The Accidental Marketer Podcast

Companies often approach value propositions and pricing from the inside out: What do we make? What does it cost? What are competitors charging? In this final episode of the Opportunities Hidden in Plain Sight series, Tom and Mary explore what happens when companies instead focus on what customers actually value—from a conference provider that increased prices 33% to GE Healthcare's reimagined MRI experience and Rolls-Royce charging for engine flying time.

Companies often assume good positioning starts by deciding what they want customers to believe about them. In this episode, Tom and Mary explore why positioning actually starts in the customer's mind—not in a conference room or creative brief. Learn why a positioning claim can be completely true and still fail, and how understanding customers, competitors, and existing perceptions can uncover positioning opportunities hiding in plain sight.

Apple has revealed its new foldable iPhone—but what position will it ultimately try to own in customers’ minds? Mary and Tom explore three possibilities: turn the technology into one powerful functional benefit, leverage the emotional value of the Apple brand, or turn Apple's late arrival into an advantage. Along the way, they show how B2B marketers can use the same principles to develop stronger positioning—and test their ideas against three criteria: Unique, Important and Believable.

Companies often assume differentiation requires inventing something new, but some of the best competitive advantages are already hiding inside the products and capabilities they have. In this episode of the Hidden in Plain Sight series, Tom and Mary explore examples ranging from J&J's new Ottava surgical robot to a late-to-market pharmaceutical product to show how looking at different customers, stakeholders, and benefits can uncover meaningful differentiation that was there all along.

In this episode of the Hidden in Plain Sight series, Tom and Mary explore how the Ability to Win scorecard exposes competitive blind spots that seem obvious only after they’ve been revealed. From an overlooked “cold turkey” competitor in smoking cessation to Intel, Nvidia, Salesforce, and Siebel, they show how looking through the customer’s eyes can reveal the competitors, capabilities, and customer segments that truly determine who wins.

Many organizations spend enormous amounts of time evaluating markets, customer segments, and growth initiatives, yet surprisingly few first agree on what makes an opportunity attractive. In this episode, Tom and Mary explain why defining success before evaluating options leads to better strategic decisions, stronger organizational alignment, and fewer debates driven by opinion. Learn how one simple shift in thinking can help your organization uncover opportunities that have been hiding in plain sight.

In this episode we explore one of the most common mistakes companies make when trying to grow: assuming every customer values the same things. Tom and Mary explain the "Lukewarm Tea Syndrome"—the tendency to average customer needs into one generic value proposition that resonates with no one. Through examples from airlines, pharmaceuticals, and B2B medical equipment, they demonstrate how needs-based segmentation can uncover opportunities that are often hiding in plain sight.

Why do technically superior products so often struggle to gain traction in the marketplace? In this episode, Tom and Mary explore one of the most common traps facing B2B technology companies: becoming so immersed in their own engineering expertise that they unintentionally communicate in ways customers don't value. Find out how to quickly gain better the customer insight that helps companies uncover opportunities hiding in plain sight.

When Spirit Airlines abruptly shut down, competing airlines were forced to respond almost immediately. In this episode, Tom and Mary examine how carriers such as United, Southwest, Delta, and JetBlue reacted in ways that were remarkably consistent with their positioning and target customers. The discussion explores what those responses reveal about strategy, competitive preparedness, and the value of scenario planning.

A $7 bag of Doritos sparked a broader discussion about one of the most common pricing mistakes in business. In this episode, Mary and Tom explore why customers often define competitors and alternatives differently than companies do, and how that gap can lead to pricing and commercialization challenges. The conversation highlights a simple question that can improve strategic decision-making across industries: Compared to what?