Positioning for tech companies. Author of the best-selling books Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch.

April Dunford is the world's foremost authority on product positioning for B2B technology companies. As a consultant, April helps companies make complex products easy to understand and love. After a 25-year career as a VP of Marketing at various fast-growing technology firms, she has consulted with 300 technology companies, including Google, Epic Games, Postman, and others. April is the acclaimed author of the best-selling book, "Obviously Awesome," which delves into the art of positioning, and the newly released, "Sales Pitch," which unveils the secrets to crafting a winning sales narrative in the market.

April Dunford

ANNOUNCEMENT - The new updated and expanded Obviously Awesome is coming!!! 🎉 🎉 

I've been sitting on this one for a while, so I'm SUPER EXCITED to get this out into the world!! 

Almost 7 years ago, I published Obviously Awesome, my attempt at describing the process I use to position B2B tech products and companies. I didn't expect many people to read it. I was wrong. 

Since then, more than 100,000 people have bought the book, and countless companies have used the process. A few hundred did that with me directly, and many, many more of you worked through the process on your own using the book. I've learned a LOT over the past 7 years, and I decided it was time to bring those learnings back to the book. 

The new edition is coming in FEBRUARY (don't ask me for a specific date - it's Amazon's world, we're just living in it). Here's what's new:

📙 5 STEPS (not 10) - In the first edition, I describe 5 components of positioning and a 10-step process for doing it. Some of you really hated that the number of steps in the process wasn’t equal to the number of components. The first few steps were pre-work, and the final steps are work that follows the exercise. I have repositioned those steps (see what I did there), and we now have 5 components and 5 steps. 

📙 The PRE-WORK section has been expanded to include key decisions a team should make before beginning a positioning exercise. This is based on my work with clients, and I think it will greatly improve any team’s chances of success when following this process.

📙 I have included sections that are more relevant to MULTIPRODUCT companies grappling with how to position their products in a company with multiple offerings. 

📙 Some steps in the process have been significantly expanded—particularly the Differentiated Value step. Most teams told me they got stuck there. I hope this new, improved section helps to clarify the concept.

📙 The final section, What Happens AFTER a Positioning Exercise, has been greatly expanded. This new section reflects my current thinking on how best to create a sales pitch to test positioning and then turn that positioning into messaging.

📙 For the first time, there will be a HARDCOVER edition. Most of you won't care, but I have seen some seriously well-loved (but also beat-up and scraggly) paperbacks at conferences, and I decided some of you need a copy that’s a little more durable!

🎙️ To go with the book, I'm reviving the Positioning PODCAST and will release a new series of episodes that dive into the book's new material. 
✍ The same goes for the NEWSLETTER (always the best way to follow my stuff). 

A new podcast episode and newsletter article drop TOMORROW - links in the comments.

You don't want to start any positioning work before making a key set of decisions

1️⃣ Is now the right time? 
Do we have enough customer experience to understand how prospects make decisions? Have we worked with enough customers to know - at least at a high level - what makes a good-fit customer different from a bad-fit customer? If the answer is no, we might want to develop a positioning thesis and tighten our positioning after we have closed more business.

2️⃣ Are we clear who this positioning is for? 
Positioning for customers is not the same as positioning for investors or employees. If we start working on positioning and half the team thinks we are building a sales pitch, the other half thinks we are building an investor pitch, very bad things will happen. 

3️⃣ What exactly are we positioning?  
Are we positioning the company, a product, or a group of products? The answer to this question might require deeper thinking about your go-to-market strategy. Getting a clear answer to this question will save you from having to debate this point mid-way through your positioning work.  

4️⃣ Which persona are you positioning for? Teams outside the sales team may not understand what a deal champion is and may be overly focused on positioning for other personas. When we talk about "value," we need to be clear about who perceives it. 

If you don't make these decisions up front, I can guarantee you will regret it. I've seen many teams rush into positioning work, only to stop midway to debate these points and backtrack to redo work they have already started. 

(I'm covering this topic in more detail in the newsletter and the podcast this week - links in comments)

Tony Crisp

I help market tech brands for business growth. Learning how to evoke emotions in customer experiences. #brand #marketing #DOSEmethod

In a world where consumers are being trained to buy products as if they were commodities, Tony Crisp is a marketing consultant who helps businesses to fight commoditization and increase the sales of their own branded products.

Specializing in technology products with a focus on brand strategy, new product development, and customer experience digital marketing, Crisp works hands-on to build meaningful brands at organizations of all sizes — from tech startups to Fortune 500 companies. His client list includes UC Irvine, XFX, Nvidia, Nestle, HTC Vive, RAVpower, UrbanDecay, Coors, G4S, Seed IP, Robosen, NTS Technical Systems, Element U.S. Space & Defense, and yes, even the late great, Marlon Brando.

In addition to being the Founder and Chief Strategist at CRISPx, an award-winning, data-driven, creative agency, Crisp has been a speaker at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California at Irvine and at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he is an Alumni. Crisp also sits on the Advisory Board of the Emerging Media and Design Program for the Trever Clair School of Arts at UC Irvine and serves on the Board of Directors of the Tech Coast Venture Network. He is also a judge at the UC Irvine Beall & Butterworth Tech Product Design & Development Competition.

Tony is a father to a young tech geek, a moonlighting rock drummer for the band Velicious, and lives happily, and enjoys sunrise walks on the beach with his wife in Orange County, California.

Learn more about CRISPx at crispx.com, about Tony at tonycrisp.com, or direct message him on any social channel @tonycrisp.

#crispx #techproduct #branding

Technology clients served include: XFX, ECS, Nvidia, Fatal1ty, Hitachi, Honeycomb, AViiQ, AMD, CyberpowerPC, Maingear, OriginPC, CybertronPC, Syber, HTC Vive, SunvalleyTek, RAVpower, VAVA, TaoTronics, FuzeDrive, Enmotus, SecureCircle, Lexi, EVGA, Robosen for licensed products for Hasbro Optimus Prime/Bumblebee Transformers and Disney/Pixar Buzz Lightyear, NTS Element U.S. Space & Defense, and Newegg.com

CEO, Founder

CRISPx is a data-driven brand marketing agency specializing in technology products. We help guide companies through our DOSE method process to build brands and help make sales easier.

Clients include: XFX computer hardware, G4S international logistic, Nvidia visual computing technology, Pine technologies, Nestle foods, Hitachi corporate, University of California Irvine Athletics, Fatal1ty licensed video gaming products, AMD/ATi/Radeon semiconductors, ECS computer systems, L337 gaming, Team Ninja Tecmo/Koei video games, Seed intellectual property, Honeycomb power products, HTC Vive VR, CyberPowerPC, Syber VR/gaming PC's, SunvalleyTek, TaoTronics Bluetooth audio, VAVA electronics, RAVpower charging products, Constellation energy, EVGA gaming PC products, and Robosen Robotics.

Tony Crisp 🚀

It’s a great time to be a startup Founder and Funder in OC. 

Proud to represent Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN) at today’s event hosted by the City of Irvine. From Startup to Scale: How Founders and Corporate Partners are Driving Orange County’s Tech Ecosystem, offered a unique opportunity to engage with the builders, visionaries, and decision makers driving Orange County’s tech-driven growth. 

Great to see Karin Koch  James Mai  Ian O. Williamson  Ryan Foland ⛵️🏝️😎  Johannes Rott  Steven Alves  Dave Coffaro Michael Sawitz Isabelle Bart 💡 Scott Fox 🦊

University of California, Irvine - The Paul Merage School of Business 
Plug and Play Tech Center 
City of Irvine 
TCVN 
UCI ANTrepreneur Center 
Orange County OC Startup Council

Building brands that mean business | co-founder/CEO of CRISPx brand agency | fractional CMO | President of TCVN | Learning how to evoke emotions with science in customer experiences 🧠 #brand #marketing #DOSEmethod

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