Challenger Mindset is a blog designed to challenge your marketing mindset with pithy weekly entries that question traditional thinking. If you pride yourself in developing such a creative mindset, this site will help you exercise it. Enjoy (-:
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Over your head
Once the water is deep enough that you must swim to stay afloat, does it really matter how deep the pool is?
Stress
Here’s a slogan for everyone’s wall:
‘If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying?
If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?’
Shantideva
Just a new logo?
“So at the end of all this process, we will just have ourselves a new logo, is that right?”
This was the question put to me by one of my clients lately after a presentation to them on re-branding their company.
I replied… “I want you think about the Normandy landings in 1944. The new logo is like the flag that flew on the landing craft to inspire the troops, that rallied the local population, and scared the living daylights out of the competition. The marketing strategy behind the new brand will be where to target and with what resources/ammunition to use. It also includes the men and women on the battle front, what training they need, and what they should and shouldn’t do in the face of attack on the battlefield. This is what a re-branding of the company will entail. The logo is just the flag to get behind.
Challenger Brands vs Leading Brands
What is the difference between a Challenger Brand and a market leader? How do their strategies differ?
A challenger brand is determined by three attributes:
- a state of market
- a state of mind
- a rate of success
Challenger brands are not by definition the number one brand. They are challenging the first or second place leaders in the market.
Challenger Brands have a mindset that aim to use unconventional means to bridge the gap between their marketing resource and their ambition.
Challenger brands enjoy market growth well beyond the market category. Conventional marketing is giving people what they want; such as doing focus groups to contort the product to match a perceived need? Challenger brands are designed to protect and illuminate what you offer.
Avis rent a car with its worldwide slogan ‘We try harder,’ is a challenger brand. Cornucopia sets its stall out as a vegetarian restaurant and built its reputation in doing so. Challenger Brands illuminate what you’ve got, not try to change it to fit conventional needs.
A bit Irish
I’d love to know why is that the media companies in Ireland don’t venture into new ideas for outdoor media. Is it that the clients don’t want it, is it that the research shows the final customer out there is still too conservative to take it, or is there another reason?
Brands illuminate what you’ve got, not try to change it
Brands are not the flame, the candle, the fire in the belly of your business.
Marketing can help create or find these USPs within your business, but that is not the role of the brand.
Brands exist to protect and magnify.
Testimonials
“We’ve worked with Brendan for almost fifteen years and I can safely say that Brendan is meticulous about concept and design. I expect this quality has played a big part in his long list of brand development successes in todays marketplace.”
Anne Hartnett, Managing Director
Fuse Design
