In the Bible, the apostle Paul wrote “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” Sometimes people assume certain things about us because of those with whom we are associated. Products can suffer the same fate.
Humans, by our nature, like to simplify the process of understanding products. When we hear of a new product, we want to put it into a category so that we can relate it to other products that are similar. The category provides a shortcut for our brain. We know that other products in that category have certain characteristics and we expect this new product to share those characteristics. We also have a sense for which attributes factor into our decision making process when evaluating options within that category.
Being in the right category makes it easy for buyers to understand the product and its value proposition and for the company to highlight the product’s unique value. Being in the wrong category confuses buyers which means the company has to work that much harder to communicate their value proposition. The wrong buyers are initially attracted to the product, they compare the product to the wrong competitors, and they evaluate the product on the wrong criteria.
So, do you know why your customers choose you? The product category that you are aligned with has more to do with it than you might have imagined!