Category Design Advisors

19/08/2026

One of the most exciting things about creating an entirely new market category is also one of the hardest: You have to – get to! – open up a new space in people’s minds that never existed before.

There are a number of different ways to open up that space: ad campaigns, thought leadership, talks at conferences. But there’s one tactic that probably doesn’t get implemented often enough. We call it the “MTV strategy” – shorthand for the concept of influencing your customers’ customers. And the model for that strategy is 45 years old this month.

Full article:

One of the most exciting things about creating an entirely new market category is also one of the hardest: You have to – get to! – open up a new space in pe

08/04/2026

Have you solved your category formula?

One of the most powerful concepts that we use with our clients is the category creation formula itself —a formula for looking at new spaces and thinking about how to shape them.

Context + Missing + Innovation = A new market category

Context is where every strategic category design discussion should start. It's a deep understanding of the changes happening around your potential customers — because the greater the changes, the more opportunities open up.

Missing is what becomes evident from that context discussion. Once you thoroughly understand the context, you start to see what doesn't exist yet but could solve a problem the context has created — something the world will need whether you build it or not.

Innovation is the product or service that must be invented to address what's missing. This is where your team's unique expertise comes into play.

Put those elements together and you'll see a category waiting and needing to be created.

Read more and purchase here: https://www.thecategorycreationformula.com/

01/04/2026

What are the benefits of category design?

To ultimately win the category and the benefit of setting the rules for the category.

The power belongs to the leader that emerges as the dominant design chosen by the market. Once competitors adopt your approach, you’re no longer just participating in the category — you’re defining it.

Ready to define your category? Read more and purchase here: https://www.thecategorycreationformula.com/

26/03/2026

We had a wonderful turn out last night for our book launch in London. Thank you so much to Greg Smith and IP Group plc for hosting us, Category Design Advisors client and friend, Dan Honeywell for moderating and Martyn Dawes for sharing his category journey.

Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse discussed their new book and an interesting conversation took place around opportunity and momentum of European vs US startup communities and how The Category Creation Formula components Context and Innovation are moving so fast that the “crossing the ocean” challenge of the past is so much more achievable for European category designers now than ever before.

17/03/2026

Stop competing. Start creating.

Kevin Maney, co-author of The Category Creation Formula, sits down with host Henry Lopez on The How of Business Podcast to break down the formula that's reshaping how the smartest companies think about strategy.

Listen here: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/600-kevin-maney-create-your-category/

Get the book: https://www.thecategorycreationformula.com/

13/03/2026

Podcast episode on our dear friend Christopher Lochhead's Follow Your Different.

Chris' fellow Play Bigger co-author, Kevin Maney and his business partner, Mike Damphousse join Chris to discuss Kevin and Damp's new book The Category Creation Formula.

Play Bigger brought the world the mountain (Category Design), their new book brings the climbing gear – new theories, tactics, stories and a hands-on framework/playbook for aspiring category designers.

Friends for years, these Category Pirates 🏴☠️ lay it all out in a fun and informative episode.

In a world flooded with content and incremental business strategies, standing out is more than a competitive advantage, it's a necessity. Legendary Category Designers Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse joined Christopher Lochhead on this week's episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different to....

12/03/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gailmoodybyrd_positioning-gotomarket-b2bmarketing-activity-7437874871554166785-KCSy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAJVHcBxh3uSt2nodb7sc98tngwHw3ywxs

New book alert 🚨, and I’m in it! The Category Creation Formula by Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse. I worked with them twice in my career as a Marketing leader, and one of those stories is in this book. Here’s the lesson: Different beats better. Every time. When you’re competing on features,...

10/03/2026

Category Design is a way of looking at company strategy from the outside in.

How do you design that new (market) space in order to win?

Link to purchase: https://www.thecategorycreationformula.com/

05/03/2026

This week, Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse officially launched their new book The Category Creation Formula at Nasdaq in New York.

As part of the event, Nasdaq put our book logo up on its Times Square tower while we took photos. Then we went inside for cocktails, a fireside chat and a book signing. David Kirkpatrick, former Fortune editor, author of The Facebook Effect, and founder of Techonomy, moderated a discussion about how market categories behave, how to see new opportunities, and how companies and investors can frame and design a market to their advantage.

The audience included Steven Levy (Wired), Joanne Lipman (author and CNBC commentator), Jeff Stewart (co-founder, GPO Fund), Tony Spiridakis (screenwriter of Ezra), James Ingram (a former client when he was CEO of Splashlight) and many others from a wide range of fields.

Next up: a book launch event in London at IP Group on March 25. If you're going to be in the area and want to attend, let us know.

02/03/2026

VCs, Angels and other Investors rely on category design.

The Category Creation Formula was written with investors in mind, not just for CEOs and their executive teams.

The smartest investors don't just invest in a better company in an existing market, they back a company that discovers, designs and dominates a new market category.

Link to purchase: https://www.thecategorycreationformula.com