The short version
- Choosing which category you are compared against is a strategic decision, and it is usually made by default rather than deliberately.
- Borrowing a larger category works when your buyer already evaluates you on that category's criteria. It fails when it is only a way to sound more modern.
- The cost is not the stand. The cost is that you now have to be credible against the new comparison set, permanently.
- The cheap version of this move is available to everyone: change the comparison you invite, not the product you have.
There were two boats on the floor of a technology show, lit like a car launch, with a sign about design. My first reaction was that somebody had spent a fortune on a stunt. My second, after standing there for a while, was that this is a category bet: a marine company deciding it would rather be judged as a technology company than as a boat builder. That bet is available to almost every business and most of them never consider it.
What does it mean to borrow a category?
It means presenting yourself in the context of a different, usually larger, market so that buyers evaluate you against its criteria. A boat shown at a technology show is asking to be assessed on software, interface and connectivity rather than on hull and horsepower. That reframes what a premium is for.
The same move exists in software all the time. A reporting tool that positions itself as a data platform, a staffing business that positions itself as a marketplace, an agency that positions itself as a product company. Sometimes it is accurate and sometimes it is a costume.
Borrowing a bigger category: what has to be true.
| Condition | Test | If it is false |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers already use the new criteria | Alternatives named in lost deals | You are inventing a comparison nobody makes |
| The new category has more attention | Search demand and publication count | You lose reach rather than gain it |
| You survive the new comparison | Feature and proof audit against new rivals | Traffic rises, conversion falls |
| Sales and marketing move together | Same words in both scripts | An unlocatable conversion problem |
| The move is fundable | Cost of credibility over twelve months | Do the comparison page instead |
When does it work?
When the buyer already applies the borrowed category’s standards. If people shopping for a boat in that price bracket genuinely compare screens, apps and integrations, then showing up where technology is judged is not a stunt, it is meeting the buyer where their criteria already are. The exhibitor is not inventing a comparison, it is acknowledging one.
It also works when the borrowed category is where your growth is, rather than where your revenue is. Categories with more attention have more search demand, more publications and more analyst coverage, which means the same content investment reaches further. That is a real and unglamorous reason to reposition.
And it works when you can survive the comparison. This is the part people skip.
When does it fail?
When the move is purely linguistic. Renaming yourself into a hotter category without changing what you are evaluated on produces a short traffic bump and a longer credibility problem, because visitors arrive with the new category’s expectations and you fail them within a minute.
It also fails when the borrowed category is more competitive than the one you left. Being the clearest option in a modest category beats being the fortieth option in a large one, which is roughly the argument against most category-creation ambitions.
The third failure is internal. Sales keeps selling the old thing, marketing sells the new thing, and the mismatch shows up as a conversion problem that nobody can locate because the diagnosis lives between two departments.
How do you test the bet before making it?
Look at where your buyers actually compare you. Win and loss notes are the cheapest source. If the alternatives named in lost deals belong to the category you want to move into, the move is already happening and you are just catching up. If they belong to the category you are in, you are proposing to abandon a comparison you currently win.
Then check the demand. Search volume, publication count and event presence for the new category tell you whether the attention you are borrowing exists. This is where keyword research earns its keep, not for choosing article titles but for sizing a positioning decision.
Finally, cost the credibility. What would you have to build, publish or hire to be plausible against the new comparison set within twelve months. If that list is not fundable, the category is not available to you yet.
Being the clearest option in a modest category beats being the fortieth option in a large one.
What is the smaller version of this move?
Change the comparison you invite rather than the category you claim. A page that says how the product compares to the alternative your buyer is genuinely weighing does more work than a repositioning exercise, and it costs a week. Most companies avoid comparison content because it feels defensive. Buyers are running the comparison anyway.
That is the version I recommend more often. It gets you most of the strategic effect of a category move, it is reversible, and it does not require you to buy a boat.
Related: why most category creation fails, reading your lost deals properly and positioning under three seconds of attention.
Frequently asked questions
What does borrowing a category mean in marketing?
Presenting your product in the context of a different, usually larger market so buyers judge you by that market's criteria. It changes the comparison set rather than the product, which is why it is powerful and why it is risky.
How do you know which category your buyers put you in?
Read the alternatives named in your lost deals. Buyers tell you their comparison set during the sales process, and it is frequently different from the one the company assumes.
Is category creation a good strategy?
Rarely, and less often than it is attempted. Creating a category means funding the education of an entire market before you can sell into it. Most companies would get more from being unmistakably clear inside the category they are already in.
What is the cheapest version of repositioning?
Comparison content against the alternative your buyer is actually weighing. It takes about a week, it is reversible, and it captures most of the strategic effect without committing the company to a new identity.
Why do repositioning efforts fail internally?
Because sales keeps selling the previous story. When marketing and sales describe the company differently, the resulting conversion problem sits between two departments and neither can diagnose it alone.
How do you size the opportunity in a new category?
Search demand, publication coverage and event presence give you a rough read on whether the attention you want to borrow exists at all. Keyword research is more useful for sizing a positioning bet than for choosing article titles.
Sources
- Chua Network delivery data across 8 client accounts (internal fact bank)
- Chua Network engagement records, anonymized (internal experience bank)
