The Art of Positioning

Not the business. The bullshit around it.This is the final episode of The Art of Positioning.And no, this is not a neat little farewell episode where everyone pretends they had the plan all along.Beatrice sits down with Elijah Drown, the person who helped turn a random conversation into this podcast, has been behind the scenes since day one, and has never been afraid to call her out when she is talking nonsense.They talk about why The Art of Branding became The Art of Positioning. What changed when the podcast stopped trying to fit inside a familiar category. And what happens when you stop forcing a business, a brand, or a plan to keep going in a direction that no longer fits.There is talk of letting go of control, unexpected opportunities, guru bullshit, AI templates, the category trap, and why “being nice” is not a positioning strategy.But there is also a harder question underneath all of it:What do you burn when you are done pretending the old way still fits?Not the business. Not the trust you have built.The labels. The borrowed language. The safe version of your voice. The shiny “rebrand” that changes nothing underneath.If you are tired of being compared on price, filed into the same category as everyone else, or trying to look different without making different decisions, this conversation is for you.-02:35 The category trap that makes businesses comparable05:10 Why the podcast repositioned halfway through09:20 Letting go of control and the 13 Wishes ritual16:45 What happens when you stop forcing the plan24:05 Why most “rebrands” are really boredom, ego, or panic32:00 How positioning became a business-wide decision39:30 Being nice is not the same as being distinctive49:30 Stop being a template-Episodes to binge:Good at Everything, Priced Like It⁠ with Christine Slocumb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning to $10M⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Nicole Downer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria Seydel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning Without Losing Customers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton-Reach out and follow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | The Mob Archives Newsletter

Your business has been around long enough to earn trust.But the audience that got you here is changing. And the next one may not care about the things that made you successful in the first place.So what do you do? Keep playing it safe until relevance quietly erodes? Or panic, rip up the brand, and leave loyal customers wondering who the hell you have become?This week, Beatrice is joined by Michael König — who has led design and product inside heritage brands including Bang & Olufsen and Royal Copenhagen — and Owi (Mateusz Owsiany), CEO and Creative Director at MPM Team, who builds immersive digital experiences for brands reaching newer audiences.They get into how to evolve from a position of strength, test a new direction without betting the whole business on it, move beyond a founder-led brand, and make sure creative, commercial, and customer reality are all in the same room.Because your next audience should not have to come at the cost of the one that trusted you first.-04:05 The risk of waiting until change becomes urgent13:35 Build your next audience from a position of strength18:00 Panic rebrand or a gradual evolution?29:00 When customers trust the owner, not the business38:40 When a new audience needs its own offer or sub-brand49:00 How to turn strategy into changes your team can deliver01:12:30 Your first 90 days of brand evolution-5 episodes to binge on:Good at Everything, Priced Like It with Christine Slocumb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning to $10M⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Nicole Downer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria Seydel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning Without Losing Customers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton-Reach out to guest speaker Michael König: Website | LinkedIn | Heritage Playbook Reach out to guest speaker Owi (Mateusz Owsiany):⁠⁠⁠⁠Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokFollow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

You shake hands. You're excited. You've both got ideas, big plans, and every reason to think it'll work.Then one person starts doing more than the other.Someone stops saying what they actually think.Decisions get made without a proper conversation.And before anyone calls it a problem, the business is already pulling apart.Scherrie L. Prince is a trial attorney. Her own first business ended on a handshake with nothing written down, and her partner signed his share over to his wife, who then walked in and introduced herself as the new partner. Ivan Vickers has his own version of that story, and 400 odd startups behind him since.So we got the two of them on for the stuff people skip while they're busy being excited.We get into:How to tell that someone wants your audience more than a partnershipWhat has to be agreed before anyone's name goes next to yoursWhether a partnership that's already gone tense can be brought backThe five people a partnership turns you into, and which one you're being right now-Before repositioning, rebranding, or making ground-shaking changes with your business, if you don't understand what's performing well and what isn't, those changes won't work.Diagnose and fix the gaps in your brand today: http://badasserybyb.com/brand-health-audit-04:08 Why partnerships go wrong after the handshake06:58 The alignment check: vision, values, roles and decisions13:09 What to look for before you partner with anyone20:38 Will this partnership confuse the audience you built?23:03 The five warning signs your partnership is already in trouble28:12 A practical way to reset a tense partnership33:03 No agreement? Your options get ugly fast48:00 How to protect your brand in collaborations and ambassador deals-5 episodes to binge on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The no bullshit strategy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Alex Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning to $10M⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Nicole Downer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria Seydel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning Without Losing Customers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton-Reach out to guest speaker Sherrie L Prince:Website | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn Reach out to guest speaker Ivan Vickers:LinkedIn | Website | Instagram | Author of two books. "Beyond the Hustle" and "The Co-founders Code" on Amazon and Kindle. Follow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Christine Slocumb can do just about anything for anyone. Which is how she ended up spending five years at the same revenue, the same margin, and everyone telling her the agency looked great.She'd built Clarity Quest into one of the top healthcare marketing agencies in the US, and every client on the books wanted her, personally, on every call. Which is lovely right up until a premier healthcare brand turns up, the exact work you built the place for, and you have to tell them no because nobody's free and you didn't hire in time.So she started firing clients, those running $20,000-a-month ad budgets through the agency, knowing full well she might have to watch a $3M year shrink to $2.5M.She did it anyway. Narrowed the agency down to three kinds of company, put the brand work up to three times what she'd been charging, and nobody blinked.Then she went to sell. Three years, five letters of intent, four dead deals.We get into all of it, including the clause sitting in a lot of service contracts that means you have to go ask your clients for permission to sell your own business.Worth a listen if the number hasn't moved in a while and everyone keeps telling you you're doing great.-Find gaps in your brand health and performance https://www.badasserybyb.com/brand-health-audit-05:43 Hiring and Early Growth08:03 Three Key Pivots10:07 Contractors vs Employees14:07 Analytics and Time Tracking18:02 Vertical Focus Strategy28:22 Founder Bottleneck Plateau33:55 Process and Pricing Shift37:28 Marketing Audits That Work43:39 Margin and Lead Insights45:03 Budget and Trade Show Audits53:23 Selling the Business Gauntlet01:08:55 Contract Clauses That Kill Deals-5 episodes to binge on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The no bullshit strategy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Alex Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning to $10M⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Nicole Downer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria Seydel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning Without Losing Customers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton-Reach out to guest speaker Christine Slocumb:Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube Books: Stop Starvation Marketing: 23 Power Moves for Healthcare and IT Companies | Mastering the Exit Gauntlet: Sell Your Agency with ConfidenceFollow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Most businesses are built around one kind of brain. Usually yours as the founder, and then wonder why their top performers burn out, go silent, or check out while still technically doing their job.In this episode, we get into what happens when neurodivergent minds hit systems that were never built with them in mind, and what it takes to build a business that works for the humans inside it. We're joined by Alexis Frank, creator of Governance by Design, and Mark Sones, autistic ADHD leader turned neurodiversity consultant, to break down how hiring, leadership and processes change when you stop pretending everyone thinks the same.-Before repositioning, rebranding, or making ground-shaking changes with your business, if you don't understand what's performing well and what isn't, those changes won't work.Diagnose and fix the gaps in your brand today: http://badasserybyb.com/brand-health-audit-04:15 Where Systems Break Down07:17 Early Signs of Burnout21:45 Getting Honest Feedback27:42 Rethinking Hiring Interviews34:11 Designing Better Assessments38:48 Thinking Styles Fit40:21 Safe Screening Questions42:23 Gamify Applications46:03 Founder Bottleneck Signs51:23 Slow Down Handoffs-5 episodes to binge on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The no bullshit strategy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Alex Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning to $10M⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Nicole Downer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria Seydel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Repositioning Without Losing Customers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton-Reach out to guest speaker Alexis Frank: LinkedIn | Website | InstagramReach out to guest speaker Mark Sones:⁠LinkedInFollow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠