The Positioning Trap

The chart is a four-box grid. Left to right is how different you seem, from interchangeable to distinct; bottom to top is how much buyers want your category, from nice-to-have to must-have. Three of the four boxes are weak spots - wanted but interchangeable, ignored, or distinct in a category nobody buys yet; only the top-right box, where you're both wanted and seen as different, is where the ads actually convert. An ad turns up the volume on a position you already hold - it can't create one you don't.