Adam Morgan asks clients what they hate most about their category - a podcast by How Brands Are Built

When Adam Morgan wrote Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders in 1999, he introduced a new term to the marketing, advertising, and branding worlds: "challenger brand." Avis, with their "When you're only No. 2, you try harder" campaign from the 60s, is the most commonly cited example of this concept. But Adam, also the founder of a brand consultancy named eatbigfish, is quick to point out challenger brands need not be No. 2 in their category. Instead, he defines a challenger brand as "about mindset and attitude…Do you have business ambitions that are bigger than your conventional marketing resources and are you prepared to do something bold and ambitious to close the implications of that gap?" I was curious about 10 challenger brand "stances" Adam has proposed, such as The Irreverent Maverick, who uses "wit, humor, and sometimes even shock tactics to puncture the category complacency" or The Next Generation, who challenges "the appropriateness of the market leader for the new times we live in." I asked him whether his list of challenger stances ever changes (it does) and whether he considers the stances mutually exclusive (he doesn't). I also asked him how he uses the list of challenger stances with clients. Adam explained: "We use it as a shortcut to make [clients] understand that being a challenger is not about 'me versus another player.' It's about challenging something rather than somebody. What we tend to do is choose four of them, just as examples, and say, 'Let's look at each of these four lenses in turn and see what it would mean to think like this kind of challenger and that kind of challenger…[It] allows them to start to get a sense of the kind of challenger they feel most comfortable being and then sets the tone for the much more significant piece of work about how you bring that to life." In terms of process, Adam is a big fan of workshops because "you have to create a culture around a strategy at the same time as developing the strategy itself." In workshops, he likes to help clients articulate what they believe by first asking what they reject or hate in their category. He also recommends an exercise called the "pre-mortem," advocated by economist Daniel Kahneman. We wrapped up talking about one of Adam's favorite brands, BrewDog, and his advice for new strategists and brand consultants: Have an angle.

To learn more about Adam, visit eatbigfish.com and thechallengerproject.com. All his books are available for sale online:

• Eating the Big Fish
• The Pirate Inside
• Overthrow
• A Beautiful Constraint

Below, you'll find the full transcript of the episode (may contain typos and/or transcription errors). Click above to listen to the episode, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or elsewhere to hear every episode of How Brands Are Built. 

Episode sponsors

• Squadhelp. To begin a business name contest with hundreds of business naming experts, check out their services to get a fresh perspective on your company.
• Rev.com. Rev offers fast, reliable, and accurate audio transcriptions. Right now, Rev is offering listeners $10 off their first order. Follow this link for your $10-off coupon.

Further episodes of How Brands Are Built

Further podcasts by How Brands Are Built

Website of How Brands Are Built