As a CEO or business owner, you’ve likely invested significant resources into building your brand. Your logo, tagline, and messaging are polished. Your social media presence is active. You’ve spent countless hours refining your value proposition. But here’s the truth most businesses miss: your brand is only as strong as the category it competes in.
In the world of business, it’s not the best brand that wins—it’s the company that defines and dominates the category. By focusing on your category, you can set the rules of the game, capture customer mindshare, and create sustainable growth. Let me explain why category matters more than your brand and how Boken can help you use this insight to redefine your market and achieve transformational success.
Why Your Brand Alone Isn’t Enough
Branding is about how your company is perceived. It’s your identity, your promise to your customers. And while a strong brand can help you stand out in a crowded marketplace, it doesn’t solve the most fundamental problem businesses face: competition in an existing category.
If you’re competing in a category that already exists, your brand is just one of many vying for attention. Customers compare you against others in the same category, often making decisions based on price or small differentiators. No matter how polished your brand is, if you’re fighting to be the “best” in someone else’s category, you’re already losing.
By contrast, when you create or redefine a category, your brand becomes synonymous with the solution. You’re no longer one option among many—you’re the default choice.
Category Kings Capture the Most Value
History has shown that the companies who dominate their categories reap the most rewards. Studies reveal that category leaders capture up to 76% of the market’s value. This isn’t because they necessarily have the best product or the most well-known brand—it’s because they own the category in the minds of their customers.
Let’s take a closer look at two examples that highlight the power of category creation.
Example 1: The iPhone and the Smartphone Category
When Apple launched the iPhone, it didn’t just create a better mobile phone. It defined a new category: the smartphone. Apple’s marketing wasn’t focused on comparing the iPhone to other mobile phones. Instead, it reframed the conversation entirely, presenting the iPhone as a revolutionary device that combined communication, entertainment, and internet browsing.
By defining the smartphone category, Apple set the terms for competition. Today, even though there are countless smartphone brands, Apple remains synonymous with the category itself. This dominance has allowed it to capture a disproportionate share of the market’s value, despite premium pricing and heavy competition.
Example 2: Dollar Shave Club and Subscription Razors
Before Dollar Shave Club, razors were sold in a traditional category dominated by brands like Gillette. The competition was focused on making the “best” razor—more blades, better designs, slightly lower prices. Dollar Shave Club didn’t try to compete on those terms. Instead, it created a new category: subscription razors delivered straight to your door.
This shift wasn’t just about convenience. It was about reframing the problem—making razors accessible and affordable without the hassle of shopping. By owning this new category, Dollar Shave Club disrupted an entire industry and captured massive market share in a space previously dominated by legacy brands.
In both examples, the companies didn’t focus solely on building better brands—they built categories. And because they defined the category, they set the rules for everyone else.
How Your Business Can Benefit from Category Creation
Focusing on category creation doesn’t just help you dominate your market—it also protects your business from price wars, commoditization, and customer churn. Here are three key benefits:
- You Set the Narrative When you create a category, you control the conversation. Instead of competing on features or pricing, you position your product or service as the solution to a problem customers didn’t even know they had. This shifts the buying decision from “Why choose you?” to “Do I want to solve this problem?”
- You Capture Market Value The first company to define and dominate a category typically captures the lion’s share of the market’s value. This is because customers associate the category with your brand, giving you an unassailable position.
- You Build Loyalty and Differentiation Category creators don’t just sell products—they sell a vision. Customers rally around the idea and identify with the solution, creating deeper loyalty and stronger differentiation from competitors.
Why Boken Is the Partner You Need
At Boken, we specialize in helping businesses escape the “better brand” trap and focus on defining and dominating their categories. Using our proprietary Boken Value Framework (BVF), we work with you to uncover untapped opportunities, develop a category strategy, and position your business as the leader.
Here’s how we can help:
- Category Discovery We analyze your market, identify gaps, and uncover the unique problems your business can solve. This allows us to define a new category that positions you as the leader.
- Category Strategy We help you create the rules for your category, from naming it to crafting the story that resonates with your target audience. This strategy becomes the foundation of your marketing efforts.
- Brand Integration While category is king, your brand still plays a vital role. We ensure your brand aligns seamlessly with your category, enhancing its credibility and appeal.
- Go-to-Market Execution Once the category is defined, we help you launch it with precision. From bold campaigns to digital advertising, we make sure your message dominates the market.
- Sustained Leadership Creating a category is only the beginning. We provide ongoing support to help you maintain and expand your leadership position as competitors inevitably try to follow.
The Risks of Ignoring Category Creation
If you focus solely on your brand without considering your category, you risk becoming one of many in a crowded marketplace. Your marketing dollars will work harder for smaller returns, and you’ll constantly be fighting to differentiate yourself in a space defined by someone else.
Worse, if a competitor defines the category first, you’ll always be playing catch-up. Customers will associate the problem—and the solution—with them, making it nearly impossible for you to gain a foothold.
Are You Ready to Lead?
The choice is clear: you can continue fighting for attention in an existing category, or you can define your own and lead it. By focusing on your category, you create a competitive advantage that no amount of branding or marketing spend can replicate.
At Boken, we believe your business has the potential to be more than just a participant in the market—it can be the leader. Our team is ready to help you uncover your unique category, craft a compelling strategy, and execute it with precision. Together, we can position your company for long-term growth and success.
Let’s build something extraordinary. Reach out today, and let’s start redefining your market.
