Positioning communication
Obviously Awesome
Obviously Awesome is best for product teams whose customers do not quickly understand what the product is, who it is for, and why it is different.
One-Sentence Answer
Obviously Awesome is best for product teams whose customers do not quickly understand what the product is, who it is for, and why it is different.
What The Book Is About
April Dunford writes about positioning as the context that makes a product easy to understand. The book is valuable for Communication Books because positioning is a communication problem before it is a design or advertising problem. If customers place a product in the wrong category, compare it to the wrong alternatives, or miss the value, the rest of the message struggles.
The book is especially useful for B2B founders, marketers, product leaders, and sales teams. Dunford gives a structured way to identify competitive alternatives, unique capabilities, value, best-fit customers, and market category. That structure helps teams stop describing features in isolation and start explaining why those features matter to a specific buyer.
Choose Obviously Awesome when the category or positioning is unclear. Choose Building a StoryBrand when the customer-facing story and call to action need simplifying. Choose The Mom Test when the team still needs better customer discovery. Choose Made to Stick when the message is clear enough but not memorable.
Who Should Read It
- Product teams who need customers to understand why a product matters.
- Readers comparing communication books and trying to choose the best next read.
- Managers, founders, teachers, salespeople, partners, or parents who need a practical communication toolkit.
- Readers who want communication advice tied to a specific use case rather than a broad motivational summary.
Main Summary
The central argument of Obviously Awesome is that customers need context before they can appreciate value. A product may be strong, but if buyers compare it against the wrong alternative, they will misunderstand its strengths. Positioning defines the frame: what this is, who it is for, what it competes with, and why its differentiated capabilities matter.
A useful reading path is to follow Dunford's sequence rather than jumping straight to tagline writing. Start with customers who love the product. Identify what they would use if the product did not exist. Name the capabilities that make the product different from those alternatives. Translate those capabilities into value. Then decide which market category makes that value obvious to the right customer.
The book's communication value is precision. It asks teams to stop saying the product is for everyone, better at everything, or powered by vague innovation. Good positioning makes the right customers say, "This is for a problem like mine."
Key Ideas
1. Context changes perceived value
The same product can look weak or strong depending on the category customers use to judge it. Apply this by asking what alternative buyers compare you against today.
2. Best-fit customers reveal the strongest value
Do not position from an average user. Look at customers who get unusual value and ask what makes their situation different.
3. Differentiated capabilities must become customer value
Features are not enough. A team has to explain what the capability enables, saves, reduces, or improves for the buyer.
4. Category choice is strategic communication
Choosing a market category tells customers what expectations to bring. A good category makes the product easier to understand and compare.
5. Positioning should align sales, marketing, and product
If each team explains the product differently, customers receive noise. A shared positioning frame creates consistent language across the funnel.
Practical Takeaways
- Read Obviously Awesome with one live communication problem in mind, not as abstract advice.
- Write the audience, listener, customer, or stakeholder decision the message must support.
- Turn the strongest idea into a sentence, example, script, slide, or story you can test.
- Cut language that sounds impressive but does not help the other person understand or act.
- Compare this book with nearby guides before deciding it is the best starting point.
- After applying one technique, record what changed: clarity, attention, trust, recall, or action.
How To Apply It
Run a positioning worksheet for one product: competitive alternatives, unique capabilities, value themes, best-fit customer traits, and category options. Then rewrite the first product explanation so it starts with the customer's context and value instead of a feature list.
Original Value: When This Book Is Most Useful
This book is most useful when a product is good but misunderstood. Its distinctive communication value is showing that clarity often starts before copywriting: with the comparison frame customers use to judge the product.
A final publication check for Obviously Awesome should ask whether the page helps a reader make a choice, not merely understand a theme. The practical standard is that a reader can leave with a clear reason to read this book now, a clear reason to choose a different related book first, and one concrete communication behavior to try in the next week. That decision support is what keeps the guide from becoming a generic summary.
Best Related Books
- Building a StoryBrand
- The Mom Test
- Made to Stick
- To Sell Is Human
Internal Links
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