IBM, it was a lesson in courage. He could have played it safe, made his millions and eventually folded. Instead, he took on Big Blue, created his own personal computing category and the Apple brand became legendary. 

What category will your brand own?

THE AUTHOR

Paul Friederichsen is a marketing and branding expert with a career spent in ad agencies as a creative director and strategist and with numerous clients over the years in the floorcovering industry. He is a partner in the international brand consultancy The Blake Project and is a contributor to Branding Strategy Insider.