My CEO is always saying we are selling a commodity. How do you create messaging and positioning around something that is considered undifferentiated?

The world does trillions of dollars of business for FMCG products every year. They are all commodities, and yet they are continuously fighting a positioning and messaging battle against one another. 

In the first episode of the TV Series Mad Men, Don Draper when consulting for the cigarettes brand Lucky Strike, selects an attribute from the production process - toasting. He then uses that attribute to create positioning "It's Toasted" and associates the product with freedom and youth. 

So the principle is, even if you don't have 10x differentiators, you can select and own an attribute no one else in your competition is talking about. 

How can this work for software? 

I was looking into the security/zero trust space a little while ago and realized that most vendors in the space have nearly identical positioning around security threats and highlighting risk. If you were starting a new company in this space, you could differentiate the product not emphasizing security threats but on the axis of freedom/the ultimate untethered work from home experience, etc. 

One of the books I enjoyed on the topic was Win Bigly by Scott Adams, outside of that you can pick up positioning and messaging from day to day product ads or even political campaigns once you are sensitized to how it's done. 

Others have said this but it bears repeating: if you product is truly undifferentiated, then marketing is your path forward. Feature/function is a losing battle in this scenario. Figure out your brand marketing and how to give the buyer a little something extra that makes your product the top-of-mind choice.

Frankly, I think consumer brands have this on lock. What's one brand of orange juice compared to another? In a blind taste-test, not much. But I'll buy Florida Natural because somehow the way it's branded and packaged feels "fresher." (Maybe it's the Floridian in me, but fresh OJ is the only way to go.)

I recommend classic books on branding to get you thinking. 

• Kellog on Branding - bascially the MBA urtext on branding.
• Start with Why - Simon Sinek
• Basically any Seth Godin book if you haven't read them

In the land undifferentiated products, the marketer is king. A commodity industry creates a great opportunity for PMMs, because product marketing can drive the go-to-market narrative, and actually play a strategic role.

For inspiration, look at all the ways your company delivers your product. The way you sell, the way you support customers, the way your employees think about your customers. Culture can be a differentiator. How does your company make your customers feel?

I am not the expert here. But as someone who has been studying brands and companies her whole life for fun I find that with companies that sell things that other companies do too, the most impactful thing is to create a really memorable brand. If possible an 'identity brand'. This may be a made-up term and may not apply to pure commodity companies, but it basically means that people personally identify with (or really want to) what vibe you are giving off --so they become attached to it.

Nike might be the best example of this in the world. People can get shoes anywhere. But most Nike shoes sold are only a bit different in design than others. Their brand is what carries them at the end of the day. A smaller, newer one I love (and am a sucker for) is Billie the razor company. They are a riff of the Dollar Shave Club model with a razor brand for women who don't want to be told to shave. It's ironic and genius.