Category Creation Strategy: How Gong, Salesforce, and HubSpot Defined Their Markets

Companies Using This Strategy

What category creation actually requires

Category creation is more than naming a new market. It requires: (1) identifying an unmet need that's not yet recognized; (2) naming the category in language buyers can adopt; (3) sustained content marketing at scale that teaches the market the new vocabulary; (4) operational execution that captures meaningful share before competitors recognize the opportunity. Most category-creation attempts fail at steps 2-4. The unmet need exists but the company can't get the new vocabulary to stick, or competitors arrive before the originator has scaled enough.

The Gong pattern: research-as-marketing

Gong's creation of the conversation-intelligence category is the canonical 2010s reference. The company built a product (record + analyze sales calls) and simultaneously invested heavily in research-as-marketing — 'Gong Labs' reports analyzing thousands of calls with specific findings. The research was genuinely useful for sales leaders (not marketing fluff). Sales managers shared Gong research with their teams. The shared research became the proof-point for the new category. By the time competitors arrived, Gong had become the default conversation-intelligence vendor in sales-leader minds.

The HubSpot pattern: build the academy

HubSpot's creation of 'inbound marketing' followed a different pattern. The company built HubSpot Academy — free educational content teaching marketers how to do 'inbound' (content-led marketing). The academy created a generation of HubSpot-trained marketers who, when promoted into buying positions, defaulted to HubSpot. The pattern: invest in market education that benefits competitors short-term but produces compounding loyalty long-term. HubSpot's academy continues to graduate certified marketers; many use HubSpot at multiple companies over their careers.

Why most category-creation attempts fail

Most attempts fail in predictable ways: (1) the 'category' doesn't actually exist — there's no underlying unmet need, just a naming attempt; (2) the company can't sustain content investment long enough to teach the market; (3) competitors arrive with better products and capture the category the originator was creating; (4) the new vocabulary doesn't stick — buyers continue to describe needs in old terms. Category creation requires patience that most VC-backed companies struggle to sustain. The economic return from category creation comes 5-10 years out; quarterly metrics suffer in the interim.

Defending against category-creator status

Once you've created a category, defending it requires different work than creating it. Competitors arrive who try to either: (a) copy your positioning and ride the category you created, or (b) reframe the category to disadvantage you. Defense involves continuous content investment, ecosystem-building (partnerships, integrations), and product velocity. Gong's defense expanded conversation intelligence into 'revenue intelligence' to broaden the moat. Salesforce's defense expanded SaaS-CRM into Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform — preventing competitors from carving off pieces.

How to Implement

1. 01Identify the unmet need: what are buyers trying to do that existing categories don't serve?
2. 02Name the category in language buyers can adopt — short, evocative, defensible
3. 03Build the foundational research/data that proves the category matters
4. 04Invest in content at scale — blog, research reports, podcast, conferences
5. 05Build ecosystem: partnerships, integrations, certifications
6. 06Get to product-market-fit fast — content alone doesn't create category leadership
7. 07Plan 5-10 year horizon — category creation pays off over time

Common Pitfalls

• 01Confusing category creation with rebranding existing categories
• 02Insufficient content investment — most attempts under-invest in market education
• 03Underweighting product execution — content alone doesn't create category leadership
• 04Trying to create category before product-market-fit is solid
• 05Losing patience too early — category creation pays off in years, not quarters

Sources

• Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets