Category Creation Playbook: How to Be Irreplaceable in B2B Marketing (with Josh Lowman)

The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

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#252 Category Creation | Dave is joined by Josh Lowman, Founder and Creative Director of Gold Front, a category design studio that’s worked with brands like Uber, Notion, and Qualtrics. Josh is a leading voice in strategic brand positioning and category creation. He’s spent over a decade helping high-growth B2B companies define what makes them irreplaceable in crowded markets.

Dave and Josh cover:

Why most category creation efforts fail (and what to do instead)
The four real paths to category leadership: create, transform, niche, or go solo
How B2B marketers can align product, brand, and messaging around a single strategy to stand out and scale

Whether you're launching a new product or repositioning an existing one, this episode is a masterclass in strategic clarity.

Timestamps

(00:00) - – Intro
(02:39) - – Josh’s backstory and founding Gold Front
(05:54) - – How Gold Front became a category design studio
(08:09) - – What “category creation” really means
(11:24) - – Why being irreplaceable is the real goal
(14:29) - – The four paths to category leadership
(18:14) - – Why Drift didn’t succeed in creating a true category
(22:09) - – Clay and Notion as category-of-one examples
(24:59) - – Marketing vs. actual customer perception
(30:09) - – Can Exit Five be more than the “Dave Gerhardt community”?
(33:04) - – How to scale brand DNA beyond the founder
(35:54) - – Defining Exit Five’s ethos as a company
(38:14) - – Strategy as a company-wide unifier
(41:04) - – Advice for CMOs on driving strategy with CEOs
(43:39) - – Why strategy is always the root cause
(45:09) - – Vibe marketing and the rise of right-brain thinking
(47:54) - – Josh’s mental health journey and long-term therapy
(51:24) - – LinkedIn, self-worth, and staying grounded
(53:54) - – Weightlifting, discipline, and mental clarity
(56:54) - – Daily habits that improve mindset
(01:00:09) - – What 30 days of silent meditation does to your brain
(01:04:54) - – Final thoughts on presence, self-work, and leadership

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