Positioning As Poetry

Why Crafting Product Positioning is Like Writing a Villanelle

A few months ago, I was commissioned to write a poem for the grand opening of Sunnyvale’s new City Hall. As I crafted each line, I couldn’t help but notice how the process mirrored what I do in my “Weekday Tshaka” world. At first, I brushed it off as coincidence and kept going. But a few weeks later, while preparing a keynote for a celebration of volunteer educators, that same sense of overlap returned. I’ve always tried to keep my “weekday” and “weekend” worlds separate, but it’s clear —they were becoming more and more connected, each fueling the other in unexpected ways; none so much so as when I was deep in the throws of writing a villanelle to submit to a competition, while at the same time brainstorming ideas for company positioning refresh

Creating killer product positioning is like crafting a villanelle: structured yet creative, precise yet resonant. Just as a poet wrestles with form and words to capture emotion and clarity, marketers need to take a core value and make it sing across every line and every channel. As Rumi says, “You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.” Product positioning is much the same—refining, revising, and reshaping until the message is both deeply felt and undeniably clear.?

Positioning products is poetry with a business twist.

1. Structure with Style

A villanelle is rigidly structured—19 lines, five tercets, and one final quatrain. Product positioning works the same way. While there’s room for creativity, positioning is ultimately about consistency and clarity: you want every message about your product to fall into place, like the rhythm of a poem, each part building on the last.

Positioning isn’t a place for wild improv; it’s the steady beat behind the GTM jazz solo. In EdTech, for example, this means making sure everyone from teachers to administrators to students gets the same clear, focused message. Your product is “easy to use,” “improves outcomes,” and “fosters engagement”—whatever the core value, it should shine through without variation, creating a rhythm and purpose as clear as any villanelle.

2. Repetition That Resonates

The magic of a villanelle is its refrain. The same lines repeat, gaining new meaning with each appearance. In EdTech positioning, for example, your core message—like “empowers educators” or “inspires student-led learning”—becomes the refrain that shows up everywhere: on your website, in your sales deck, and on social media. Each touchpoint echoes back to the same core idea. The same can be said in all verticals. The refrain regardless of its channel should ladder up the GTM strategy or even better, the organization’s “North Star”

This repetition isn’t just redundant; it’s resonant. Rumi says, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.” When your TAM keeps hearing this message repeated, it sticks. They’re drawn to it, building familiarity and trust with every encounter, each time adding a new layer of meaning and connection.

3. Emotion Meets Precision

A villanelle doesn’t just follow rules for the sake of them; it’s meant to evoke a feeling within a structured frame. Product positioning has to do the same. That means speaking to hearts as much as minds. Whether DTC or a layered buying group, they aren’t just looking for a tool that eliminates pain points.?

Product positioning isn’t about dry facts or feature lists; it’s about communicating the heart of what you offer, within the bounds of a well-defined message. As Rumi says, “Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.” This is positioning’s sweet spot: blending insight with a touch of wonder, convincing your audience that your product can meet both practical needs and their larger visions.

4. Refinement Over Reinvention

When poets draft a villanelle, they refine each line until it fits perfectly, but they don’t rewrite the whole poem each time. Product positioning is similar—it’s refined through testing and feedback, polished to perfection, but rarely overhauled. You’re not reinventing the product’s purpose every quarter; instead, you’re honing in on the message until it’s clear, compelling, and consistent.

Once your positioning is locked in, it’s the steady foundation on which everything else is built. Adjustments happen, sure, but the core message stays intact. It’s the difference between a thoughtfully refined poem and the spontaneous riffs of a jazz solo. Your positioning holds steady, allowing GTM to riff off it as needed.

5. Closure that Lasts

A villanelle closes with a powerful quatrain, bringing all previous lines together in a final, resonant moment. Product positioning should have that same sense of closure. It needs to leave folks with a crystal-clear sense of what your product is and why it matters. It’s not just about what your tool does but the impact it leaves behind—a sense that it’s essential to their goals and mission.

Positioning isn’t just the opening act of your GTM strategy; it’s the poem’s ending that keeps echoing long after the GTM campaign wraps up. It’s the promise that everything else—campaigns, demos, outreach—can build on.

The Bottom Line: Positioning as Poetry?

My tip…? the next time you’re hammering out positioning for your product, think like a poet. Build your message with structure, repetition, emotion, and impact. Remember Rumi’s words: “Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself.” Strip away the extras, simplify, and make your positioning a distilled, clear reflection of the product’s purpose, because whether you’re creating for the classroom, the CISO,? or the page, the best messages are the ones that stay with us, just like a beautifully crafted line of verse.

ps. If you couldn't already tell – I love Rumi