How to Create a New Product Category | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)

TL;DR

Create a new product category when existing labels are too narrow, poorly regarded, or disconnected from the pain customers describe. Miro adopted “visual collaboration” because “online whiteboard” understated the platform’s scope, while Greenhouse remained in the established ATS market despite that category’s bad reputation. Success requires buyer education, budget creation, analyst and directory recognition, thought leadership, and eventually competitors. Read on for the practical decision criteria and validation steps.

Transcript

when you're building a category you need to make sure that there is a category that's validated by analysts and directory sites and things like that but also you want to have a lot of traction in terms of thought leadership like why is this the category what are the unique kind of value propositions of this particular thing what are the pain points... Read More

Key Insights

• A product category is a set of features or products solving a specific pain point that customers likely have budget allocated for, as organized by review and directory sites like G2 Crowd or Software Advice.
• Category creation is not complete until competitors arrive: a category is not officially a category until more companies claim to do the same thing, so new entrants validate rather than threaten it.
• Scope is the main driver of category creation. Miro moved beyond the small 'online whiteboard' label to 'visual collaboration' because the platform's potential was far larger than what product or engineering teams alone would use.
• Buyer budget determines category viability. Companies had a budget line for applicant tracking systems but not for visual collaboration, so creating a new category also requires educating buyers to allocate new budget.
• The language customers use to describe their pain points and situation is a key factor in deciding whether to create a category, alongside budget and existing competition.
• Greenhouse tried to steer clear of the applicant tracking system (ATS) label because it had a bad name from transactional predecessors like Jobvite, but ultimately stayed within and competed in the ATS space.
• Validating a new category requires proof from analysts and directory sites plus strong thought leadership explaining why the category exists, its unique value propositions, and the pain points it solves.
• A category functions as the pitch: it becomes the headline and the way you sell the product, such as positioning as 'the leader in visual collaboration.'

Questions & Answers

Q: How do you create a new product category?

Define the specific pain point and unique value propositions, then explain why they justify a distinct category. Build recognition through analysts, directory sites, thought leadership, and supporting content while educating buyers that the category deserves an allocated budget.

Q: What is a product category?

A product category is a group of features or products that solves a specific customer pain point and likely has an associated budget. Review and directory sites such as G2 Crowd and Software Advice organize products into these categories based on their feature sets.

Q: When should a company create a new category instead of competing in an existing one?

Consider creating one when the existing label is too narrow for the product’s scope, lacks a buyer budget, or has a damaging reputation. The decision should also reflect the language customers use for their problems and whether meaningful competition already exists.

Q: Why did Miro create the visual collaboration category?

Miro’s “online whiteboard” label described a real but much smaller category and risked limiting adoption to product teams, engineering teams, or schools. The company chose “visual collaboration” because the platform’s potential was broader and the ambition was to become something every company needed.

Q: Why does a new category need competitors?

Barbra Gago says a category is not truly established until multiple companies claim to offer the same kind of solution. New entrants therefore validate that the category exists instead of merely threatening its creator.

Q: What role does buyer budget play in category creation?

An existing category such as applicant tracking systems may already have an allocated budget, while a new concept such as visual collaboration may not. Category creators must therefore teach buyers what the category is, why it matters, and why they should allocate money to it.

Q: Why did Greenhouse try to avoid the applicant tracking system category?

Greenhouse wanted distance from the ATS label because earlier transactional systems had given the category a bad reputation. Although the company tried to steer clear of that positioning, it remained an applicant tracking system and ultimately competed in the ATS market.

Q: How can a company validate a newly created category?

Seek recognition from analysts, directory sites, and similar sources that organize and evaluate product categories. Support that validation with thought leadership and substantial content explaining the category’s purpose, distinctive value, customer pain points, and reason for receiving budget.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Barbra Gago, drawing on her marketing leadership at Miro, Greenhouse, and Culture Amp, explains category creation. At Miro she replaced the small 'online whiteboard' label with 'visual collaboration' because the platform's scope was far larger than any niche team use, aiming to become something every company needs.

• Deciding whether to create a category depends on scope, whether buyers have budget for the existing term, the language customers use for their pain points, and existing competition. At Greenhouse, the ATS label had a bad reputation from transactional predecessors, so they tried to avoid it but remained an ATS.

• Counterintuitively, competitors validate a category rather than undermine it, since a category is not real until multiple companies claim it. Creating a category also means educating buyers to budget for it, backed by analyst validation, directory listings, thought leadership, and supporting content.