"Play Bigger" argues that winning in business requires inventing and dominating a new market category, a discipline called category design, rather than competing within existing ones. The book identifies "category kings" like Amazon, Salesforce, Uber, and IKEA as examples of companies that have transformed industries by creating new ways of living, thinking, or conducting business.
Through data analysis and interviews, the authors explain how category design creates new demand by conditioning customers' brains to alter expectations and buying habits. This approach is presented as essential for building a legendary company, asserting that superior products alone are insufficient for success without a foundational legendary category.
Key concepts
- Category design — A new discipline for inventing and dominating a new market category.
- Category kings — Legendary companies that create new markets by offering new ways of living, thinking, or doing business.
- Conditioning customers' brains — The process by which category design changes customer expectations and buying habits.
- Inventing a whole new game — Creating a new market category rather than competing within established ones.