3. TYPICAL CHALLENGER STANCES
STORY 1: STORY 2:
David vs. Goliath Change everything!
“Pick a fight, “Blow up every
and make it convention
noisy” to succeed”
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4. ALL COMPANIES NEED TO KNOW
THEIR COLLECTIVE
PURPOSE: WHAT ARE WE
CHALLENGING?
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7. THE PEOPLE‟S CHAMPION NARRATIVE
Core strategic thought:
A challenger that consciously sets itself up as on the
side of the consumer, often against the „cynical‟/fat cat
market leader.
What is it challenging?
The motives and interests of the market leader.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
„They are fighting for me; if they win, I win.‟
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10. THE MISSIONARY‟S NARRATIVE
Core strategic thought:
A challenger fired up with a view about the world it has to
share, wearing a strong sense of purpose on its sleeve.
What is it challenging?
The belief systems or foundations underpinning the way the
category has thought and behaved to date.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
Identification with the challenger‟s beliefs about the category
(and the way the category ought to fit within the wider world).
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13. THE IRREVENENT MAVERICK‟S NARRATIVE
Core strategic thought:
Poke beige in the eye.
What is it challenging?
The complacency and narrow-mindedness of the
status quo and those who keep to it.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
Engagement with its attitude, character and
irreverence.
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14. “WE‟RE TAKING THIS
FIGHT
TO THE HIGH COURT IN
THE INTEREST OF OUR
CUSTOMERS AND OF
COMMON SENSE.”
A spokesperson for Paddy Power speaking
after the London Olympics Committee had the
ad taken down
(Paddy Power won the case)
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16. THE DEMOCRATISER‟S NARRATIVE
Core strategic thought:
A challenger that takes something previously exclusive
(stylish, luxurious, expensive, hi-tech) and makes it
much more broadly available to the masses.
What is it challenging?
„Elitism‟, the idea that something should be available
only to the privileged or wealthy.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
The brand has given them access to a world they
hadn‟t thought accessible
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19. THE NEXT GENERATION NARRATIVE
Core strategic thought:
That was then but this is now. New times call for new
brands and services.
What is it challenging?
The relevance of the market leader (and perhaps every
other existing player in the market) to the modern world, or
to the current generation.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
„New times call for new brands, and I as a person, am part
of the new times‟.
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21. THE ENLIGHTENED ZAGGER NARRATIVE:
Core strategic thought:
The enlightened brand deliberately swimming against
the prevailing cultural or category tide. Often takes a
low status/blue collar stance.
What is it challenging?
A prevailing and commonly/unthinkingly accepted
aspect of contemporary culture.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
Through being provoked and stimulated by the
surprising stance
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25. THE GAME CHANGER NARRATIVE:
Core strategic thought: A brand and product with an entirely
new perspective on the possibilities of the category, which invites
the consumer to participate in the category in a whole new way.
What is it challenging?
The fundamental drivers and codes of the category to date. Not
the beliefs or values – more the dimensions of the consumer
experience it has played up and played down.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
They are engaged by fresh perspective on a familiar market:
„Wow, I‟d never thought of this experience like that before‟.
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28. THE FEISTY UNDERDOG NARRATIVE:
Core strategic thought:
Stick it to Goliath.
What is it challenging?
The dominance of (and unthinking preference for) the
market leader.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
Everyone loves and underdog – Oh, and given the
choice between these two options, that does look like
one to try…
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30. THE REAL & HUMAN CHALLENGER NARRATIVE:
Core strategic thought:
A „real‟ people brand in a faceless category. Sometimes real
people (founders but not necessarily just founders) visible
behind the brand. Often accompanied by the perception of
„small‟ in stature.
What is it challenging?
The impersonality and facelessness of the market leader or
category.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
„At last some real people who understand what I am all about‟.
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33. THE VISIONARY NARRATIVE:
Core strategic thought:
Sets out higher vision of the brand benefit that
transcends category nature.
What is it challenging?
The mundanity of the way the category thinks about its
(functional) nature and role.
Why does its consumer respond to it?
A personal identification with the aspiration set out in
the vision.
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If you don’t know this you will not attract and retain these people as employees or as customers.
Characteristics:Claiming a mandate, and the moral high groundChallenges the motives of the establishment Standing up and publicly championing relevant issuesInside and outside category
Characteristics:Publicise the why as much as the whatLooking for converts to a cause, as much as purchasers of productsConverts who in turn convert – a story that travels mouth to mouth, mouse to mouseInternal recruitment typical: more than a job – personal alignment with the challenger’s mission
Characteristics:A desire to live on the edge of uproar Key KPI: ‘The Gasp’Perceptible energy Topicality demands a very different kind of planning processInternal culture that facilitates it – lawyers get one hour
Characteristics:Radically lower price pointsAsk very different kinds of questions, to allow them to hit those price pointsRadical change of the business model Strategic relationship with previously high end creators
Characteristics:Future facingCreate clear sense of discontinuity and dissonanceDiscontinuity: the world is changing/ has changedDissonance: old habits and loyalties don’t make sense in this new worldConflict here is in the reference points: those they already recognise as having changed, and can relate to, and those they haven’tthought about yet
Characteristics:Brands of Opposition Challenging a culture that has gone madCall it out for the BS it is
Characteristics:A quantum leap in the product or service experienceLed by engineers or designers who are cautious of conventional advertising and marketingThe user experience speaks for itself – so demo and sample thatDefend against the next Game Changer through self reinforcing ecosystems
Characteristics:Gets real people behind the brandAppeals on a more personal level than the market leaderThe people behind the brand are the brand’s greatest assetsChallenges the market through human understanding alone
Characteristics:Not trying to improve upon the categorySets out higher vision of the brand benefit that transcends category nature.Challenging the mundanity of the way the category thinks about its (functional) nature and role.Why does its consumer respond to it? A personal identification with the aspiration set out in the vision.