April DunfordObviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It

I got this book pre-ordered on my husband's amazon account -hence the name Levi as the account holder.I was counting back the days to the release of Obviously awesome. Long awaited, it has arrived today. Yayy :) My passionate, undercover entrepreneur soul got very excited, just by taking a look at the cover and the title. I do indeed want my beloved projects to be obviously awesome to my customers, right away. But I had no clue how to reach that goal fast, let alone reaching it. I got lost in analyzing marketing strategies, the old fashioned ways to "position" my business, books, workshops and the whole shebang. I felt overwhelmed and wanted a working, makes sense kind of solution, that can be customizable, fits my needs AND gives me step by step instructions on how to set off my ongoing business. I needed a plan for my cherished new business ideas to get the best possible start on a limited budget, finding clients who love my product and increasing revenue so investors will fell in love with the idea and will help me contribute to our mutual success. I read the book pretty much in one sitting, after work, while having the strongest cramps I had for a long time. So it's a hell of a book keeping me excited, happy and entertained without painkillers, on the first day of my period. Period.I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants the newest approach on positioning to get their businesses off a great start with the newest "technology" and approach, in a fun way.I'll make sure I will make it to one of April's workshops in person, her online videos are fun to see and I really dig her humor. I'm sure you will, too. ~Betty

As April Dunford notes, positioning is often overlooked or simply bundled into messaging. But, as a product lead who has brought numerous complex products to market, positioning is a critical extension of product-market fit. This book takes a very practical approach with a 10-step methodical process to define positioning. While some parts may seem intuitive, I found numerous examples where I had skipped over critical steps in defining a product to a market segment I was pursuing. I am rethinking my current offering in two markets, utilizing her approach.The other thing I would note is that it's just a well-written book. Her style is engaging and moves you along at a good pace. And kudos to April Dunford for not feeling the need to drag the text out for length. I've read too many books in this space where the author has 100 pages worth of insights, but feels the need to publish a 250 page book, so repeats themselves throughout (one of my favorite product mgmt books suffers from this) - but she does not do that. The book is extremely insightful, yet still brief enough to read in 3-4 sittings. I've highlighted lots of passages and will now be going back through those with the specific product context in mind.

First -- this is a great title! It sets the tone for the writing style and key messages.Obviously Awesome moves beyond the traditional positioning statement (Ries and Trout) and explains a process for creating meaningful product positioning that can actually be put to use (and not just an entry in a go-to-market planning form). I, too, have spent most of my career building products in the B2B software tech space and so the examples were particularly relevant. It is most definitely a book I would recommend to B2B product managers and product marketers who are looking to improve their business-side skills.My only complaint is that the book references downloadable templates, but these are not available on the author's website and samples are not in the printed book. Felt a little like an advertisement to sign up for consulting....

As a long time Global Product Marketing lead in Tech at Intuit, Yahoo, SDL, and early-stage start-ups, that has produced positioning strategy/docs for years, I would say that April's fresh take on positioning is insightful, accessible to all and to the point: solves the old question "How the heck do I fill out the standard positioning sheets that have been around and shared for over 20 years in Tech... April has definitely codified her years of experience in a 10-step process that a positioning team can systematically follow collaboratively and come out with an "Awesome" positioning strategy that will identify their best customers that will "Get" the value their product or service quickly so yes, for these folks it will be an "Obvious" choice.As is often the case the value of any frawework is not the actual output document but the actual collaborative process that aligns the team on vision and common language. Given that good and clear positioning and market strategies are required to win in the market place, whether you will be asked to lead or participate formulating your companies product positioning or if you are in departments that will execute the product, marketing or sales playbooks: buy this book, read it in a few hours and keep it as reference book. You will not regret it. I have already shared this book with many clients and peers.In fact, a good friend that is a new (6 weeks in) VP of Corporate Communications at a $200M public tech company in Silicon Valley, read this book in one evening on my recommendation and led an executive workshop the next day following April's 10 step process - it was a great success. Now we cannot wait to receive the templates from April soon available on her website to transition the great content from the 10-step process workshop into powerful sales messaging that can be disseminated to the sales teams and SDRs not mentioning the marketing team - this is always a challenge in any size company you are. I cannot wait to see how April has codified that critical step as well.Claude Walton, outsourced CMO at Claude Walton Consulting

It's THE BOOK you should read about positioningDetailed but not complicatedVery clear on what to do step by step to do positioning for your business

Abordagem objetiva e conceitos consistentes

Obviously Awesome is a fantastic resource for marketers, start ups, small businesses owners or anyone curious about how positioning works on products and businesses. It's clear and useful, with practical real world examples to illustrate the concepts. April's voice is funny, approachable and down to earth. I highly recommend this book.

April helps you to understand a lot of things you don’t know before to decide who your buyer persona or your market is.If you’re having bad time with this definition is because you may be have a lot of gaps.April’s book is an amazing tool to help you with all of that. You must read it ASAP.

Solid advice on where to begin and what to do to fix positioning implementation and overall strategy. Delivered with clarity and a fine sense of humor.

When we established our Product Marketing team and were tasked to re-position our offering I bought this book to everyone on the team. Then we discussed it.This book helped me lead the team and create a shared understanding and a common language of what we were after. It also helped me in the conversations with our C-suite in terms of participation and collaboration expectations and to set the right expectations on what we were setting out to deliver.It offered good relatable examples as well as a solid framework to rely on.