Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders

by Adam Morgan

EATING THE BIG FISH : How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded The second edition of the international bestseller, now revised and updated for 2009, just in time for the business challenges ahead. It contains over 25 new interviews and case histories, two completely new chapters, introduces a new typology of 12 different kinds of Challengers, has extensive updates of the main chapters, a range of new exercises, supplies weblinks to view interviews online and offers supplementary downloadable information.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Communication, School

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 1999

Reviews

[Sara Laor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big fat book that states the obvious: what is your point of differentiation? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to become unique? Good concepts, pretty much basic marketing packaged in long words and a fat tome.

[Talha · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Market Leaders and the Uphill Battle:

Scenario: In a world dominated by major franchises, new companies face a daunting challenge to be seen and heard.
Insight: Established brand leaders enjoy higher profits, making it harder for challenger brands to compete financially.
Example: Avis strategically positioned itself as the second-best car rental service, demonstrating that challenger brands can climb the ranks with creative strategies.

2. Consumer Skepticism and Information Overload:

Challenge: Capturing consumer attention in a world of distractions and scepticism.
Consumer Behavior: Increased stress and scepticism make consumers opposed to traditional marketing approaches.
Study Insight: A UK study 2006 revealed that 36% of texting occurs in front of the TV, emphasizing the challenge of competing for attention.

3. Blurring Product Categories and Increased Competition:

Shift in Perception: Traditional product categories are fading as consumers use products for varied purposes.
Challenge: Challenger brands now compete within their category and broader spectrums.
Example: Selling iPhones means competing not just with other smartphones but also with camera companies like Nikon and Canon.

Characteristics for Challenger Brands' Success:
4. Intelligent Naivety:

Essence: Lack of experience can be an advantage, allowing challenger brands to ask essential questions.
Example: Method, a home cleaning product, succeeded because its creator, Eric Ryan, applied his design background to challenge norms in the cleaning product industry.

5. Lighthouse Identity and Emotional Connections:

Strategy: Building a brand identity based on strong values helps create emotional connections with consumers.
Example: Camper, a Spanish shoe brand, established a "slow living" identity, resonating with consumers and fostering brand loyalty.

6. Symbols for Reevaluation:

Consumer Habits: People often rely on habits for purchasing decisions, making it challenging for new brands.
Solution: Challenger brands use powerful symbols to prompt consumers to reconsider their preferences and habits.
Example: Target partnered with a renowned architect, Michael Graves, to launch designer products, challenging its cheap and unfashionable image.

Application to Your Business:
Actionable Insights:

Focus on Two Marketing Actions: Given limited budgets, concentrate on one or two marketing actions that align with your brand's goals.
Prioritization: List your marketing goals and activities, gradually eliminating the least important until you identify the two most crucial ones.
Efficiency: By investing in the most impactful actions, challenger brands can maximize their marketing returns.

[Pete Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading through the Top 10 recommended publicity and marketing books to see if there's any gems for use with civic projects. Many recommended this one as a guide to being an insurgent challenger to some established entity. There were some gems: focus on differences and dramatize them, triple down on what makes you special, be a "lighthouse" in the sense that you don't follow the market but rather be a consistent source of your founding spirit that attracts the market to you. However, unlike some others I've read - like the Cluetrain Manifesto - this was a little too markety/smarmy/over-boostery to corporate ways and went on a bit too long. I'd recommend skimming it or finding a summary online.

[Matt Witten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate how this group and book looks at the Challenger brand proposition. While many have wrote/hypothesized about what a challenger is, I think theirs is the most thoughtful, complete, thorough, and actionable, and it can be seen in this book. This is a great read to challenge your thoughts on positioning while laying out potential action steps. I do think there are gaps in their longer term (10 years +) assumptions, and the book itself is somewhat over-wordy which is why I gave it a 4. But, I’d still recommend it and think there is truly unique and valuable thinking here.

[Anna Björklund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peppande läsning!

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan explains how "challenger brands can compete against brand leaders." What is a "challenger brand"? In his Preface, Morgan suggests that it is based on eight "credos":

1. Break with the immediate past
2. Build a lighthouse entity
3. Assume thought leadership of the category
4. Create symbols of reevaluation
5. Sacrifice
6. Overcommit
7. Use advertising and publicity as a high-leverage asset
8. Become ideas-centered rather than consumer-centered

He discusses each in detail in Part II.

Morgan's primary objective is to provide what he calls a "magnetic compass" for Small Fish which will enable them to compete successfully. Obviously, they face problems: certain markets have moved for the first time from maturity to overcapacity; as a result, there is not enough "food" to go around; and while turning their attention downward, the Big Fish have also turned outward...toward Small Fish; as the Big Fish moved downward, retailers moved upward. Time and again, he stresses the importance of ideas...actually, better ideas. Hence the imperative to break with the past: assume nothing, take no one and nothing for granted, constantly ask "What if?" and "Why not?" For Small Fish, the status quo is death. Period. Better ideas are engaging, provocative, and self-propagating. They help to create competitive advantages.

Think in terms of an ambush: A Challenger brand can attack whenever and wherever least expected. A Challenger brand redefines terms such as "enemy", "opponent", "competition", etc. A Challenger brand has attitude. It thrives when underestimated. Big Fish know they are "Big Fish." They have a tendency to become arrogant, complacent, hence vulnerable. By breaking with the immediate past, the Small Fish is able to answer several critically important questions such as "What is the core issue?" "What business are we in now?," "What business should we be in?," "What are our best opportunities?," "How can we implement a Challenger strategy to take full advantage of those opportunities?"

The four dimensions of a Lighthouse brand are identity, emotion, intensity, and salience. As Morgan explains, identity should be self-referential: "This is who we are and this is what we stand for." Challenger brands should establish and then nourish an emotional rather than rational relationship with consumers. Sustainable customer loyalty, not temporary satisfaction, is the primary objective. Moreover, there should be intensity in all communications with consumers. Finally, Challenger brands must attract attention to themselves.

In Chapter 9, Morgan observes that "Challenger brands are not somehow unusual in that they have a monopoly on good ideas; they are unusual, however, in that they make good ideas happen." In Chapter 14, he explains that his premise so far in Eating the Big Fish is that "Challengers need their own models of strategy and behavior; that we [who must formulate that strategy] are entirely unlike the brand leader in position and resource and, consequently, need to find an entirely different set of rules of engagement." In the next chapter, Morgan explains how to write the Challenger program, recommending a two-day off-site during which key people produce it.

The final chapter pulls together all of Morgan's key points. They are effectively organized within a four-stage process: Attitude & Preparation, Challenger Strategy, Challenger Behavior, and Sustaining Challenger Momentum. Everything begins with and an attitude suggested by shin -- Japanese for "spirit." Never give up. Never lose the will to win. Always be willing to take risks. (Jack Dempsey once suggested that "champions get up when they can't.") Morgan includes some copy from Apple's first 60-second television commercial after Steve Jobs returned. It begins: "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." The ad copy concludes: "And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." This book may have been written for Small Fish but can also be of great value to Big Fish. Moreover, at least a few Small Fish which use Morgan's ideas will become Big Fish. If they think and then compete as if they are still Small Fish, they will probably survive.

I really enjoyed this book. It reads very smoothly and quickly. For a non-business, non-advertising person, this was a relief.

[Noah Oanh · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much things to learn from the book! If you are interested in brand - this one is definitely for you no matter how big as a brand you are considered business or personal point of view. Funny that this one also is from the 90s but it still speaks to me and also the world at the moment. It made me realize that I have adjusted my behaviors on so many things otherwise my life wont be better soon.
Anyway back to business - Few things to take away here:

The book was moving around 8 credos of Challenger Brands:
1. Break with your Immediate Past. Think hard about who are you exactly as a Brand. Prepare to swim upstream to challenge the category and the brand leader or downstream to refine the product of service offering. Look for the answers in different sorts of places. Break your habit to ask the same questions in the same ways for years. This would help brands to establish what the core issue, to define what business we should really be in, to free ourselves up to see all the possibilities of the category, to see clearly both opportunity and threats.
2. Build a Lighthouse Identity. That when we talk about Identity - where they stand, Emotion - create emotion (Indifference, reassurance, weak preference, enthusiastic preference, identity of consumer could be presented by using brand, enhance self)than based on relationship with customers, Intensity - offer intense projections of who they are in everything they do and Salience - highly intrusive; one cannot avoid noticing their activity even if not actively looking in their direction. Have self-confidence, a sense of who they are.
3. Assume Thought Leadership of the Category. Being the Thought Leader - maybe not a biggest brand but they brand in the category that everyone talks about. To be able to do that, Challenger has to find a genuinely innovative insight into what the consumer really wants and then play to that by talking one or 2 of those conventions and deliberately breaking them in the way it markets itself (that includes conventions of Representation - how and where you portray yourself and your identity, Conventions of Medium - the way the brand is delivered, both physically and emotionally and Convention of Product Experience - product offered and the surrounding experience it delivers). Successful challenge is not about price; it is about how one thinks and behaves as a brand. There are rules that Brands should not break or burn. Keep it as your core value on the way to find new ideas or gain your identity.
4. Create Symbols of Reevaluation. Find one that have been deliberately created as part of the long-term marketing or remarketing of an entire company.
5. Sacrifice. Sacrifice is what generates profitability, by generating a greater loyalty among those you attract. It could be sacrifice in targeting, reach, message, line extension, distribution or quality communication. Strong brands are necessarily simply and single-minded in their communication, even if it means sacrificing what might seem to be important secondary messages.
6. Overcommit. The key failure for any company attempting to effect a gear change in its own performance is not the ability to define its intention but the inability to translate intention into behavior. Doing more within the organization than should be strictly necessary to make sure the difference is maintained. Challengers will succeed by the certainty of consistent differentiation, and this will require over commitment from senior management and the organization to implement and maintain. Try to answer those 3 questions: what are the ambitions of the company? How close are we to delivering on those ambitions? How much closer have we really come to delivering on those objectives? Also identify 3 reasons it will fail and brainstorm the most effective way of overcoming each of these hidden barriers.
7. Use Advertising and Publicity as a High-Leverage Asset. Advertising and the consistent strategic pursuit of the right publicity can in fact be the most powerful business toll Challengers have at their disposal. To have good advertising we need good creative - Creative breakthrough is also a strategic necessity and strategy is only as good as the quality of ideas it produces. Good advertising also creates word of mouth that put consumer into 4 situations: Bragging right - customers are one of the first find that good brand, product enthusiasm - product performance, Aspirational identification - brand with strong identity and ethos, news value - customer s enjoy piece of marketing activity that has surprised, strongly entertained. Those 4 key ways a brand creates some kind of conversational, social currency for itself - what some call Water Cooler Conversation.
8. Become Ideas-Centered, Rather than Consumer-Centered. Challenger fails to stay outside comfort zone, be just a little provocatively different, it becomes an increasingly invisible part of the distribution landscape and slowly dies through consumer indifference. Competing against your own product - we make our own ideas obsolescent by replacing them with a better one before the competitor does. There are few routes that successful challengers went through to maintain the momentum: The Peter Pan strategy - preserve what worked for them in early days, The Reinvention Strategy - set new way to experience the old identity, the Mass Customization Strategy - give mass customers access the brand from different points, The Line Renewal Strategy - offers the same relationship with consumer but expressed in other product forms (c0ntinue use ideas rather than simply communication/ construction of new facets or embodiments of the brand offering fresh departure platforms for such ideas, creation of fresh way of thinking, implementation in a systematically and consistently way). Also another thing is flying unstable - is the way Challengers structure their organization to be flexible and innovative. Challengers seem more often to put their faith in character traits: the stuff you cant teach people. Build the ideas-centered culture is the redirection and motivation of the individual. The second is the way those individuals are combined with catalysts. Recommend to use researches to help creating ideas and making decisions. (quantitative research, qualitative research, open-ended research)

And successful challenger marketing is made of of 3 critical areas: Attitude, Strategy and Behavior. And you fail because of failure to correctly identify the problem not because you could not come up with right solution yet.
Become second-rank brand is hard - it means not much profit, it means you have less to put in the bag to against the big brands. But how about playing smart and use the concept of Mechanical Advantage - greater output from the same or lesser input. You get more results from less resource in short. That is when the second brand - or Challenger brand can play to against the BIG FISH - the Establishment Brand here if they know the clever way to do especially during the time that every Brands all try to stand out by all means. Existence and intent are simply not enough.

BIG Fish strategy is also not just for second-rank brand but for any brand. Big FISH in fact the central issue facing the growth, transformation, survival of any given brand. There are 6 mnain marketing challenges: superior competitive position, social contest has moved against the brand, rules of category are capable of constant and rapid change, new kinds of competition, declining retail role for traditional brand or aggressive pursuit of private label by the retailers, a brand whose apparent dominance has caused it to relax. If we are Number One brand, the BIG FISH that threatens to eat us is ourselves - our own success.

The book then suggests refreshing program for any company and individuals: 2 days off-site to recharge the "Shin" - spirit of the company and go through the Challenger program with have 3 stage process: Stage 1 attitude and preparation (first credo), Stage 2: challenger strategy (credo 2, 3, 4), Stage 3: challenger Behavior (next 3 credos), and Stage 4: Sustaining Challenger momentum (last credo: Become Ideas Centered, not consumer Centered).

Last but not least, always remember "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish". "The hungriest wolves hunt best"

[Joey Rath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book with profound ideas in how challenger brands approach the marketplace. It was a little dry to read at times, but a definite must read for any new brands and individuals that just want to be smarter marketers.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most satisfying marketing book I've read (granted I haven't read many). Moreover, probably the best book on strategic thinking I've read.

This book is written for marketers and the writing itself is distinctly a marketer's voice. It leans into the use of abstract, sweeping, generalizing terms that provoke the question, "is there any substance underneath it?" I've been convinced there is, so at the very least I respect the author's marketing skills. I'm more convinced that the writing style is a consequence of the author's style being molded by their career than from the career's tendency towards drivel. I definitely got sick of the repeated marketing-esque use of the term lighthouse. It's antics like that which give the book an unfortunate corporate tinge. At the same time, it's clear this book is Morgan's sell job to corporations for his own livelihood and the balance he employs seems pretty reasonable.

Morgan makes a number of points about the importance of substance and the limitations of tactics that disregard it. He's refreshingly frank in these thoughts making it up the reader to consider trade offs while making pushes that substance is a powerful asset to leverage (A much more elegant approach than an appeal to the reader's ethics). His anecdotes and stories repeatedly combine leveraging the distinctions of the product itself with the marketing strategy. Eventually, he straightforwardly talks about emotional marketing (which doesn't do this) as a limiting mindset outside of products that truly aren't differentiated. Even while he notes the possibility of conformed products, he still stresses the value of finding differentiation in the product by giving examples of companies turning their non-differentiated products into distinctive ones.

There's a lot of in the book fostering a systematic generalized mindset with tools to help drive strategy and focus. I'm rarely a fan of the parts of these books that get prescriptive (as they tend to feel like they live in some fantasy simplified version of the world) and I'm still bothered here, but less than normal. It helps that Morgan is straightforward with expectations around the exercises and pointing out that the real world is not so clean as the examples he gives - in effect warning the reader to be cautious of the survivor fallacy he's taken advantage of.

There are parts of the writing that do bother me. Morgan is a little too casual with the truth for me. For example, he has an exercise named after Picasso based on an anecdote which is misattributed (it's a michaelangelo anecdote) which was, if it actually happened, sarcastic, rather than anything else. Almost all of the anecdotes I was familiar with struck me as manipulated.

The more unfortunate instance of this is an anecdote he re-uses a few times about Andy Grove and Intel to emphasize the importance of staying fresh. The story (as told by Grove) revolves around asking the question, "If somebody new came in and took charge, what would they do?" As this led to a great change in strategy, he went through the symbolic self-firing, a self-humbling act. This is a bit different (and more effective) than the author's suggestion to imagine being fired to feel fresh, based on switching the order of the firing and the change in idea.

Overall, well worthwhile, there's a trove of insightful thought (very applicable outside of marketing) that easily outweighs any of the book's weaknesses.

[Uomodellamansarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definetly not an easy reading.
I found rich of examples and anecdotes, but it lacks of robust data (like 90% of the marketing book out of there).

Very cool the "practical" section at the end for planning a company marketing off-site.

If you are new in marketing I don't recommend, but if you work or you are passionate about you should really read it.

If you can, buy It second-hand.

On my blog lovabladata.com you will find some additional comments to specific chapters.
The notes are going to be published in the following months.
For now I published just 2/3 out of roughly 10 specific posts on that book.

[UberApril · Rating 3 out of 5]

my job decided to read this after a recent acquisition. it's definitely not my kind of reading but it was great exposure to marketing. i initially read it thinking my employer was the brand leader then slowly realized that we were more of a challenger. however during the book club review i changed my mind and decided that we are a market leader but we're still wanting to change the status quo/ striving for innovation. i really liked learning about how some brands emerged or stayed competitive.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong description of how a company can find their niche and grow their share in a space that's already dominated by a big fish (existing market leader).

There are a lot of examples of both good and bad strategies. But I was pleasantly surprised by the thought given to the overall framework and universal principles.

If your business is a challenger in a space already dominated by another company, then this is a great book for you.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some absolutely brilliant moments, however it is a bit of a challenging read due to some of the language / grammar used and also the length. It also does just keep going and is a bit repetitive near the end.

Perhaps don't take this book as a straight read through but rather the chapters and focus you need whilst developing your strategic thinking.

[Thomas Gregersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of interesting observations and learnings on how to market and steer companies who aren't industry leaders.
And while many of the strategies still are relevant and can be applied today, it does come off as somewhat outdated as having been written in the early stages of online marketing and e-commerce.

Would have liked to read a 2021 version with new examples and current companies.

[Ateendra Sharma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has the basic marketing ideas presented in a way that could appeal to entrepreneurs and non-marketers. If you've spent 4+ years in the marketing field, you won't find anything interesting or new.

[Nicholas Moryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid marketing book. Examples will get dated but the principles are pretty good and do a good job of helping the reader pull back and think about how they'd apply to their own business.

[Margaret Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for my Brand Management class and I did not feel like I was able to take much away from it tbh

[Kapil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another master book in marketing.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for class and it was lowkey interesting

[Andrew Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very salient even 15 years on, even more salient for the challengers who have truly lost their way (Southwest and, dare I say, Apple?)

[Michael Tuggle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Morgan is one the earliest and best leaders in the concept of "challenger branding" that Loomis has adopted as our foundational philosophy. We are a challenger brand agency serving those clients who are outmanned and outspent by bigger competitors. Our job is to outthink those competitors and this book lays the foundation for that. Even if you're not a challenger brand agency, or in advertising, it's a fascinating read.

[Chi Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An appropriate textbook for marketing, no more, no less. Honestly, I expected a book on the level of "The Origin of Brands", but I was let down. Over the years, I have come to read many more books like this, but with more engaging writing styles. Hey, Mankiw teaches us that textbooks could be fun, too! Give this book a shot if you need to learn (quickly) about marketing, but it is not going to be a great ride.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marketing book focusing on how the little fish can take market share away from bigger fish. I enjoyed the case studies in this book and passion in the reading. You have to be bold to eat the big fish but I think that Morgan makes are strong point for boldness and gives marketers many different ways to do it.
A great book for marketers.

[Chas Bayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I set up an ad agency in 2001, this was one of two books I was told to read (the other was the Tipping Point). I'm glad I took the advice, it was brilliant and hugely encouraging. It's helpful to realise that the little guys aren't little because they aren't good, they're little because they haven't worked out how to be big yet.

[Mike Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books about branding and marketing. The book covers some key concept about how smaller companies can beat the big companies. It pairs well with Blue Ocean Strategy.

I loan the book out a lot to friends and students so I've had to buy it many times because I don't keep track!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posits the thesis that challenger brands must approach strategy and tactics very differently than leader brands. Strong, actionable direction. Well done, though could use an update that refreshes the case studies.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually I'm reading the 2nd, updated version. It is particularly apropos to the major brand evaluation my company is undertaking right now and this book is really sparking a lot of new ways of thinking.

[Dulcie · Rating 1 out of 5]

B-O-L-L-O-C-K-S. World champion contender in stating the bleeding obvious. Mr Morgan is a pretender & not a challenger.
Save your time and spend it with someone you love or doing something you enjoy.
Just don't read this.

[Natasha C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unnecessary long and overly descriptive. A lot of the credos were very obvious to any marketer - be unique, look at the category like an outsider, make sacrifices etc. The best part was the 2-day workshop that had excercises you could have with teams. We ran a few at work and they were helpful.

[grumblemouse]

starting it tonight!