Executive Summary: This article argues that Helldivers 2 suffered from a costly but common challenge: ambiguous marketing that fails to highlight the product’s unique strengths. Helldivers 2’s positioning focuses on generic “antes” — cooperative shooter gameplay — not the game’s…
Positioning
Executive Summary If you are thinking about updating your brand positioning strategy, there are some important questions to consider. One fundamental question is whether to hire a positioning strategy consulting firm, fractional CMO or do it yourself? We typically recommend…
Would AI-Generated Music Make Woody Guthrie Turn Over in His Grave? Folk music doesn’t seem like a likely candidate for a positioning strategy marketing analysis. Isn’t its main “position” anti-establishment? Au contraire. Music is also a business, as any musician…
Summertime Consumers Share Why They Love Local With summer in full swing, my thoughts go to my favorite summertime food – local corn on the cob. I’m not alone. “Local” as positioning strategy marketing evokes specific thoughts and feelings in…
Bandai Namco’s 3 Key Mistakes Lead to Missed Opportunity Elden Ring Nightreign (2025) recently released, and has sold well, but not as well as Elden Ring (2022) did. I don’t think the issue is that Nightreign is a worse game;…
Fully-Remote Work Pays Today, but Future Trade-offs Risk Career Advancement & Meaningful Work Friendships Some of my closest friendships were initially formed at the workplace, working in teams with other people. My abilities, perspective and early career benefitted from working…
Larian Studio’s Landmark Video Game May Change Industry Expectations Forever When you consider Larian Studio’s critical and commercial success with Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023) in the context of the single player video game RPG genre, it is clear it had…
What’s Going On with This AAA Live Service Video Game The strengths and weaknesses of Helldivers 2’s positioning strategy marketing arguably explain much of its initially shocking success, rapid decline, and shifting fortunes. It is hard to overstate how unexpected…
From Elite to Egalitarian: Brands Like In-N-Out Make More Customers Feel In-the-Know & Eager to Order While driving back from the north rim of the Grand Canyon, my husband and I stopped in Las Vegas for lunch at a well-rated…
The “X-Factor” is the Secret Spice that Sets These 5 Brands Apart from the Crowd The global value of the meal kit delivery services’ market is expected to reach $65 billion by 2030. In today’s article on positioning strategy marketing,…