7 CEO Secrets That Create New Categories Fast (and Make Your Rivals Obsolete)

Category creation is the ultimate strategic weapon in your arsenal

You are the category King!

Category creation doesn’t just help you compete better. It changes the game, so you play by your own rules.

When competition heats up and profits drop, most CEOs compete on features or price. Market pioneers know a key truth: to grow fast, you shouldn’t just compete in existing categories. Instead, create new ones where you can stand alone. This is how everyday companies turn into category kings. They get premium prices and lead the conversation in their market.

You might recall our discussion last week about building strong authority. We covered five key steps:

1. Positioning your authority.

2. Accumulating evidence

3. Demonstrating expertise

4. Ensuring strategic visibility

5. Cultivating relationships

Positioning your authority.

My last newsletter had the highest open rate ever. It also outperformed most blog posts. First, publishing an article as a newsletter changes the value. Publishing it on Substack adds more prestige. Both are strong positioning strategies that differentiate and add value.

Accumulating evidence

My earlier newsletters focused on similar topics. If you like practical tips and evidence, you'll find much from me over the years. There is evidence of consistency.

Demonstrating Expertise

Showing expertise comes from gathering evidence. It's possible to share real client results. Yet, non-disclosure agreements hide much of my work. I also use anecdotal evidence and collated information from third parties.

Ensuring Strategic Visibility

Being seen by the right people at the right time defines strategic visibility. We use different methods to share our information. This helps us find the right audience. This is the area that gets most of my attention. If I want to shoot fish, where can I find a barrel of them? Or, if I know what attracts, what acts of magnetism can I create to pull viewers in? Both are possible. They need media placement and a clear sense of your audience.

Cultivating relationships

This is the one where most excel; we are, without a doubt, people-oriented individuals. A dear friend passed away ten years ago. I got a call from the author of his obituary. We spent a happy hour reminiscing. I reread the obit. The writer, always a bit picky, grumbled about attending sales meetings. He felt it was a necessary step to save his sinking ship. He wondered about the salesman’s act. Most of what was said seemed nonsensical, yet customers still bought. Not that there were any lies, but that there was much nuance and positive intention absent from fact.

Even in a place that makes no sense, all five constituencies were present. This led to 10 out of 10 sales successes, which brings me to today and this week's newsletter. I'm amazed at how having everything in place ensures success is achieved.

You have got to be in it to win it.

A classic phrase from our dearly departed. From the world of no sense: baddabing, baddabong. There’s the banjo! Phrases that you would have difficulty squeezing out of AI. Yet, in person, it may make you smile, resonate, and may make you buy. Sales, after all, are emotional.

This leads us to this week's topic of choice:

Category Creation

This is where we decide to put ourselves in a category of one, which remarkably simplifies the whole process.

I recall hearing one of Elon Musk's many interviews. This was back when he had attracted more respect. Elon recommended 'Iain M. Banks' Culture series. Being a writer, I read. I found some cool spaceship names! They include “Nervous Energy,” “Wisdom Like Silence,” and “Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty.” They seem to reflect the author’s playful thoughts. I also spotted two names Elon took: “Just Read the Instructions” and “Of Course I Still Love You.” They stand out, make you think, and have added to the legend of Elon Musk, pushing him into a category of his own. Even though the names make no sense, who said they had to? Now you see that sense isn't always necessary. Sometimes, nonsense can stand out. It can help you gain market share or, as I prefer to say, mindshare.

Last week, I provided a lot of new content for subscribers.

Here's what you'll find:

• The premium pricing masterclass.

• A strategic authority-positioning exercise.

• An evidence-accumulation protocol.

• An expert demonstration blueprint.

• A strategic visibility planner.

• A relationship cultivation system

You might think this sounds like a sales pitch, and you’re not wrong. Yet, for the price of a trial subscription, I’m sure you’ll find it delivers huge returns. It offers a solid set of keys to the basics you need.

This week, although I will share the headlines, I’ll be sharing my more profound thoughts on this critical topic with subscribers only. It’s about Category Creation: Positioning When Competition Gets Tough. This is something we see in every field. As I thought about my late friend's life, I noticed how much he had changed. He embraced new fields with enthusiasm, but that enthusiasm eventually faded. He took every chance and always used the right processes at the correct times. The market changes weren't about his sales skills. They were about the changing times. That's why we need access to skills and ideas that AI can't understand from real life. The facts are all there; it is the emotions that change. People buy based on emotion, connection, and gut feeling. Facts and figures support the act, but they do not always represent the main event.

Category Creation: The Ultimate Weapon When Competition Closes In

What would happen if your biggest competitor lost its significance? Travel tech CEO Sarah Jensen did just that. She turned her struggling booking platform into an "experience optimization engine." Now, it's worth eight times more than her most significant competitor.

This isn't just a typical David vs. Goliath tale. It's a smart guide for CEOs who feel the weight of growing competition. When bigger competitors with more money join your market, your margins may shrink. In this case, offering better features or lower prices can lead to commoditization.

Learn the seven proven strategies that top innovators use to create new categories. They set the rules in these areas.

1. Identify the market gaps that competitors deliberately ignore.

2. Reframe customer problems to make your solution the only logical answer.

3. Create a proprietary language that shapes how customers describe their needs.

4. Build credibility coalitions that transform your idea into an industry movement.

5. Productize your method to create barriers that competitors cannot overcome.

6. Establish the standards by which all solutions (including competitors') are judged.

7. Lead the conversation through category-defining thought leadership.

Jensen shifted focus from "better booking" to solving "travel decision paralysis." This change opened a new market category. Investors quickly saw its great value.

CEOs who see the signs of commoditization can benefit significantly from this framework. It helps them make competition irrelevant. They can define their category on their terms.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ANNOUNCEMENT

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Is your business facing pressure to compete on price, features, or incremental improvements? The signs of commoditization are obvious. But now, here are the tools to combat it. These tools will help you take action and make a real impact in the market.

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CEOs say this assessment helped them find missed positioning opportunities.

🔤 NEW FRAMEWORK: The Proprietary Language Blueprint

The companies that own the language control the conversation. Our framework helps you create unique terms, metrics, and ideas for your new category. It's the same method Sarah Jensen used to change "booking" to "experience optimization."

This premium framework includes:

• Problem reframing worksheets that make competitors irrelevant.

• Terminology development tools for creating "sticky" language.

• Implementation guides for ensuring market adoption.

• Defensive strategies for when competitors try to co-opt your terms.

One CEO shared, "We've spent six months trying to make our messaging stand out, but we haven't succeeded. This framework got us there in three days."

🚀 EXCLUSIVE ACCESS

Both tools are available now for readers of this newsletter. Just click the button below. Access these game-changing resources and start your category creation journey today.

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Note: These resources support our subscribers. They are part of our promise to help mid-market companies stand out.