"The most exciting companies create. They give us new ways of living, thinking, or doing business, many times solving a problem we didn't know we had -- or a problem we didn't pay attention to because we never thought there was another way," explain the four authors of the dynamic new book, Play Bigger.
They add that, "the most exciting companies sell us different. They introduce the world to a new category of product or service." And, they become category kings. Examples of category kings are Amazon, Salesforce, Uber and IKEA.
Play Bigger is all about the strategy that builds category kings. And, to be a category king you need to be good at category design:
- Category design is the discipline of creating and developing a new market category, and conditioning the market so it will demand your solution and crown your company as its king.
- Category design is the opposite of "build it and they will come."
Key traits of category design, explain the authors, are:
- A strategy that starts with your CEO and his/her leadership team identifying the right category to create.
- A combination of both product and ecosystem design. A product that provides the solution to an urgent and giant problem. And an environment around that product that wins loyalty and gratitude for that product and your company.
- Being sure your category design is part of your company culture.
- Creating a powerful and provocative story that causes customers or users to make a choice. A story that evokes something different from what came before, not just better.
- A combination of marketing, public relations, and advertising all focused on conditioning the market to desire and need whatever you're giving it.
- Ensuring all of the above components work together, in lockstep, feeding off each other.
"Category design is a process. One thing leads to another and it builds on itself," explain the authors.
Play Bigger provides you the playbook you need to learn how to become a category king. It's essential for entrepreneurs wanting to change the landscape. And, a must-read for CEO's who want to reimagine their businesses.
As you read the playbook, you'll learn:
- Why it takes courage to build a category.
- What makes category king companies enduring and attractive to investors.
- How category kings have changed the way Venture Capitalists invest in new companies.
And, you'll learn the answers to these questions:
- In what way does Apple work like the 165-year-old glass company, Corning?
- Why was Elvis not just the King, but a category king?
The authors of the book are: Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead and Kevin Maney.
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