Author of "Obviously Awesome" and leading B2B positioning expert. 20+ years VP Marketing experience at tech companies.
April Dunford has established herself as the world's leading authority on product positioning, helping technology companies articulate what makes them different and valuable in competitive markets. Her systematic framework, developed through decades of hands-on marketing leadership and refined through extensive consulting work, provides the clearest methodology available for the critical but often misunderstood discipline of positioning.
Two Different Businesses, Priced As One
This record stored "$1,500-$50,000" and criticised it with a red flag reading "Premium pricing excludes many". That range collapses two unrelated things.
Dunford runs a B2B positioning consultancy. She works with technology companies on how they position and explain their products, delivers executive workshops, and speaks at events through speaker bureaus. Engagements of that kind are priced in the tens of thousands because they are sold to companies with marketing budgets. That is the $50,000 end.
Separately, an individual can read Obviously Awesome, listen to her podcast, or take an online positioning course she built with Section4. That is the end of the range a reader of this database might actually buy.
Presenting those as a single "course price" of $1,500 to $50,000 misleads in a specific way: it makes a consultancy fee look like what she charges learners, and then criticises her for it. "Premium pricing excludes many" is close to meaningless applied to B2B consulting. Enterprise advisory work is supposed to be expensive, and it excludes individual readers only in the sense that it was never sold to them.
The flag has been removed and the field now separates the two. What a reader can buy is a book and a course. What a company can buy is consulting, workshops and speaking, at rates that are not published.
Background and Professional Foundation
Corporate Marketing Leadership
April developed positioning expertise through VP Marketing roles at multiple technology companies over two decades. This wasn't academic study but hands-on learning through actually positioning products in competitive markets. Leading marketing teams through product launches, repositioning efforts, and market expansions taught what actually works versus what sounds good in theory.
Each corporate role added layers to understanding positioning challenges. Different company sizes revealed how positioning needs vary with scale. Different markets exposed industry-specific positioning dynamics. Different competitive landscapes showed how context shapes positioning strategy. The accumulated experience across many companies created comprehensive understanding.
The corporate experience provides substantial credibility when teaching positioning concepts. April can speak to the real challenges marketing leaders face because she faced them herself. Having been in the seat makes advice more relevant and practical. Understanding organizational dynamics that affect positioning implementation comes from direct experience.
Specific positioning victories and failures inform teaching. Real results from positioning work provide case study material. Success demonstrated methodology effectiveness. Failures revealed what doesn't work. Both contribute to refined approach.
Corporate network from years in industry provides ongoing insight. Relationships with marketing leaders across technology keep perspective current. Understanding what companies struggle with today informs relevant teaching. Network enables staying connected to market realities.
Transition to Consulting and Teaching
Transition from corporate marketing to consulting happened after recognizing pattern in positioning challenges. Companies repeatedly struggled with same fundamental positioning questions. Systematic approach to solving these problems could help many companies. Consulting enabled applying methodology across many situations.
Consulting practice provides ongoing laboratory for methodology testing. Each client engagement tests and refines framework. What works across diverse clients indicates robust methodology. What fails reveals areas needing improvement. Continuous refinement through consulting produces more reliable frameworks.
Workshop development enabled efficient positioning implementation. Working with leadership teams through structured process produces positioning more effectively than individual consulting. Workshop format creates alignment across team members. Group process surfaces disagreements and builds consensus.
Teaching expanded beyond direct consulting through speaking and writing. Conference keynotes reached marketing audiences broadly. Workshop delivery trained teams to implement positioning. Speaking established thought leadership position in positioning space.
Obviously Awesome Publication
Obviously Awesome book codified positioning methodology in accessible form. Writing the book required clarifying and systematizing thinking developed over years. Book structure forces completeness that consulting conversations don't require. Publication created comprehensive positioning resource.
Book success established April as definitive positioning authority. Obviously Awesome became standard positioning reference for technology companies. Book recommendation across marketing communities extended reach. Industry recognition followed publication. Authority position solidified.
Book provides accessible entry point before consulting engagement. Companies can read and apply framework independently. Understanding methodology before consulting improves consulting effectiveness. Book extends impact beyond direct client work.
Publication created platform for expanded teaching. Speaking invitations increased after book publication. Podcast guest appearances multiplied. Media coverage introduced methodology to broader audiences. Book catalyzed visibility that enables reaching more companies.
Positioning Framework Deep Dive
Fundamental Positioning Questions
The framework addresses questions that seem obvious but most companies cannot answer clearly. What category does your product compete in? What are the alternatives customers would consider? What makes you different from those alternatives? Who cares most about that difference? What value does that difference provide them? These questions appear simple but precise answers prove elusive for most.
Why companies struggle with seemingly basic questions reveals positioning difficulty. Proximity to product creates blind spots. Internal language doesn't match customer thinking. Assumptions go unexamined. Technical features get confused with customer value. Companies know their products too well to see positioning clearly.
Answering positioning questions requires specific information. Customer research reveals actual alternatives considered. Win/loss analysis shows what matters in competitive situations. Customer language provides messaging vocabulary. Data-driven positioning outperforms assumption-based approaches.
Positioning answers must be specific and falsifiable. Vague positioning ("we're the best") provides no guidance. Specific positioning ("we're the only one that does X for customers who need Y") enables decision-making. Specificity distinguishes useful positioning from positioning theater.
Five-Component Positioning Model
The framework organizes positioning into five interconnected components. Each component addresses specific aspect of positioning. Components build on each other in logical sequence. Together they create complete positioning statement.
Competitive alternatives establish reference point for positioning. Before customers understand what you are, they compare to what they know. Identifying actual alternatives customers consider grounds positioning in market reality. Alternatives include status quo and workarounds, not just direct competitors.
Unique attributes identify what differentiates from alternatives. Differentiation must be real, not claimed. Unique attributes are features or capabilities alternatives lack. Honest assessment of uniqueness prevents positioning built on false differentiation.
Value articulates benefit of unique attributes. Features don't matter; what features enable matters. Value translation connects capabilities to customer outcomes. Value must be meaningful to target customers.
Target customers define who cares about the value. Not everyone values the same things equally. Some customers care intensely about specific value propositions. Targeting focuses positioning on customers for whom value is most relevant.
Market category places product in context customers understand. Category choice shapes customer expectations. Category determines which competitors get compared. Strategic category selection positions product advantageously.
Component Sequencing Logic
Components must be addressed in specific order. The sequence builds each component on previous foundations. Jumping ahead without foundation creates unstable positioning.
Starting with competitive alternatives grounds positioning in market reality. Understanding what customers compare you to frames all other positioning. Alternatives reveal the context in which positioning operates. Beginning elsewhere makes assumptions about competitive context.
Unique attributes flow from alternative analysis. What makes you different depends on what you're different from. Differentiation is relative to alternatives. Establishing alternatives first enables meaningful differentiation identification.
Value follows from unique attributes. What benefit those differences provide depends on what the differences are. Value without differentiation basis lacks foundation. Sequence ensures value connects to real differentiation.
Target customers emerge from value analysis. Who cares most about specific value propositions becomes clear when value is articulated. Targeting follows value identification logically. Sequence ensures targeting serves positioning rather than preceding it.
Market category selection comes last, informed by all previous components. Category that makes differentiation obvious for target customers becomes apparent. Category choice grounded in competitive alternatives, differentiation, value, and targeting. Sequence ensures strategic category selection.
April Dunford operates primarily on LinkedIn, where they have built an audience of 150K+ followers. Author of "Obviously Awesome" and leading B2B positioning expert. 20+ years VP Marketing experience at tech companies. Their content focuses on online income strategies delivered through LinkedIn-based courses and programs priced at For readers: the book and an online positioning course (Section4). For companies: consulting, workshops and speaking, priced privately - not a course price.
April Dunford charges For readers: the book and an online positioning course (Section4). For companies: consulting, workshops and speaking, priced privately - not a course price for their program. When evaluating whether this price is justified, consider: What specific, actionable outcomes does the course promise? Are there free alternatives covering the same material on YouTube or blogs? Does the price include ongoing access, community support, or mentorship? Many LinkedIn educators offer similar content at lower price points, so compare before committing.
April Dunford has a trust score of 4.8/5 and a scam score of 1/5 based on our independent analysis. Always verify income claims independently, check for a refund policy before purchasing, and look for verified student results rather than testimonials alone.
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