Hey Outliers ☀️
Hope you’re doing well.
Last week was a busy one and the thought of running off to a cabin in the woods may have entered my mind a few times.
We’ve all been there 😅
The thing is, in reality, most of us don’t actually want to live in the woods forever, we just need a bit more time offline and in nature.
And that’s exactly why cabin start-up Unplugged exists.
I caught up with Hector (co-founder) last week to hear more about how Unplugged has used clever positioning to help them standout in a crowded market.
Let’s get into it…
Here’s what to expect today:
📰 Story: How Unplugged avoids competition with clever positioning
🧠 Insight: Know the true value of what you do
💪🏼 DIY: 4 steps to find your winning positioning
🔗 Good links: Turn competitor strengths into weaknesses, how to win against powerful competitors and 12 positioning examples to learn from
📰 Story: How Unplugged avoids competition with clever positioning
Unplugged offers 3-day digital detoxes in off-grid, tech-free cabins.
Before founding Unplugged, Ben and Hector both worked in tech start-ups. They worked hard, played hard and often ended up feeling burnt out.
“Hector did a silent retreat in the Himalayas and got back feeling super recharged. We talked it over... and after initially thinking it wasn’t for me, I started to realise how much time I was spending on my devices. I considered the many people I’d worked with on startups who never took any true time off and an idea was born.” — Ben
The question was: how could they get busy city folk to unplug from their devices and recharge without flying halfway around the globe?
The answer: Off-grid cabins situated just a short journey from the city.
Unplugged now has 19 cabins in 11 locations across the UK with more on the way and a lot of their success can be put down to their unique positioning in the cabin market.
The glamping market has increased significantly over the past few years (thanks to lockdowns and flight restrictions) with more people (25%) opting for a countryside break in 2022 compared to 2019.
And as the market grows, there are more and more brands offering cabin stays so standing out and being the obvious choice for your customers is critical.
How have Unplugged done this?
They’ve acknowledged that they don’t sell cabin stays.
They sell digital detoxes.
And that’s exactly what their target audience is looking for.
When you stay at an Unplugged cabin you’re asked to lock your phone away in a box they provide you with and you get it back at the end of your stay. They also give you a polaroid camera to use during your stay.
By positioning Unplugged as a digital detox instead of a cabin stay, the offering becomes extremely obvious to the right people and the entire brand is built to help people spend a bit more time offline.
In their first year, they’ve achieved a 90% occupancy rate. Likely driven by the fact their cabins are seen as a wellness activity rather than just a space to rent.
This clear differentiation from the competition then also makes it easy to identify marketing channels and put a content strategy together.
Clear positioning gives you direction and makes you the obvious choice to the right people.
Unplugged have nailed it 🌲
🧠 Insight: Know the true value of what you do
Clear positioning helps you stand out amongst competitors and grab the attention of those who value you the most.
To establish strong positioning, you’ll need to understand that what you offer goes beyond your product features and benefits. Your product enables people to do something, it's a means to fulfil desires, solve problems, and improve lives.
But for your positioning to be successful, you’ll also need to find one that helps you stand out from competitors. So understanding what makes you unique and doubling down on communicating it is key.
💪🏼 DIY: 4 steps to find your winning positioning
Before you set yourself up as yet another option in a sea of competitors, ask yourself these questions and find your stand-out positioning:
What problem did you set out to solve for people?
Unplugged example: burnout from a fast-paced, digital-heavy lifeWhat unique attributes or characteristics does your offering have?
Unplugged example: phone locked in boxes, polaroid cameras, no internetWho really cares a lot about these? And what does it achieve for them?
Unplugged example: people working in fast-paced/digital heavy jobs who want to avoid burnout and feel healthierHow can you frame your business to be a leader?
Unplugged example: focus on what makes Unplugged different e.g. digital detoxes for city workers backed up by useful content that highlights the benefits
The goal of this exercise is to find who values your uniqueness the most and frame the business to be the best at that specific thing. If you raised your prices 25%, who would still be queuing up to pay?
See how Userlist used April Dunford’s 10-Step method to overhaul their positioning.
🔗 Good links
🔗 Use positioning to turn competitor strengths into weaknesses >
🔗 How to win against powerful competitors >
🔗 12 Brand positioning examples to learn from >
💌 Tell us what you’d like help with…
We started this newsletter for entrepreneurs just like you, and we want it to be as helpful as it possibly can. So tell us what you’d like help with and we’ll dig into it.
Or if there’s a brand you’d like to know more about, let us know and we’ll reach out to them.
Until next week…
Keep being an Outlier,
J + K
Love this - great positioning and in the UK too!