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Marketing Academy · Field Work●Product Marketing
All projects·From: PMM vs Marketing vs Product
MiniBuild the Asset· 30 minutes

Draft a One-Page Positioning Statement Using the PMM Playbook

Duolingo

Objective: Given real facts about a product launch, use the lesson's 'Define positioning' and 'Craft messaging' stages to draft a one-page internal positioning statement with a two-audience message hierarchy.

You're the PMM assigned to Duolingo Max at launch. Leadership wants a one-page positioning doc before any sales deck or landing page gets written, per the lesson's five-step framework.

Answer the four positioning questions the lesson defines (for whom, against what alternatives, what unique benefit, why believe us), then split messaging for two distinct audiences.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Docs
FreeDraft the one-page positioning statement and message hierarchy

Free, easy to comment and share across Product, Sales, and Marketing for review

The process

2 steps

Step 01 of 02

Answering the four positioning questions before writing any external copy

The lesson's Stage 2 defines positioning as an internal document answering: for whom, against what alternatives, does this product deliver what unique benefit, and why should they believe us.

Duolingo Max costs roughly 2x the standard Super tier and adds GPT-4-powered Roleplay and Explain My Answer. Who is 'for whom' here: every Duolingo user, or a specific segment?

Google Docs— New doc, four labeled sections matching the positioning questions.

Procedure

  1. Write 'For whom' as a specific segment, not 'all learners' (e.g. learners stuck at a conversational plateau after finishing the core course)
  2. Write 'Against what alternatives' as the real competing choice (staying on Super, or hiring a human tutor), not a vague 'other apps'
  3. Write 'Unique benefit' as the one thing only Max delivers (a judgment-free AI conversation partner available anytime)
  4. Write 'Why believe us' as a concrete proof point (GPT-4-powered, built on Duolingo's existing course content)
Sample output
FOR WHOM: Learners who finished the core course but freeze up in real conversation
AGAINST: Staying on Super (no conversation practice) or a $25/hr human tutor
UNIQUE BENEFIT: Unlimited, judgment-free AI conversation practice, any time
WHY BELIEVE: Built on GPT-4 and Duolingo's own course content, not a generic chatbot

Healthy

Each answer is one specific sentence a rep could repeat verbatim in a sales call.

Unhealthy

Answers that read like ad copy ('the best way to learn a language') instead of a strategic filter.

What this means

A positioning doc that could describe three different competitors interchangeably has not actually answered the questions.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
The draft positioning doc reads like a tagline, not a strategic filterRewrite 'unique benefit' until a competitor's product genuinely could not claim the same sentence30 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Step 02 of 02

Building a message hierarchy for two different audiences from one positioning doc

The lesson's Stage 3 explains that one positioning doc must translate into different messages for different audiences and channels, e.g. a technical message for one buyer and a business-outcome message for another.

This launch has two real audiences: existing free-tier users deciding whether to upgrade, and app-store browsers who have never opened Duolingo. What changes between the two messages?

Google Docs— Same doc, new section: Message Hierarchy.

Procedure

  1. Write a headline for existing free-tier users that assumes product familiarity (e.g. leads with the new Roleplay feature by name)
  2. Write a headline for app-store browsers that assumes zero familiarity (e.g. leads with the outcome, not the feature name)
  3. Confirm both headlines still trace back to the same 'unique benefit' answer from Step 1
Sample output
EXISTING USERS: 'New: Practice real conversations with Roleplay, powered by GPT-4'
NEW USERS: 'Finally have a real conversation in a new language, any time, judgment-free'

Healthy

Both headlines sell the same underlying benefit through a different door.

Unhealthy

The two headlines describe two different products because they were written independently.

What this means

A message hierarchy fans out from one positioning doc; it does not start from a blank page per audience.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
Marketing and lifecycle email are pitching Max with contradictory value propsTrace both headlines back to the single 'unique benefit' line and rewrite the one that drifted30 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Final deliverable

A one-page positioning statement (four questions answered) plus a two-audience message hierarchy that traces back to the same unique benefit.

See a reference example
Sample output
Snowflake Cortex launch, internal positioning doc (excerpt)

FOR WHOM: Data teams already on Snowflake who are building AI features in a separate stack
AGAINST: Standing up a parallel vector database and pipeline
UNIQUE BENEFIT: Run AI directly on governed data, with no data movement
WHY BELIEVE: Native to the platform teams already trust with production data

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

  • All four positioning questions are answered with specific, falsifiable sentences
  • The two audience headlines trace back to the same unique-benefit answer