Elevate vs. Create Strategy

When category creation fails, elevate the value of the existing category instead

Barbra Gago
Category creation and brand building | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)

Elevate vs. Create Strategy

"Instead of spending the time and money to build a new category, we were going to spend the time and money to elevate the value of this category. So rather than changing the category to something else which we could value at whatever it was, we were just going to spend all of our resources to make this whole category much more valuable to the users, to companies." - Barbra Gago

What It Is

The Elevate vs. Create Strategy is a fallback approach when category creation fails. Rather than fighting the market's natural terminology and budget structures, you pivot to becoming the company that raises the bar for an entire existing category—transforming how people perceive its value.

Barbra Gago discovered this approach at Greenhouse after their attempt to create a "recruiting optimization platform" category failed. Despite Greenhouse's clear differentiation from traditional ATS (Applicant Tracking System) products, customers stubbornly continued calling it an ATS. Instead of continuing to push against this, they redirected their energy to elevating what "ATS" meant to buyers.

How It Works

The framework involves a strategic pivot with two phases:

Phase 1: Recognition

  • Accept that customers use existing category language despite your positioning
  • Notice that budget structures align with existing categories
  • Acknowledge that your differentiated messaging isn't creating a new mental category

Phase 2: Redirection

  • Stop fighting the category label
  • Invest in raising the value perception of the entire category
  • Position yourself as the company that makes this category actually good/strategic/valuable
  • Let your differentiation show through quality, not category name

How to Apply It

  1. Monitor Category Resonance

    • Track how customers describe your product
    • Notice if they keep using existing category terms
    • Assess whether your new category language is being adopted

  2. Make the Pivot Decision

    • If after sustained effort, customers still use old terminology
    • If budgets remain allocated to the existing category
    • If you're spending more energy on category education than product value

  3. Execute Elevation Strategy

    • Embrace the existing category label
    • Create content about "why this category matters more than you think"
    • Position your company as elevating industry standards
    • Focus on being the best version of what customers already understand

  4. Maintain Differentiation

    • Your product still has unique value—don't lose that
    • Communicate differentiation through features and results
    • Let the product speak for itself within the accepted category

When to Use It

Pivot to elevation when:

  • Customers persistently use existing category language for your product
  • Budget structures are already established for the existing category
  • Your category creation efforts show diminishing returns
  • The existing category has negative associations you can transform

Continue category creation when:

  • Customer language is genuinely inconsistent and fluid
  • No existing category captures your product's scope
  • You're seeing traction in thought leadership and analyst recognition
  • The existing categories are genuinely too small for your vision

Source

  • Guest: Barbra Gago
  • Episode: "Category creation and brand building | Barbra Gago (Pando, Miro, Greenhouse, Culture Amp)"
  • Key Discussion: (14:20-16:35) - The Greenhouse story of abandoning category creation
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

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