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TG3 SaaS/Glossary/Category creation
SaaS metrics glossary

Category creation.

Inventing the market instead of fighting in one. Here is what category creation means, what it costs and the honest test for whether you should attempt it.

Definition
Category creation is the strategy of defining a new market category, naming the problem, framing the solution space and evangelising it, rather than competing in an existing category.

The prize is huge, category creators tend to take most of the value in the categories they define. The cost is huge too, years of educating a market that did not know it had the problem. Most companies should not attempt it, which is exactly why it works for the few that should.

How category creation works

How category creation works.

Name the problem  +  frame the category  +  evangelise  =  category creation
Name the problemgive the pain a name people recognise the moment they hear it
Frame the categorydefine the new solution space with you at the centre
Evangeliseeducate the market for years, content, community, a point of view

If an existing category already fits, positioning inside it is faster and cheaper, see the positioning framework.

Benchmarks

When category creation is worth it.

The honest test is whether you genuinely do not fit any existing category. If buyers can evaluate you against incumbents on a known shortlist, you are in an existing category whether you like it or not and pretending otherwise just confuses them.

Category creation suits products that solve a problem the market has not named yet, backed by patience and funding for a long education campaign. Done right, you write the vocabulary every later competitor has to use. Done wrong, you spend years explaining a category nobody asked for.

How to improve it

How to run category creation.

01

Name the enemy

The old way of doing things is your villain. Define the category against it.

02

Educate before you sell

Content, community and a loud point of view come before the pitch.

03

Own the vocabulary

Write the definitions, the framework and the category language others will borrow.

04

Budget for years

Category creation is a multi-year campaign. Quarterly patience need not apply.

Common questions

Questions about category creation.

What is category creation?+

The strategy of defining and evangelising a new market category, rather than competing inside an existing one.

When should a SaaS attempt category creation?+

Only when the product genuinely does not fit an existing category and the company has the patience and funding for years of market education.

Why do category creators win so much?+

Because the company that defines a category writes its vocabulary and evaluation criteria, which every later entrant inherits.

What is the alternative to category creation?+

Sharp positioning inside an existing category, which is faster, cheaper and right for the large majority of products.

Positioning frameworkGo-to-marketBrand awarenessDemand generation

Creating a category or avoiding a fight?

The 30-minute audit includes whether your category story helps buyers or confuses them. No sales sequence.

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