While I know that echo chambers are extremely dangerous, I think that mine is an exception. You tend to inspire me, and thanks to you, I am discovering books that I would typically skip. Some of them turn out to resonate very well with Wardley Mapping.
Obv!ously Awesome is one of those books. It contains a set of recipes about finding the right target audience for your product and tailoring a proper messaging.
The author has identified three major scenarios: market creation, “big fish, small pond” and head-to-head. An avid mapper will certainly associate them with Custom-built, Product and commodity phases of Evolution, and it will not happen without merit.
The author has identified that market creation happens only after profound changes in the environment, be it social changes or technological enablements. In such a case, it is not the solution that is being sold, but the problem in the first place! Interestingly, some companies do a fabulous job educating potential customers but fail to position themselves as leaders, and give up their position!
The head-to-head is all about market segmentation. In the head-to-head scenario, you compete in an established market, and you must be the best. This messaging is very aligned with mapping.
The most exciting part is in the “Big fish, small pond”. It is about finding a subsegment of customers with underserved needs and building yet-another-database-that-does-that-one-thing-well.
The relation with mapping gets weaker here because I can imagine a couple of cycles of segmentation and desegmentation happening before product reaches the Commodity phase.
Overall, a good read explaining very well Strategi Play ‘Differentiation’,
Here is the link. No referral, I make no profit (nor money, whatsoever) from you clicking the link. I just think the book is worth reading.
