About this Episode
In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel is joined by Mike Grinberg, founder of Proofpoint Marketing, to dig into one of the most misunderstood levers of agency success: positioning. Drawing on his experience helping boutique firms stand out against industry giants, Mike introduces a risk-based lens for positioning and shows why differentiation without de-risking often backfires. Together, he and Marcel unpack why many agencies grow “in spite of themselves” during boom times, only to stall when markets tighten, and how true positioning goes beyond messaging into operations, service design, and client experience. From Mike’s risk perception matrix to his framework for aligning functional, intellectual property, and promotional differentiation, this episode offers agency leaders a practical playbook for reducing buyer hesitation, escaping commoditization, and competing with confidence.
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Points of Interest
- 1:10 – 2:03 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Mike Grinberg, founder of Proofpoint Marketing, who specializes in helping boutique firms strengthen positioning to compete against large incumbents.
- 2:15 – 3:54 – Competing with “IBM”: Mike explains his role as helping boutique firms reduce client risk perception so they can win against well-known, safer-seeming competitors.
- 4:48 – 5:40 – The Safe Choice Problem: Agencies that differentiate too much without context risk being seen as confusing or risky, which often drives clients back to incumbents.
- 5:46 – 8:44 – Positioning Overlooked Through Risk: Traditional positioning frameworks focus on being better or different but rarely consider how buyers perceive risk in making a nontraditional choice.
- 10:08 – 12:52 – Why Positioning Matters More Now: In uncertain markets, poor positioning is exposed. Firms that only grew with the tide find themselves struggling when growth slows.
- 13:10 – 14:16 – Positioning as an Operational Issue: Positioning cannot be treated as surface-level messaging; it must be reflected in delivery, hiring, onboarding, and overall business design.
- 15:13 – 17:29 – Three Levels of Differentiation: Mike outlines functional, intellectual property (frameworks, tools, methodologies), and promotional differentiation as the three vectors agencies must align.
- 19:00 – 20:13 – The Category Dilemma: Agencies often struggle between fitting into known categories, which brings competition, or creating new ones, which increases client risk and education costs.
- 22:23 – 24:03 – Functional vs. IP Positioning: Mike advocates anchoring to existing categories functionally while differentiating through intellectual property and go-to-market messaging.
- 26:30 – 27:49 – Starting with Ideal Client Profile (ICP): Effective positioning begins with deeply defining the ICP beyond titles and industries, including attributes like stage, structure, and challenges.
- 30:26 – 36:23 – The Risk Perception Matrix: Mike introduces his framework with two axes—personal vs. organizational risk and internal skepticism vs. external questioning—to explain how agencies can derisk buying decisions at every stage.
Show Notes
- Connect with Mike via LinkedIn
- Newsletter: Proofpoint.marketing
- Risk Perception Matrix
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