Cheat Code: Bragging rights to set challenger brands apart
Surfacing the magic behind the scenes gives consumers a story to tell themselves when they consider your brand against market-leading competitors, says Dan Monheit, CEO of Hardhat.
Of all the definitions of ‘brand’, my favourite is ‘the story a customer gets to tell themself’. It’s simple, relatable and as marketers, it gives us plenty to work with. While inertia, psychological safety and outsized distribution all favour market leaders, the ability to provide customers with more interesting, engaging and affirming stories to tell themselves is the hallmark of many a great challenger brand.
However, this is not an early 2000s-era puff piece about the importance of brand storytelling or the fanciful notion of ‘brand love’. I’d sooner scratch my own eyes out than read – let alone write – another piece on either topic. For a start, I’m far too pragmatic. So, let’s deal with some pragmatic realities.
By now, we all know that market leaders get disproportionately high returns on their marketing spend. This means that if you’re anyone but a market leader, by definition, your returns on marketing spend are disproportionately low. Add the fact that you probably (read: definitely) had less funds to invest in the first place than the market leader, then it’s clear that the vast majority of brands are fighting a losing battle when they run the standard category playbook.
