Issue No. 8: Notion

Notion is a beloved productivity and project management tool used by over 100M users across the globe. But like many brands that have built something meaningfully different, it struggles to make a strong case for why it needs to exist in a sea of hundreds of alternatives.

That’s why in this issue, I’m going to experiment with a different format. Instead of looking only at what Notion has done well, I’m going to take a more critical look at its narrative, warts and all.

My hope is that you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for just how difficult it is to create a compelling narrative for radically different products and walk away with some tools to diagnose your own narrative.

I’ll break down this evaluation into three parts:

1. First, we’ll get the lay of the land by defining what Notion is, who it’s competing against, and how its product category is evolving.

2. Then, the meat 🍖. There are five criteria I’ll evaluate Notion‘s narrative on, and you’ll see how it ranks on each. (Hint: not great.)

3. Finally, we’ll wrap up with some thoughts on why it’s so hard for brands like Notion to get messaging right, and what to do instead.

Part 1: Notion Is… Whatever You Want It to Be

What is Notion?

Notion is a do-everything productivity tool. It can handle project management, note-taking, databases, collaboration, to-do lists, wikis, documents, calendars, and a zillion other things. I even use it to share deliverables with clients. But that description doesn’t really do it justice. Notion is more like a blank slate. You can build whatever you want, using its no-code platform. Starting up Notion for the first time is like opening a huge box of random LEGOs; you can do whatever you want, but you need to know where to start. It’s why Notion can cover thousands of use cases.

But that’s the rub. Notion is powerful and flexible, but since it can be so many things to so many different people, it’ll give you heartburn if you try to describe it. This chameleon-like nature of Notion is a blessing and a curse. More on that soon.

Notion Competes Against Everyone (And No One)

In theory, Notion competes against hundreds of products. It can replace project management software (like Monday.com, ClickUp, OmniFocus, Asana, Jira, Wrike, and Trello), document creation and wiki software (like Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Guru, and Confluence), and no-code development platforms (like Airtable).

But Notion puts pressure on other, less obvious categories, too. Its AI capabilities look a lot like ChatGPT. It arguably competes against Slack and Microsoft Teams on team collaboration features. Its built-in calendar can even replace the ones in iOS, Outlook, or Google.

The complete list of competitors would need to include things like writing apps, to-do lists, travel planners, habit trackers, budgeting tools, and even basic landing page software.

But there’s another way to look at Notion; instead of competing against products, it’s competing against ideas. As a no-code platform, Notion rallies against the philosophy that software should be rigid (and that users must change their processes to accommodate technology). And as an all-in-one tool, it stands against the belief that users need multiple tools to get their work done. These philosophies create both opportunities and challenges for Notion’s narrative, so keep this in mind as we go.

Notion’s Category is as Crowded as They Come

You can’t evaluate a brand’s narrative without first understanding how its category is evolving. Brands launching a new category, for example, need their message to do a much different job than those in a mature, competitive one.

In some ways, Notion is in a category of one. There aren’t any other tools that give you so much flexibility to customize your workspace. In that respect, Notion’s job is to convince the market that there’s some real pain caused by traditional software.

But flexibility aside, Notion also competes as an “all-in-one” productivity tool – a space that’s much more competitive.

Take Atlassian. Within its product suite, you can get project management (Jira), document creation and collaboration (Confluence), task management and calendars (Trello), team collaboration (Loom), and GenAI (Revo) all in one place – just like Notion.

ClickUp is on the same path. It started as a project management tool, but now includes things like document collaboration, whiteboards, chat, wikis, automation, and its own flavor of GenAI called ClickUp Brain. Basecamp is a contender here, too.

And don’t forget how Google, Microsoft, and Slack, continue to develop their product suites to cover more and more productivity use cases. They may not be “all in one” tools like Notion, but use enough of their offerings and you no longer need Notion.

Productivity and project management software like notion is one of the most mature and crowded product categories out there. That’s why Notion’s narrative should have one clear mission: to show the world why its software is different from everything else, and why that difference matters to buyers.

Is it succeeding in that mission? Not as much as it could be. Let’s take a look at Notion’s narrative itself and you’ll see why.

Part 2: Evaluating Notion’s Narrative

To see if Notion’s narrative is firing on all cylinders, I’m going to evaluate it on five criteria:

1. Point of View (POV). Does Notion present a strong view about the problem it solves and why it needs to exist?

2. Clarity of Solution. Does Notion clearly explain what it does, who it’s for, and what to expect when you use it?

3. Strategic Alignment. Does the narrative support Notion’s mission of de-positioning legacy productivity tools?

4. Brain Space. Does Notion implant a powerful and meaningful idea in the minds of its buyers?

5. Distinctness. Are Notion’s claims distinct from competitors, or just more of the same?

Each criterion is worth 10 points, with a maximum possible total of 50.

Point of View: Notion Only Has Half the Equation

Because Notion is in such a crowded space, its POV needs to show what’s wrong with other productivity software and cause users to reconsider their tools of choice. Based on what I know about Notion, it could have taken two paths to get this done.

In one path, it could call out the problems with rigid, traditional software and make the case for why a “no-code” tool is the way of the future. In the second path, it could evangelize why using multiple point solutions hurts productivity and try to convince users that they need an all-in-one option.

Ultimately, Notion chose the latter, as its messaging places a huge emphasis on being an “all-in-one” solution. I don’t have access to Notion’s research, so I couldn’t tell you which of these paths would hit more of a nerve with users. So I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt here.

However, while I think Notion chose a valid path, its Point of View needs work.

Notion is clear that it doesn’t compete with point solutions, but it never makes a strong case for the problem that “all-in-one” addresses. I looked high and low, but couldn’t come up with anything with teeth to it. OK, there’s a graphic on the home page of point solutions crossed out and replaced with Notion. That hints at the pain of using multiple tools, but it’s not much.

The closest thing I found to a problem definition was an origin story on the About page. There’s a tale about how modern software is out of touch with what early computer scientists had envisioned, and how Notion helps us get closer to that. But it’s a weak argument, and I doubt it’s an issue that’s keeping users up at night.

Notion’s POV misses half the equation. The “all in one” idea is a great North Star for the solution. But the most important half of the POV is missing – a clear definition of what the problem is and why it needs to be solved.

With so much absent, Notion gets a 4/10 on its POV.

Clarity of Solution

The sibling to a strong POV is a clear message about what the solution is, who it’s for, and what users can expect. I almost feel a bit sorry for whatever product marketer was tasked with this. Clearly describing a solution that’s so extensible is no easy feat, and that may be why Notion’s messaging is still vague.

Notion is either an “AI everything app” (groan), a “connected workspace,” an “AI-powered workspace” or a “digital office,” depending on where you look. I’m not sure what those things are. Has my existing workspace been disconnected all this time? Lines like "Write, plan, organize, play. Turn ideas into action…” create more questions than answers.

To get around this, Notion takes a laundry-list approach to describe itself, mapping out features, templates, use cases, and examples with fervor. If you’re committed, you can piece together an idea of Notion by parsing through all of this. But it’s kind of like reading the menu at The Cheesecake Factory; by the time you get done reading through it, you don’t have much energy to decide what you actually want. It’s clear that Notion can do a lot, but it still falls short of defining what it is.

Does Notion do any better at describing who it’s for? Well, its website menu reveals that it’s for all company sizes, multiple job functions, and everything from startups to non-profits. If Notion doesn’t want to narrow down on those aspects, that’s fine; but it needs to pick something to home in on. One option would be to call out a style or philosophy of work that it believes in, and then describe how Notion is built for that. By aligning on values, Notion could carve out a slice of like-minded users across all sorts of segments.

Unfortunately, it stops short of that. You can see it a bit through its playful, creative, and youthful vibe, but these values are never called out directly.

Notion gets a 6/10 for Clarity of Solution.

Strategic Alignment

Remember, Notion is in a very crowded category. To stand out, it must justify why its unique approach needs to exist, and deposition legacy tools and being unsuitable.

Notion’s main tactic here is to use direct comparison pages with the likes of Monday, ClickUp, Jira, etc. In these comparisons, I was hoping to see Notion lay out fundamental differences between these tools. For example, if you want to work this way, choose Jira. But if you want to work this new way, choose Notion. That kind of comparison would force a choice: what kind of tool is most aligned with the way you work?

But such a choice is never posed directly.

It’s only hinted at, and comparisons frame the argument about who has more features instead. But that’s not the argument Notion should be trying to win. Remember, its POV is based on the idea that all-in-one platforms are preferable to point solutions. This choice of framing around features ends up putting Notion on its competitors on the same playing field; but instead, Notion should be defining a new playing field entirely.

Notion gets a 5/10 on Strategic Alignment.

Brain Space

The core of marketing is about carving out a unique spot in the minds of your buyers. Creating distinct language that your brand owns can be a great way to do that. It can be a tagline (like Nike’s “Just Do It”), intentional word choice (Rolex’s use of perpetual and superlative), or consistently conveying the same ideas in advertising, like Porsche has done with the 911.

Whatever the tactic, the strategy is the same: hammer home a singular idea so that your brand sticks in the minds of your buyers.

Here Notion does a bit better.

One word they consistently use is all. As in “all-in-one”, “all your work” and “do it all.” The idea of “all” comes across in template libraries, customer stories, resources from the community, and use cases, too. The Notion universe feels like there’s no end to what’s possible.

The idea of “all” has the opportunity to turn into a real pillar for the brand, so I hope to see Notion keep leaning into this. They could even go a step further by finding a word that contrasts with “all” and using that to frame the problem better.

Brain Space score: 7/10

Distinctive Claims

Regardless of its POV or category strategy, every brand needs to say something distinct. Otherwise, it can be written off as a “me too” offering. The challenge here is that even if you make distinct claims, other brands can simply copy your messaging. Claims must be ownable, too.

Unfortunately, Notion is either copying its competitors, or its competitors are copying it.

For example, ClickUp claims to be “The everything app, for work. Get everyone working in a single platform designed to manage any type of work.” Sounds an awful lot like Notion’s “all-in-one” claim.

Monday.com is the “Go-to work platform” with “Core solutions that span across your business. All on one platform.” Not much better.

Jira is “The only project management tool you need to plan and track work across every team,” and Basecamp puts “everything in reach, and every piece of information tracked and organized, everyone knows where to find what they need, and say what they need to say.”

I find it curious that Notion doesn’t emphasize the open, flexible nature of its no-code software even more. Competitors can’t make that claim. This philosophy on software is even part of the company’s Notion’s founding vision to "bring the computing power to non-programmers.” If flexibility is in the company’s DNA, why is that downplayed?

Distinctive Claims score: 3/10

Overall Score: 25/50

Part 3 (Wrapping Up): If You’re Notion, Hedge Less and Own the Problem

Maybe you’re in a situation like Notion. You’ve built something that competes with a lot of legacy products, but it’s different enough that direct comparisons don’t do your solution justice.

In those situations, you have to be intentional about drawing the right contrast with other solutions. Notion has three options. One is the traditional playbook: to demonstrate that its product has more features or benefits than other productivity suites. The second is to show why “rigidity” causes problems with software, and play up “flexibility.” The third is to make the case for why it’s better to use one platform instead of multiple tools.

Notion favors the third play, but it doesn’t go all in. It leaves out the problem side of this narrative, leaving its argument on wobbly ground. Sometimes it plays up the second option, hinting at why software shouldn’t be so rigid. But it never makes a clear, firm case for why that’s important. To make matters worse, Notion occasionally reverts to the “we have more features” claim, which only weakens the argument for why Notion is categorically different.

With so much hedging, its narrative doesn’t do enough to show users why they should reconsider the status quo. That’s too bad, because Notion is delightful to use and gets rave reviews in places like G2. It’s a tool that should be used by far more people.

But there’s a greater risk beyond a missed opportunity. When brands can’t articulate what problem they’re solving, that can be a sign of an identity crisis. If Notion isn’t crystal clear on why it needs to exist, it can easily fall into the trap of building things without a clear goal in mind. Or worse, fading into irrelevance from being pulled into too many directions.

Remember, Notion’s long-term outcome is unknown. It’s amazing that the app has over 100M users. But products like Evernote, Netscape Navigator, RealPlayer, and MySpace all had similar numbers before they lost relevance.

3 Questions You Can Review With Your Team

Are we hedging?

It’s tempting to hedge your bets in your messaging; if one idea doesn’t land, then the others will connect. At least that’s how the thinking goes. But your brand doesn’t need a handful messages that make a few ripples; it needs one big idea that makes a huge splash. Instead of asking what more you can say, ask what you can take away.

Are we putting competitors on a level playing field?

Comparisons tell buyers what to measure your brand against. When Notion compares its software based on feature count, it’s telling buyers that productivity software should be measured based on that metric. But that’s not the right comparison for Notion. Think about the contrasts you’re making and ask if they are helping or hurting the way buyers compare you.

What’s the one idea that makes our brand sticky?

Notion is “all-in-one.” Yes, it has room to improve on this, but at least it’s identified an attribute it wants to hang its hat on. Giving your brand a clear label like this makes it easier for buyers to create a slot for you in their brains. But if you don’t have a clear definition of this for your brand, then you won’t be as memorable as you should be.

Thanks for reading. I put a lot of sweat into this one, so if you found it helpful, I’d love for you to share this with a friend.

And by the way, while I’m not taking on any new clients this year, it’s not too early to chat about securing a spot in 2025 for help with your own strategic narrative.

If interested, just reply with “2025 ” or schedule a time with me here.

See you next time,

John Rougeux
Founder, Flag & Frontier