You Don’t Need a Marketing Niche. You Need a Point-of-View

Every marketing guru tells you the same thing: “Niche down until it hurts.” Pick a tiny sliver of the market. Speak only to that one specific person. Get so narrow that you exclude everyone else.

But what if this advice is not just wrong—what if it’s the very thing keeping your brand small?

The Niche Trap: Why Smaller Isn’t Always Better

The niche obsession comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of how brands actually grow. Marketing folklore suggests that by speaking to everyone, you speak to no one. So we slice our market into increasingly narrow segments, hoping to dominate a tiny corner.
The result? Brands that sound exactly like everyone else in their “niche,” fighting over the same small pool of customers with nearly identical messaging.

What Byron Sharp Taught Us About Brand Growth

 In his groundbreaking research “How Brands Grow,” marketing scientist Byron Sharp analyzed decades of consumer behavior data and discovered something that shattered conventional wisdom: the biggest brands aren’t the most targeted—they’re the most mentally available.

Sharp found that successful brands grow by:
– Reaching more people (not fewer)
– Being easier to think of (not more specialized)
– Building distinctive brand assets (not niche positioning)

The brands that dominate markets don’t win by being the most relevant to a tiny segment. They win by being distinctively memorable to the broadest possible audience.

Distinctiveness Over Differentiation

Marketing strategist Mark Ritson builds on Sharp’s research, arguing that brands should focus on distinctiveness rather than differentiation.
Differentiation asks: “How are we different from competitors?” Distinctiveness asks: “How are we unmistakably ourselves?”

The difference is crucial. Differentiation leads to feature wars and positioning battles. Distinctiveness leads to brand recognition and mental availability.

From Niche to Point of View: Real Examples
– Consider these brands that grew by expanding their POV, not narrowing their niche:
– Nike didn’t niche down to “running shoes for marathon athletes.” They developed a distinctive POV: “Just Do It”—a philosophy that resonates across sports, fitness, and life motivation.
– Apple didn’t niche down to “computers for creative professionals.” They built a distinctive POV: “Think Different”—challenging the status quo in everything from technology to design.
– Patagonia didn’t niche down to “outdoor gear for rock climbers.” They established a distinctive POV: “We’re in business to save our home planet”—attracting everyone who shares that environmental consciousness.

Why Your POV Matters More Than Your Niche

A distinctive point of view does what a niche cannot:
– Creates mental availability – People remember POVs, not market segments
– Enables expansion – Your POV can grow with you into new categories
–  Builds cultural relevance – POVs connect to movements, niches connect to spreadsheets
-Attracts diverse audiences – United by shared values, not just shared demographics

Your POV is the lens through which you see the world—and through which your audience sees you. It’s not about who you serve, but how you see.

How to Develop Your Distinctive POV

1. Start with what you believe, not who you serve What cultural shifts do you see that others are missing? What conventional wisdom do you question?
2. Look for intersections, not exclusions Where do your authentic interests meet cultural currents? Your POV lives at the intersection, not in the corners.
3. Make it bigger than your product Your POV should encompass a worldview that extends beyond what you sell. Nike sells shoes, but their POV is about human potential.
4. Test for distinctiveness, not differentiation Ask: “Could any competitor say this?” If yes, keep refining. Your POV should be unmistakably yours.

The Brand Soul Advantage

When you build from your authentic POV instead of a manufactured niche, something magical happens: you stop competing and start creating. You’re no longer fighting for market share—you’re building cultural influence.

This is what we call brand soul—the authentic intersection of what you genuinely believe and what culture genuinely needs. It’s distinctive by definition because it comes from your unique perspective on the world.

Your Distinctive POV Is Waiting

The most powerful personal brands of our time didn’t succeed because they found the perfect niche. They succeeded because they developed a distinctive point of view that resonated across markets, demographics, and categories.

You don’t need a marketing niche. You need a bold point of view.

Ready to discover your distinctive POV? Join the waitlist for the Brand Soul Accelerator, where we help founders build brands that matter by finding their authentic intersection. Because the most powerful brands don’t follow movements—they become them.