Christopher Lochhead, 14-time bestselling author and tech company CMO, discusses category design, embracing negative feedback, the 'better trap', Lomi's breakthrough food waste solution, framing and language, understanding the problem, rejecting the premise, and finding your place in the digital age.

Recently, I was a guest with the legendary Sachit Gupta on his fantastic podcast called Conscious Creators, which I highly recommend. During our conversation on his podcast, we unpack Category Pirates’ most recent book Snow Leopard. Our producer Jason DeFilippo heard this podcast and thought it'd be a great idea to drop it here for you. What you're about to hear is me and Satya go deep on what it takes to be a successful native digital creator slash writer. Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. The Reason for Podcasting The conversation starts off with a discussion of how the two first met, and it was through the legendary podcaster Jordan Harbinger. Christopher was looking into getting sponsors and thinking about was to monetize his podcast, and was recommended to Sachit Gupta this way. While he did get ideas on different styles of monetization, the biggest thing that Christopher got out of the conversation was the realization that monetization was not his primary focus on doing podcasts. “I sort of had this aha that said, “Hey, wait a minute, dude, this was actually never about money”. And if I want to make money, I know how to go do that. So you sort of set my head straight, and that the emphasis was on the wrong syllable that if I wanted to make money, I knew how to go make money in a way that was much more exponential than being essentially an ad salesperson. The real gift you gave me around podcasting, was that I’m not doing this to monetize.” – Christopher Lochhead Sachit Gupta on Monetizing Directly vs Indirectly One of the things that Sachit wanted to share was that one doesn’t have to monetize directly. Focus on making good content first and foremost, so that you can reach out and cultivate an audience naturally, rather than going for cookie-cutter approaches for a short-term viral status. “Here's what I see happening in this greater world right now: there's a stat that I think like 75% of youngsters want to be YouTubers, and the path most of them see in front of them is go on YouTube or something else and create content that's for the extremes, because that's what spreads. And then once you chase views and get to a certain level of audience, you can monetize in some way, right. And if you don't become big, you can't monetize. In your book, you call like the obvious content, which is not really the stuff that's useful.” – Sachit Gupta While there is merit to uploading consistent content, you don’t have to flood your audience with bit-sized content that is just a big nothing burger. Creating meaningful content, let’s say once every week or two is way better than just dropping portion-sized content that just adds to the collective brain-rot of society. The Content Pyramid The topic then shifts to the concept of the content pyramid, and what types of people thrive in each level. Consumers, for example, are at base of the pyramid and consists of the largest section of it. In internet culture, there is something known as the 1% rule, which states that on social media platforms, 1% create while 99% consume. Most people spend their entire lives being content consumers—not content creators. And that’s totally fine, so long as you understand you’re not “playing the game.” You’re sitting on the sidelines watching the game. In order to “get in the game,” you must move out of consumption and up The Content Pyramid. To hear more of the conversation between Sachit Gupta and Christopher Lochhead, download and listen to this episode. Bio Sachit Gupta Connect with Sachit Gupta! Website | Conscious Creators Show | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!

Welcome to a special episode of Lochhead on Marketing, where we dive further into our new book called Snow Leopard. On this episode, we discuss the Content Pyramid, and how one can become a legendary creator, writer, and thought leader. But before all that, we’d like to say thank you very much to all who took the time to read our new book and share it around. It's also caused a tremendous amount of conversation in the entrepreneur, marketing, and writer/creator world. Because today, more than ever, being able to change the world with words, matters. Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. The Problem Everybody wants to be a thought leader. They want to be seen as forward thinking, they want to be celebrated as the Guru, the expert, the All Knowing one in their industry, they want to be the keynote speaker, the bestselling author, the person listed in the next 10, marketers to watch in 2002 by Forbes, most of which are paid placements. Because now that the world has gotten exposed to the power of digital attention, and everyone believes the most valuable thing you could possibly have is an audience. Well, everybody wants one for themselves. Unfortunately, as we wrote about in our mini book, The Me Disease, the vast majority of people who want to be a thought leader, or bestselling author in today's digital gamified world, don't have any leading thoughts. That is to say, they're not actually contributing new differentiated ideas. What they want is to be seen as a thought leader, to collect badges of approval, and amass followers, and social metrics that send the signal that lots of other people say they are important, without having to say anything unique or meaningful, or different. More importantly, they want the audience without having to take the time to think deeply about who they are creating for and why they want the outcome without the process. Content-Free Content Since this has become such a desirable goal, there are now strategies for shortcutting your way to instant status gratification. The key is to cater to the lowest common denominator. The way the business world has been educated on how to become an overnight thought leader is to create content that doesn't threaten, doesn't challenge, and doesn't require the audience to think, as loud and as often as possible. This strategy caters to lazy button smashing consumers. We call this Content-free Content. It gets likes and views, and it lands you some followers. But after you the consumer, eat it, you sort of feel like a box full of Oreos. Zero nutritional value full of empty calories, and left feeling stupid. The Content Pyramid Ask yourself: do you want acceptance, or do you want to make a difference? If you want to be a legendary writer, creator, entrepreneur, executive or industry thought leader, you need to be honest with yourself about a how you measure success and be what category you're going to play in. Also, when you create you are creating something for someone. Anyone who says “Yeah, well I just want to create for myself” is a beginner and hasn't gotten far enough down the road to realize they aren't who matter: the reader, the listener, the viewer is who matters. To hear the full chapter about the Content Pyramid and how to become a successful thought leader, download and listen to this episode. Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software jugge...

In this episode of Lochhead on Marketing, let’s talk about newsletters. Particularly, how to create a successful newsletter. Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding newsletters: how to create a successful newsletter. With the success we are having on Category Pirates, I would like to share some of my thoughts on how you can create a successful newsletter yourself. It Is Never Too Late One of the things you’ll hear when you express the intent to create a newsletter (or podcast for that matter) is that there are already a million other newsletters and podcasts out there. If you hear this statement, stop listening, and continue on. Just because someone is already doing well in a field you are attempting to be in, doesn’t mean you don’t do it anymore. It just means you have to take a different approach on getting to the top. The other premise that keeps being pushed around is that people don’t want to read long newsletters. They want soundbites, or easily digestible tidbits of information. Well, we reject that premise, and sought to create a newsletter that we ourselves would want to read. It turns out, other business leaders also love reading it. How to Create a Successful Newsletter That said, here are some tips on how you can write your own successful newsletter. Have a different point of view. It’s astounding how much stuff out there is just a regurgitation of the same thing. Figure out what makes you unique, make that true north, and stick to it. Bring fresh data, frameworks, and insights. Some people just tend to recycle other people’s data and call it “research”. If you want to be a successful, differentiated newsletter writer, do your own primary data research. Write with courage. Don’t write anything that is already being written. When something popular is going on, everyone wants to have a hot take on it to ride along the wave. But if everyone is already writing about the same stuff, why would you write about the same thing? Don’t “curate” recycled stupidities. If you want to include other people’s work in your newsletter, that’s fine. As long as you make sure what you’re curating is high-quality content. Write tight. Don’t write anything you’d see in tier-2 magazines. If your content consists of clickbait-y topics and other nonsense, then how are you different from the hundreds of other clickbait websites out there? You will just be another carbon copy of the same thing. Know who you’re NOT writing for. It is important to know who your audience is. Although, it’s equally important, if not more, to know who you are NOT writing for. Because the worst thing you can do is listen to the wrong crowd. Keep your eye on the ball, not the audience. Don’t obsess about subscriber counts, social media metrics, etc. If you have too little subscribers, it will just bum you out. If you suddenly have an influx of subscribers, it might affect your decision-making and quality of your content. Write every day, regardless of how often you publish. You’ll be amazed on how much ideas can come out of the blue. Don’t waste them; write it all down. Also, it will help you improve your writing skills if you put it to practice daily. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you the newsletter category is saturated and therefore you shouldn’t do it. If you want smart readers, write smart. There’s a difference on writing it so it’s understandable by a huge audience, and dumbing it down to appease the mouth breathers. Do work YOU think is legendary. Minimum viable newsletter is as dumb as it sounds. If you’re going to do something, make it legendary. And here’s a bonus one for the road: Don’t be marketing your shit all the time. This is a big turnoff for a lot of readers, especially those who are looking for informative content. A shoutout or two once in a while is good, but don’t make a habit of it. Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down ...

Christopher Lochhead, an expert in category design, discusses the importance of embracing criticism and not taking oneself too seriously. The podcast explores the failure of the 'better trap' mindset and highlights the significance of understanding the problem before developing a solution. It also delves into the power of languaging in category design and the importance of understanding the problem through 'back casting.' The podcast concludes by emphasizing the need to think unconventionally and stand out in order to create successful businesses.

Christopher Lochhead and Eddie Yoon, master marketers, discuss their new process called 'Category Design' which has changed the way people think about online marketing. They emphasize the importance of understanding how customers categorize products, the value of learned behaviors and pricing leverage, and the need to analyze unusual data to create new categories and distribution models. They also highlight the power of category design in marketing, the strategy of branding the problem instead of the brand itself, and the impact of category design on startups.

In tech categories, one company earns 76% of the total market cap/market capitalization in any given market category. What’s up with that?Christopher Lochhead joins the show to talk ALL about category creation: what does the rise of influencers/individual brands mean for category creation Creating a personal brand is bull**** Is being a content creator a real business? Have we monetized marketing & entrepreneurship stupidity at scale? Why comparison marketing is trash About Christopher Lochhead:3x CMO. #1 Apple business podcaster and #1 Amazon marketing author. Christopher's first book, Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets, has been called “the bible of category design” and is in the top 1% of business books.Check out Christopher’s work! Twitter https://twitter.com/lochhead LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochhead?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Flochhead.com%2F Category Pirates blog https://www.categorypirates.com/  We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feedYouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.We really appreciate your support.Host Links:Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Christopher Lochhead, author of the 22 Laws of Category Design, talks about the recent attacks in Israel and what CMOs need to consider. They also discuss their new book and its connection to the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, the impact of AI startups on entrepreneurship, the trend of corporations taking sides in debates and its implications for marketers, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Christopher Lochhead, former entrepreneur and retired Silicon Valley CMO, discusses the decline in entrepreneurship and the concept of category design. They explore reasons for the decline, the advantages of creating a new category, and the power of specialization. The importance of category design in business and personal careers is emphasized, along with tips for designing a category for a business. They also discuss the significance of differentiators and the book 'Play Bigger' for further insights.

Nicolas Cole, Eddy Yoon, and Christopher Lochhead discuss category creation and avoiding competition. Topics include the importance of creating a unique category, escaping traditional competition, developing a strong point of view, and crafting a unique business category through framing, naming, and consistent messaging. Examples from Eight Sleep's 'sleep fitness' category are highlighted.