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  Designing a business that dominates its niche comes with a lot of perks. Customers see you as the best among the rest. Imagine how we think of Apple Inc. in the world of gadgets and software or Toyota in the world of automobiles. It is all about being the most popular, which in a long way affects how people see you and of course, affects their spending behaviour. 
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According to Inc., the strategic secret behind the best new companies is not simply innovation or even disruption – it’s a discipline called category design, the act of dominating a niche. Today’s category kings are companies like Salesforce.com, Uber, Google, Facebook, Amazon.com, and Apple with its iPhone and iPad. Historic category kings include Kodak, Xerox, and Coca-Cola. With these names, your business can be a category king regardless of its niche or industry. In this article, I will teach you how to make your business a category king that dominates its niche.

  • Understand The Dynamics Of Your Niche.

The first step towards dominating your niche is understanding the dynamics of your niche. Niche domination is all about understanding the past, present, and future trends of your niche. It is all about looking at potential problems that may arise and how you can solve them. Generally, a category is defined either by a problem you can solve in a new and unexpected way or by a technology that solves a problem people didn’t even know they had. For example, Steve Jobs built Apple Inc. into becoming a category king. He did this by knowing fully well what was expected in his niche when he introduced the iPad, he called it a new category of product that stood between the iPhone and laptop. Prior, people didn’t know they needed a product in that space. But once Jobs presented the category, the market got it.

  • Build A Strong Story Around Your Product.

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One of the stories Steve Jobs sold about Apple Inc. is that it is the device of the future. With this story, customers began to see Apple Inc. as the most innovative company in the mobile device and appliances industry. To build a strong story around your product, you will need to formulate a powerful point of view–or POV–about the category. This is when you shift the entire niche to the direction of your story or make the industry about your brand story.

  • Radical Evangelization.

To become dominant in your industry, you must evangelize the category throughout every part of your company. To dominate your niche successfully, every employee needs to buy into your POV. If they do, they will all act in unison to help build a category king.

  • Grab Attention.

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To become dominant, you must create loud and surprising entries meant to grab the market’s attention and create an impression that your company is doing something important. You simply have to generate “lightning strikes” that draws attention to your brand. For example, you might host stand-alone events, hijack an existing industry conference, or a blow-out product launch. You can carry out radical campaigns and alarming ads that include celebrities and launch several promotional events. 

  • Create Disruptions.

The description is all about challenging the existing status quo through the introduction of innovative solutions. An example is Uber which displaces the traditional taxi system. Disruption is not an end in itself, but a means to announce your brand as a break from the norm. It is all about displacing the old category just like Amazon. Amazon.com has been a master at creating new categories at the same time as it creates a new product while also making sure the company fits the category. It did this with the Kindle e-reader and with Amazon Web Services cloud computing. Featured Image Source: CEO TODAY
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This article was first published on 12th May 2022

nnaemeka-emmanuel

Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.

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