Can big brands be challengers?

Can established brands still be challengers? Or is this easy to say but hard to do within big organisations with lots of red tape? Covid-19 had a number of businesses acting like start-ups, but many have since largely returned to their old ways. Did many, or any, maintain a challenger mindset? Or learn anything insightful from how they operated during early pandemic years? Are any still acting agile as a result? If so, how? Our network replied…

Cherry Ye — Head of Communications and Campaign at Star  

The biggest challenge for large organisations is inertia. This resistance to change stifles innovation. We can see the stark contrast between those who reinvented themselves post-Covid-19 and those struggling to remain relevant. A brand that stands out in terms of innovation and challenger attitude is Domino’s Pizza. Even before the pandemic, it really invested in tech and infrastructure, it’s more like a tech company that happens to deliver pizza. During Covid-19 we really saw the ROI of their investment in infrastructure and CX. With that example in mind, it’s clear that the key to survival for larger companies lies in shedding excess baggage and ego, and moving with the market. Legacy should be a differentiator, not a barrier to change and the challenger mindset must be driven from the top.

Rasika Narang — Chief Growth Officer at StrawberryFrog

Some big companies mistakenly believe their size protects them from disruption, leading to complacency that can stifle innovation. To stay competitive, they need to adopt a challenger mindset. Today’s growth triple play for marketers is Creativity, Analytics, and Purpose. Companies that blend these elements while remaining agile, adapting to consumer behaviour, and experimenting with bold ideas are thriving. Take North Face as an example: When a customer’s TikTok complaint about their jacket went viral, the North Face team responded in an innovative way. They quickly arranged for a helicopter to deliver a new jacket to the customer on a New Zealand mountaintop. This real-time, creative solution satisfied the customer and generated additional viral attention for the brand. Similarly, Chipotle thrives by conducting ‘small experiments’ to discover what resonates with consumers. They use cultural moments to drive engagement, such as a custom napkin holder that sold out in an hour and viral TikTok hacks that were incorporated into their menu within three months. These initiatives showcase how real-time responsiveness and creative experimentation can lead to significant returns.

Catrin Kite — Head of New Business at Dark Horses

Being a challenger brand has nothing to do with size, and everything to do with how you think. Challengers disrupt the status quo through innovation, agility and purpose — often taking a stance on important issues. Covid-19 encouraged a lot brands to adopt this mindset both in and out of the sports world. Nike prototyped PPE and encouraged people to stay active indoors by using its running and training club apps. The Premier League carried out their season on online simulator Championship Manager, streaming the matches on Twitch to reach a wider audience. However, those were unique times and many companies will be finding it harder to operate in such a way now we’re back to normality. But there will always be exceptions. A challenger mentality was not new to Nike. Even as one of the biggest companies in the world, they were creating work like the ‘Find Your Greatness’ TV spot when they lost the sponsorship battle for the 2012 Olympics. Similarly the Premier League have also continued to take their innovative way of thinking forward using technology to help improve the viewer’s experience by exploring everything from VR to bodycams.  

Steph Thomas — Lead Brand Strategist at FreshBritain

Challenger brands tend to grow quickly and outpace competitor brands, because we all like to see that disruptor spirit in action. Because Covid-19 was so unprecedented it was easy for brands to jump on the bandwagon of challenging the status quo. But being reactive to a crisis doesn’t give longevity. Apple has to be able to maintain a challenger positioning by challenging different sectors and industries, from computers to music to phones. It has ‘think differently’ entrenched in its mission, vision and purpose. You’ve got to have that ‘challenger thinking’ in your brand’s DNA, rather than just reacting to what’s going on around you. A question particularly prevalent in this age of permacrisis is: what are you meaningfully wanting to overthrow and change? Challenger brands can maintain their positioning over time, but may evolve if they become the establishment in their sector — after all, challengers seek to overthrow the establishment!

Aimee Luther — Managing Director at The Liberty Guild

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Challenger brands aren’t defined by ownership, size or market share. Instead they share one indomitable trait; the desire to progress the category for consumers. Enter Avis, 1962 and ‘We Try Harder’. This desire sees the Davids of the world take a stance, continually innovate, and command a devoted tribe of followers. This blistering conviction can as easily be adopted by Always as it can Here We Flo. Covid-19 started to even the playing field overnight. Typical shopping behaviours were thrown out of the window, as we were forced to improvise, learn new habits and find new brands. But the inability of too many of the big dogs to think and move quickly saw the underdogs rise up.  So, to the massive number of big lumbering Labrador brands out there who still haven’t worked it out, be more scrappy, feel the fear of the Davids around you and have some fun. Liquid Death anyone…

Adam Knott — Senior Strategist at IMA

Since a ‘challenger’ is just a brand with a certain mindset — usually a clear raison d’etre or (lower-case p) purpose — then obviously the answer is: yes, big brands can be challengers. But big brands adopting that sort of footing also have to get the balance right between appearing feisty and established. Social proof is an enormous factor in brand preference in many categories, because brands are shortcuts for our brains to use, and popularity is a reasonable shortcut for good quality. With a modern media mix, the right attitude and a bold approach, ‘challenger’ brands can create the continuous impression of a growing and energetic brand. Look at Who Gives A Crap? and their disruption of a ‘comfortable’ category, seizing on how Covid-19 provided a window for new purchase habits to develop. But how would an Andrex go toe-to-toe with that? Is it credible, strategically sound, or even organisationally possible?

Laura Tannenbaum — EMEA Managing Director at NewGen

Big brands can be challengers, and the biggest factor is adopting the right mindset: being agile, disrupting and innovating. With the pandemic, we had to pivot. We learnt to work, collaborate and operate differently. Now on the other side, many brands have reverted, but I would say there are still many brands who have made lasting changes. From embracing hybrid and flexible working, investing in innovation and being open to change and taking calculated risks. Big brands such as Nike, Airbnb and Spotify are just some with innovation at their core; who have continuously maintained a challenger mindset. It’s less about the size of the brand and more about a hunger to keep trying new things and move with the market and customer needs. It’s the way these giants have not only managed to stay relevant, but have also set new standards in their industries.

Eve Lily Young — Senior Campaign Creator at Social Chain

Lots of big brands have proved it’s possible (and beneficial) to apply a challenger mindset. Think Microsoft, Tesla, etc. Big brands can often get in their own way by assuming their size prevents them from disrupting; when the main difference is that ability to be reactive and agile. Covid-19 forced all brands to pivot their strategy, and thrust us all into a situation where the rules changed every week — so we had to think outside the box. One of my favourite displays was KFC taking a Twitter (X) activation ‘rate my plate’ and using that to fuel its advertisement for restaurants reopening — such a nice example of using UGC (user-generated content) in lieu of having full production capabilities. I’ve definitely seen that tactic more since; when you think of how much TikTok has grown since Covid-19, and how many big brands are successfully posting the unexpected here — but I’d love to see that mindset carry over more into traditional formats, like it did for KFC during the pandemic.

Suzana Lay — Planning Director at The Grove Media

The brands that have fared the best over the years have been the ones that have stuck to their guns. They’ve been true to who they are, even when they’ve had to be agile in difficult times and sometimes in the face of new competition. These brands continued to spend through Covid-19 when others paused. And whilst not increasing media budgets, they have the very least kept those budgets flat in the current economic climate, when many are cutting back. This isn’t their first rodeo. These brands have been through recessions, periods of low consumer and know how navigate difficult and changing markets.

Diu Hoang — Senior Marketing Manager, EMEA at VIOOH

Absolutely big brands can be challengers — particularly in the way they approach advertising strategies to challenge the norm. If there’s anything the pandemic taught us, it’s that flexibility, agility and being able to pivot quickly is key: apply this to the advertising world and you see brands who experimented with programmatic DOOH (prDOOH) during the pandemic for precisely these reasons, and this now becoming their ‘new normal’. Out-of-home took a hit during the pandemic, but it provided a fertile ground for prDOOH to flourish. Innovation in the channel via data-driven strategies and DCO, lowered barriers to entry, and the ability to make every advertising pound work harder in stripped-back budgets via in-flight optimisation — all of these speak to the importance of finding new, better and more efficient ways to do things. This is a mindset that if kept up through consistent improvement and openness to trying innovative channels such as prDOOH, a brand can continually push the boundaries to be a true challenger.

Featured image: Mark Broadhead / Unsplash