Diabetes and cardiometabolic health is crowded, consolidating, and being transformed by GLP-1s. If a buyer cannot explain in one sentence what you are and who you serve, you compete on price and lose. We create positioning that establishes a defensible category, clearly differentiates you from the alternatives, and remains strong as the market shifts beneath you.
The Challenge
Buyers place you in a category where you have no chance to win
If the market thinks of you as just another diabetes app, you get compared feature-for-feature against every other app and pushed to compete on price. The category a buyer files you in decides the alternatives you are measured against and the budget you are paid from. Cardiometabolic companies with genuinely different models still lose because they let the market pick the frame. Positioning is the deliberate choice of the category you want to be judged in – and it is winnable only if you make it on purpose.
GLP-1s changed the entire conversation, but your positioning did not
The rise of GLP-1 drugs has changed what patients, employers, and payers expect from cardiometabolic care almost overnight. A positioning written before that shift now sounds either naive or threatened, and buyers notice. Companies that have not decided whether they are a complement, an alternative, or the layer around the drug are getting defined by the market instead of defining themselves. Positioning in this category now has to take an explicit stance on the drugs, not dodge the question.
You are positioned for one buyer, while three others determine the deal
A message aimed only at the patient falls flat when an employer benefits leader and a payer committee are the ones actually approving the purchase. Cardiometabolic deals are multi-stakeholder, and positioning that ignores the economic buyer stalls at procurement. Each stakeholder needs to see themselves in the frame, anchored to the same core claim. Positioning that speaks to only one of them leaves the deal to chance.
Your positioning is just a feature list, so the market hears no reason to select you
When a company cannot articulate a point of view, it defaults to listing what the product does, and a feature list is not a reason to buy. In a consolidating market buyers are looking for a clear bet, not a longer spec sheet. Feature-based positioning also collapses the moment a competitor ships the same feature. A defensible position is built on a point of view about the problem, not a catalog of functionality.
How We Can Help
We begin by mapping the category and competitive landscape as buyers truly perceive it. That means understanding not only your direct competitors, but also the frame each buyer type places you in and how GLP-1s have changed expectations. In cardiometabolic health, the category is evolving quickly, so positioning must begin with where the market is today, not where it stood when your last deck was created.
Next, we identify the defensible position. We seek the intersection of what you are truly best at, what the market genuinely values, and where competitors are weak or missing. The result is a clear point of view on the problem and an explicit decision about the category in which you want to be evaluated – one you can win, rather than the default category the market would give you.
We then take a position on the forces transforming the market. We intentionally decide whether you are a complement to GLP-1s, an alternative, or the care layer surrounding them, and incorporate that stance into the positioning so buyers see a company with a point of view, not one hoping the topic never arises. Avoiding the drugs is a position in itself, and usually a losing one.
For execution, we turn the position into a positioning statement, category narrative, and stakeholder-specific frames for each buyer, enabling the same central claim to resonate with patients, employers, and payers alike. We collaborate with your product and marketing teams so the positioning informs the roadmap and messaging, not only the homepage.
For measurement, we track whether the position is gaining traction: how buyers describe you without prompting, how you perform in competitive deals, and whether you are moving beyond price comparisons. Positioning that fails to change how the market discusses you has not landed, so we iterate until it does.
What sets us apart is that we approach positioning as embedded operators, connecting it to the roadmap, pricing, and go-to-market motion – not as strategists who deliver a statement and depart. In a market changing this quickly, positioning must be maintained, and we remain involved to do that.
What we deliver
- Category and competitive landscape map as each buyer type actually frames it, including GLP-1 impact
- Defensible positioning built on a point of view and a winnable category choice, not a feature list
- Explicit market stance on GLP-1s – complement, alternative, or care layer – built into the position
- Positioning statement, category narrative, and stakeholder-specific frames for patient, employer, and payer
- Positioning-adoption tracking – unprompted buyer language, competitive win rate, and escape from price comparison
In diabetes and cardiometabolic health, the category a buyer places you in determines the fight before it begins. GLP-1s have reset every one of those categories – so positioning that declines to take a stance on the drugs is not neutral; it is invisible.
Our Methodology
We conduct positioning through a focused 60-to-90-day sprint. The first phase covers landscape and truth: we map how every buyer frames the category today, assess the GLP-1 impact, interview buyers and lost deals, and establish what you are genuinely best at. The second phase is the positioning decision: we select the winnable category, take a clear stance on the forces reshaping the market, and develop the positioning statement, category narrative, and stakeholder frames. The final phase is activation: we integrate the position into the roadmap, messaging, and go-to-market motion, and measure how the market's language about you changes.
What distinguishes this from a traditional strategy engagement is that we do not give you a positioning statement and leave. We embed alongside product and marketing to bring the position to life in the product and pipeline, and we remain long enough to see the market's language shift. In a category being transformed by drug innovation and consolidation, positioning is not a one-off exercise, and we do not treat it as one.
Our Approach
The first phase, approximately the first month, focuses on landscape and discovery. We speak with your buyers and lost deals, map the category from each stakeholder's perspective, and get candid about where GLP-1s have altered the game for you. You will receive a clear view of the frame the market currently places you in, which often differs from the one you would select.
The second phase covers the positioning decision and articulation. We select the winnable category, adopt the explicit market stance, and create the positioning statement, category narrative, and stakeholder frames. We partner closely with your leadership at this stage because positioning is a bet the entire company must support, not merely a marketing artifact.
The last phase is activation. We incorporate the position into your roadmap, messaging, pricing, and sales motion, then measure how buyers describe you and how you perform in competitive deals. Positioning engagements typically span two to four months for the core work, with an optional ongoing relationship to preserve the position as the market evolves.
The cadence includes a weekly working session with your leadership and marketing teams, along with async drafts. We remain embedded throughout activation instead of handing over a statement, because a position that never reaches the roadmap or sales floor never truly changes anything.
- Unprompted buyer language shift
- Competitive win rate
- Escape from price-based comparison
- Roadmap and messaging alignment to the position
If your diabetes & cardiometabolic health company needs product positioning leadership, we should talk.
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Frequently asked questions
What does a product positioning engagement cost for diabetes and cardiometabolic health companies?
We price positioning as a fixed fee for a two-to-four-month core sprint, with the range based on the number of buyer types and competitors involved and how significantly the GLP-1 shift has disrupted your market. It is more contained than an ongoing product marketing relationship because positioning is a decision, not a permanent function.
How soon will we see results from a product positioning engagement?
You will have a chosen position and fully articulated narrative within about two months, and the initial signal – how sales and buyers respond to the new frame – appears soon afterward. The deeper outcome, a change in how the market describes you and in competitive win rate, develops over one or two sales cycles.
How does the product positioning team work with our existing staff?
We collaborate directly with your leadership, product, and marketing teams because positioning is a company-wide commitment. For discovery, we require access to buyers and lost deals, along with time from your executives to commit to the position.
How is Winston Francois different from a traditional positioning consultant?
A traditional consultant delivers a positioning statement and leaves activation for you to solve. We remain embedded to make the position tangible in the product, pricing, and sales motion, and we measure whether the market's language truly changes.
How is ROI measured for a product positioning engagement?
We track how buyers describe you without prompting, your win rate in competitive deals, and whether you have moved beyond the feature-and-price comparison that turns you into a commodity. We benchmark this against how the market framed you before the engagement. The financial return appears through higher win rates and stronger pricing power, both of which compound across every deal. Those are the metrics we use to judge the work, not the statement's elegance.
What kind of diabetes and cardiometabolic health company is the best fit for this service?
This service is designed for companies between roughly 5M and 100M in ARR that are becoming commoditized, losing competitive deals, or rushing to address the GLP-1 shift. It works best when leadership is prepared to make and stand behind a genuine bet rather than hedge. If you are pre-product-market-fit and still determining your value, positioning may be too early, and a lighter discovery engagement may be more appropriate. The first step with us is a strategy call to understand how the market frames you today.
