Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / WD-40 Was Built for Missiles. You’re Trying to Sell to Everyone.

Transcript

WD-40 Was Built for Missiles. You’re Trying to Sell to Everyone. · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Selling on Giants podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Mr.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Will, and today we're talking about positioning because I've seen brands doing millions in revenue stall out for one simple reason.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: They do not actually know what they do best.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And when that happens, they compensate by adding more keywords, more audiences, more use cases, more creative angles, and more promises until the whole thing starts to blur.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is where a lot of e-commerce brands get into trouble because they think they have a traffic problem, a competition problem, or an Amazon problem when what they really have is a clarity problem.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon does not reward creativity for the sake of creativity.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: It rewards clarity because the customer is usually not sitting there trying to understand your full brand universe.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: They are searching for a solution, and the faster your product looks like the right solution, the more likely you are to get the click, the conversion, and the momentum that follows.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is why the WD-40 story is such a strong example because WD-40 did not start as a household brand, and it did not start as a broad consumer idea trying to be useful to everyone.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It started as a job.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: WD-40 stands for Water Displacement 40th Formula, which is not a tagline, not a clever positioning statement, and not a brand story someone created after a workshop.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is a literal description of what it took to get the product to work.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: In 1953, a small team led by Norm Larsen was trying to solve one problem: protect missile components from rust and corrosion for Convair.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: That was it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: There was no consumer angle, no household strategy, no category expansion plan, and no attempt to make the product mean 10 different things to 10 different customer types.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was just a very specific problem that had to be solved, and it took 40 attempts to get there.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of constraint does something most e-commerce brands never experience.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: It forces precision because the product either works or it does not, and there is no room for vague positioning when the stakes are that high.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot hide behind a broad market, a soft claim, or a dozen possible use cases when the original job is that specific.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Most e-commerce brands skip that phase entirely, and instead of defining the job their product is supposed to do, they define the market they want to be in.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: They say, we're in supplements or we're in beauty or we're in home goods or we're in pet, and then they build messaging around the category instead of the customer's actual need.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is not positioning, that is avoidance.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you do not define the job clearly, everything downstream gets weaker.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your product detail page tries to say everything, your ads target everyone, your keyword strategy becomes bloated, your images try to appeal to too many customer types at once, your conversion suffers, not because the product is necessarily bad, but because the customer cannot immediately tell why this product is the right answer for them.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is one of the most important points for sellers to understand.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You do not lose only because of competition.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You also lose because you are unclear.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: A simple example is epoxy resin.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: One brand positions it as high quality epoxy resin for multiple applications, which technically sounds fine, but it does not give the customer a sharp reason to care.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Another brand positions it as bar top epoxy resin for high gloss, heat-resistant finishes, and all of a sudden the job is clear.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Same general product category, completely different outcome, because one message floats around the category while the other attaches itself to a specific customer intent.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is what positioning does.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: It turns a product from this could be useful into this is what I need.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly where Amazon comes in, because Amazon is one of the purest reflections of this principle.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Everything is intent-driven.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Customers may browse, but most of the time they are searching because they want a solution.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: They type in the problem, the use case, the outcome, the product format, or the category they believe will solve it, and then they scan the page looking for the clearest match.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: That means your keyword strategy is your positioning.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Your title defines the job.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Your main image earns attention.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your secondary images prove the outcome.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Your bullets answer objections.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Your A content reinforces trust.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your reviews either confirm the promise or expose the gap.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: If those pieces do not align, nothing else matters as much as people think it does.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can have a strong brand story, polished creative, premium packaging, and a founder with a great mission, but if the searcher does not understand what job the product does in the first few seconds, you are asking them to work too hard.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And on Amazon, the customer does not work hard for your brand.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: They keep scrolling.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is where brands try to solve the wrong problem.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: They see conversion flattening, so they add more keywords.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: They see ads getting expensive, so they add more audiences.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: They see competitors showing up in the category, so they broaden the message to capture more possible buyers.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then the listing becomes a compromise between five internal opinions, seven customer types, and 20 different search terms that do not really belong together.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: The result is a product page that technically says a lot but clearly communicates very little.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is the positioning trap.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: The brand wants to be useful to everyone so it becomes obvious to no one.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: WD40 went the other way.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It solved one very specific job first, and then the market expanded it.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: People started using it for squeaky hinges, rusty tools, bike chains, stuck bolts, garage projects, workshop problems, and all the random household uses that turn the product into something bigger than the original job.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: That is the part most brands get backwards.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: They try to map every possible use case up front, as if expansion is something they can fully plan before the product earns its first clear position.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: But WD40 shows the smarter sequence, win one job first, earn trust, let customers reveal adjacent use cases, and then expand from a place of proof instead of assumption.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Growth usually works in that order.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: First you get known for something specific, then you earn the right to expand, not the other way around.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: This matters for e-commerce brands because broad positioning feels safer than narrow positioning, but it is often more dangerous.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you say the product is for everyone, no one feels like it is built for them.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: When you say the product solves one specific problem really well, the right customer can self-identify quickly, and once they trust you there, they may follow you into the next use case.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: There is a discipline to that.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: You start with one core use case, one clear message, and one defined customer.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Then you build the product page around that use case, drive traffic aligned to that intent, and watch how customers actually use and describe the product.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: From there, you expand into adjacent use cases, create content around what the market proves, and scale what earns the right to scale.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: You do not guess your way into a bigger market, you earn your way into it.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is where Belovic spends a lot of time with brands because marketplace growth is not just about launching campaigns or updating listings, it is about translating the product into a clear buying decision.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: We look at the catalog, search behavior, customer reviews, category language, competitive positioning, and ad performance to understand what the market is already telling us, and then we help brands build a strategy around the strongest use case instead of trying to force every possible use case into one listing.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Bellovics has helped brands sell over$500 million on Amazon, and we are a verified ad partner.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: But the real value is not just the badge or the number.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is the hands-on work of turning marketplace complexity into a clear operating plan.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the product page, keyword strategy, advertising, creative, and reporting are all pointing in the same direction.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: If your brand needs that kind of support, visit Bellavix.com.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there is a second mistake that happens after brands finally get the positioning right and it is more subtle.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you find the core use case, the listing starts converting, the ad campaigns get cleaner, sales pick up, and the account starts looking healthier.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: The natural move is to optimize for efficiency, tighten campaigns, cut anything that does not convert immediately, and double down only on what is already working.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: That feels smart, and in many ways it is smart, but if you take it too far, you stop learning.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is how positioning quietly starts to narrow the business instead of focusing it.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you remove too much exploration, you stop discovering new use cases, new customer segments, new keyword opportunities, and new ways the market may want to use the product.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually competitors move in, growth plateaus, and the brand starts chasing performance instead of building it.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have seen this happen more than once.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: A strong brand gets efficient, then it gets smaller, because every exploratory signal gets cut before it has a chance to become useful.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: The balance that works is precision and exploration at the same time.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Precision gives you clear positioning, strong conversion, and a defined use case.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Exploration gives you new keywords, new audiences, new content angles, and new ways to expand the market once the core is working.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Too much exploration without clarity burns budget.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Too much precision too early limits growth.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is the operator challenge.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: You need to know what the product is known for today while still leaving enough room for the market to show you what it can become tomorrow.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: That is why I do not like when brands treat keyword expansion as just a traffic exercise.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Keyword expansion is positioning research.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: If a new keyword converts, the market may be telling you there is an adjacent use case worth building around.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: If a search term spends without converting, the market may be telling you that the promise, product, or audience does not match.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: If reviews keep mentioning the same unexpected benefit, that may be the customer handing you the next version of the positioning.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: The same thing applies to creative.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Your image stack should not just look good, it should prove the job.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your main image has to earn attention, but the rest of the listing has to make the customer feel like the product was built for their situation.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: That means showing the use case clearly, answering the practical objections, and making the outcome easy to understand without forcing the customer to connect the dots.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The brands that win do not just have more content.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: They have content that makes the decision easier.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is the real lesson from WD40.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: It did not become a household name because it tried to be everything on day one.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: It became trusted because it worked in one place first, and then people found more places to use it.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: The market expanded the story because the original job was strong enough to create trust.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Most brands try to skip that step.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: They want the big audience before they earn the sharp position.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: They want the broad campaign before they prove the narrow use case.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: They want to scale into multiple markets, multiple personas, and multiple occasions before the customer can clearly explain why the product matters in the first place.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: That is usually where things break.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are looking at your Amazon business right now and wondering why more traffic is not fixing the problem, start with positioning.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Ask what job the product is actually doing.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ask whether the title, keywords, images, bullets, and ads are all reinforcing that job.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Ask whether the customer can understand the promise quickly.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Ask whether your listing is trying to convert one clear buyer or impress every possible buyer.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then ask whether your next growth move should really be more expansion or whether the first move should be more clarity.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because Amazon does not reward the brand that says the most.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: It rewards the brand that makes the clearest buying decision for the right customer at the right moment.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: UD-40 was built for missiles, and then it became a product people trusted everywhere.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: That did not happen because the company tried to sell to everyone first.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: It happened because the product did one job well enough that the market gave it more jobs over time.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: That is the game for e-commerce brands.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Win one use case, build trust, let the market show you the next one, then expand with proof.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this episode of the Selling on Giants podcast.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: If this helped you think differently about positioning keywords or why trying to sell to everyone can weaken your marketplace strategy, share it with another founder or operator who needs to tighten the message before chasing more traffic.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are getting value from the show, I would be grateful for a quick review because it helps us reach more sellers trying to build stronger, clearer marketplace businesses.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Will, host of the Selling on Giants podcast.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening and keep building clarity before scale.