A new category by definition is different from existing categories. The products in the new category aren’t just better versions of the products in the existing categories, they are meaningfully different. Typically, customers have been successful using products in the old categories for years. Like frogs in a kettle, they don’t realize that the world around them is changing and their success is in danger. You have the opportunity to make them aware of this danger and to let them know that there’s a new and different way for them to achieve success in the future.
For people to want your solution, they need to see these changes and recognize how they impact their own situation. The best way for you to help them with that is by telling a story. In the article linked below I layout a 6-part storyline to help customers see how change is impacting them and why they need your category.
Most people don’t like to change. Even when they know they have to, emotionally they resist. So having a story to tell is essential, but telling the story in ways that align their emotions with their intellect is what will result in people embracing change. You will tell this story over and over again in many different ways over the coming years, and in the article linked below I explain how to apply Chip and Dan Heath’s Elephant/Rider/Path model to appeal to your audience’s emotions and intellect in a way that they can easily embrace.