How to Stand Out Where Others Blend In

A VC once gave me positioning advice that has stuck with me ever since:

"If you were in the top right quadrant, and all competitors were far away, what would the X and Y axes be?"

That question hit me hard because it got straight to the point: To stand out, you can’t compete on the same metrics as everyone else. You have to create your own playing field.

Later, I came across similar advice in Seth Godin’s This is Marketing: "Build your own quadrant. Find two axes that have been overlooked."

Most brands are battling over the same tired dimensions—price, features, speed, or customer service. While these matter, they also make you just another face in the crowd.

How to Avoid the Trap of Blending In

So, how do you avoid getting lumped in with everyone else? The trick is finding what your competitors aren’t talking about.

Seth Godin warns that this can be hard work. Claiming an overlooked edge might mean narrowing your market and focusing on a smaller subset. But it can be worth it—if you zero in on what matters to your audience.

One of my favorite examples is Basecamp, a project management tool I used years ago at a small marketing agency called Level Studios. Unlike its feature-heavy competitors like Trello or Asana, Basecamp was simple—and that simplicity was its strength. They knew exactly what their axes were and doubled down on them:

• You won’t miss deadlines.

• Everything is organized and efficient—for both you and your clients.

• Adopting Basecamp is as easy as using post-it notes.

That messaging hit home for marketing agencies and small businesses. They focused on what that audience cared about and owned it. Sure, Basecamp wasn’t the right fit for large enterprises with more complex project needs. But the pool of agencies, freelancers, and small businesses was more than big enough to thrive in.

How to Build Your Own Quadrant

Here’s a simple framework:

Step 1: Get Inside Your Customer's Head: List the top 5 things your customers care about. What keeps them up at night? What problems do they hope your product will solve?

Step 2: Look for Gaps in the Market: Compare your list to the messaging of your top 5 competitors. What aren’t they addressing? That gap is where your opportunity lies. This is your chance to define new axes that make you stand out.

Step 3: Choose Customer-Focused Axes: Now, choose two dimensions that make your brand the obvious choice. But here’s the key—frame them in terms of customer benefits, not product features. Customers don’t care about your product’s feature set—they care about how it makes their life better.

For example, instead of vague terms like “Efficiency” or “Speed,” try something more specific like, “You’ll never miss another deadline” or “Onboarding clients will be seamless.” These are tangible promises that hit home for your customers.

Step 4: Make It Measurable: Find ways to quantify your axes to back up your positioning with data. You can do this by sending out surveys to customers, making sure your questions directly measure the dimensions you’re highlighting. Alternatively, leverage anonymized product usage data to track key metrics. For instance, if your axis is "meet deadlines without drama," you could measure the percentage of tasks completed on time before and after using your product or track the number of last-minute or urgent tasks that arise near deadlines. The more specific and concrete your data, the stronger and more compelling your positioning will be.

Step 5: Visualize the Competition: Once you’ve defined your axes, map out a chart that shows how your product compares to the alternatives. This visual makes it crystal clear why your solution is the best fit.

So, What Are Your X and Y Axes?