Crowded categories don’t make growth impossible. They make positioning more important.
When every shelf looks full, it’s easy to assume your biggest competitor is the brand sitting next to you.
It usually isn’t.
In the late 1990s, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen introduced the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework. His idea was simple: people don’t buy products. They “hire” them to solve a problem or help them achieve a goal.
Take breakfast, for example.
Someone looking for a quick, high-protein start to the day could choose Surreal, a Grenade protein shake, Fage Greek yoghurt or eggs on toast.
Different categories.
The same occasion.
That’s why the smartest brands spend less time asking, “Who are we competing against?” and more time asking, “What else could our customer choose?”
Further reading: Clayton M. Christensen, Competing Against Luck (2016).
