It is difficult for a business to stand out in a highly competitive market.
But it’s not impossible.
Weak brands lack the resources and awareness of leading brands in the market. This is especially true if you are just starting a new business and no one knows your brand.
But people love to root for the underdog, and often endorse underdog brands.
How can you use the underdog effect to stand out when you’re not the market leader?
Here are seven proven marketing strategies that can help underdog brands grow and compete with established brands.
- Be more innovative than market leaders
- Use Emotions to Appeal to Your Target Audience
- Show why your brand is relevant
- Approachable
- Use Humor to Build Your Audience
- offer a better alternative
- provide a better customer experience
Let’s take a closer look at each of these strategies and see how you can use them for your business.
1. Be more innovative than market leaders
You don’t have to invent something new to win as an underdog brand. Most new products and services are variations of other products and services.
However, you cannot expect to gain market share by simply selling the same product or service. We have to innovate.
For example, a commercial insurance company thimble It helps small businesses get insured within minutes. Insurance is nothing new, but typically getting business insurance is a long, tedious, lengthy process that can take days or longer. Most business owners would love to be able to purchase business insurance in minutes, especially when it saves them money.
So consider how you can improve your products and services in the market and how you can make people’s lives easier. Sometimes small changes can make a big difference, like saving people time.
But remember, not all brands can tell underdog stories through innovation. It doesn’t work for some brands and some industries.according to harvard business review:
Not all brands benefit from underdog stories. Some brands, such as Rolls-Royce, for example, derive much of their strength from their prestigious pedigree. Other facilities, such as hospitals, may experience problems if consumers perceive their disadvantage as having a negative impact on quality and safety. And for a brand like Microsoft that can’t credibly assert underdog status, trying to adopt such a narrative could backfire severely.
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2. Use Emotions to Appeal to Your Target Audience
People love to see the underdog win. Use your underdogness to evoke emotional support from your audience.
Your goal is to increase brand awareness for your business so more people can discover your underdog brand.
Start by telling your brand story on social media. Content marketing can be a powerful tool when used correctly.
Be humble when telling your brand story. People love to support businesses that started from humble beginnings. People also want to know what inspired your business and how you overcome challenges.
Large companies often struggle with customer relationships. That’s why even successful brands like Apple often talk about their origins in the garage. By telling stories, sharing challenges and talking about inspiration, brands become more human, authentic and relatable.
3. Show why your brand is relevant
When a company fails to evolve, it becomes obsolete and irrelevant. This is true for most existing brands. This will happen naturally over time. This is one reason why even market leaders rebrand from time to time.
As an underdog brand, you have the opportunity to show that you are fresh, innovative, and more relevant.
This can be done in several ways. For example, you can build a new brand identity for your company that shows you understand your target audience. Uber did this effectively when it challenged the taxi and limousine industry.
Company logos, business websites, and social media posts can strengthen or weaken your brand. Choose strategically and carefully when branding your company.
We can also talk about important causes.
Most market leaders are obsessed with revenue and profit. At best, most people deal with social and environmental issues with lip service. However, consumers prefer sustainable and environmentally friendly products.
Incorporating sustainable packaging design can fill this gap when creating physical products. This shows that the brand genuinely cares about its customers and the environment.
By showing people why your brand is so relevant, you can build substantial brand equity and drive up the price of your products and services.
4. Friendly
Being friendly and human helps establish a personal connection that helps build trust in your brand.
Most people distrust brands that aren’t authentic. You can take advantage of this by showing off the friendly side of your brand.
For example, make your website accessible, use illustrations instead of stock art, and use a friendly brand voice to communicate with your customers.
5. Use Humor to Build Your Audience
Humor is one of the best ways brands can connect with people. And it becomes a powerful weapon for underdog brands.
Many people make fun of the status quo or market leaders.
Even established brands can win with humor.For example, Wendy’s Make fun of your competitors on TwitterWendy’s isn’t a market leader, but its sense of humor has helped the fast food chain gain more exposure, attract a more critical following, and boost sales.
6. Offer better alternatives
Market leaders often charge premium prices for their products and services. But not everyone can afford that premium.
This provides an opportunity for underdog brands to offer better, more affordable options.
People usually don’t want to sacrifice quality. As such, you must prove that your product or service is equivalent or superior.
Don’t just copy the products and services offered by market leaders. Find ways to improve those products and services and offer them at more competitive prices.
For example, a clothing brand can A great alternative to the American Eagle. The brand’s mission is to provide higher quality women’s clothing and provide more economic opportunities for women.
7. Provide a better customer experience
Customers want companies to listen to their concerns and needs.
But most market leaders fail to listen.
This is an opportunity for brands with a tighter customer base to offer a better customer experience.
This is how Apple succeeded. Their market share was small and they were focused on building great products and great experiences. And today, they dominate many markets with their products while providing an excellent customer experience.
No more guessing what your customers and prospects want. Make this part of your brand strategy and ask your target audience directly. For example, ask:
- What do you think about our product or service?
- How can we improve our products and services?
- How can we serve you better?
- How can we communicate better?
These questions not only help you meet your customer’s needs, but they also provide useful feedback for your business.
Once you know the answers to these questions, you can leverage the proven principles of neuromarketing to grow your business by making smart choices about colors, packaging, messaging, and more.
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5 successful underdog brands
Let’s take a look at five underdog brands that have become one of the most successful brands in the industry and how they did it.
netflix
Netflix has classics underdog storyNear bankruptcy, tried to sell itself to market leader (Blockbuster) in exchange for peanuts, then went on to become one of the world’s leading tech companies.
Netflix thrives on innovation that outperforms its competitors.
After confusing market leader Blockbuster, it confused itself.
Initially, Netlfix provided videos by email. This gave the company a large market share. But then Netflix took advantage of the convenience of the Internet. The start of video streaming ruined his business and put the market leader out of business.
By offering a more accessible and affordable alternative to movie theaters and video rental stores, Netflix has not only replaced the market leader, but also shown how the underdogs can win. showed.
apple
Apple is very humble beginningsThe company started in Steve Jobs’ garage and has become the world’s most valuable company.
What’s Apple’s secret to success? Strong branding (including the iconic Apple logo), consistent marketing, and innovative products.
When the company started it tried to compete with many computer companies. But the product was largely undifferentiated prior to his 2001.
Apple released the iPod in 2001 and changed the way we listen to music. Since then, Apple has carved out new markets with smartphones, smartwatches, tablets and other products.
Apple followed all the marketing strategies shared above to transform its first business into one of the world’s leading brands. It also showed how strong branding and consistent marketing can help your business succeed. Without that golden combination, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are today.
Ben & Jerry’s
Known for its rich variety of ice cream flavors, Ben & Jerry’s started when two childhood friends took a $5 ice cream course.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield ice cream passed by various challenges It competed against established giants, including Häagen-Dazs.
The company has become a market leader by offering innovative, affordable prices, and building a wonderful, loyal community.
Don’t be afraid to talk about social issues and often reward your customers. For example, Ben & Jerry’s has an annual tradition of giving customers free ice cream to celebrate their anniversary. This builds a lot of goodwill with customers and creates a loyal customer base.
chipotle pepper
Transparency, aggressive advocacy, and good humor can create credibility, trust, and a loyal customer base.
That’s the lesson we learned from Chipotle.
Steve Elles, owner of a popular Mexican fast food chain, fresh and sustainable ingredients It was integral to Chipotle’s success and branding.
Chipotle lives up to its strong motto, “Cooking with Integrity,” and tells people about the origins of the food at Chipotle restaurants.
Chipotle also shows a relatable side with his skillful use of humor in his social media posts.
Today, most consumers value transparency and prefer healthier ingredients. And people love to laugh. It’s a great combination that has helped Chipotle gain market share.
Five Guys Burger and Fries
It’s not easy to make a name for yourself when competing with big brands like McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway.
But Five Guys Burger and Fries has found a way to establish a hot brand, not just a competitor.
The market leader in the fast food industry is known for its inexpensive menu items. It would have been difficult for new competitors to compete on price alone.
So how did Five Guys do it?
Give Guys gained market share through better branding (and a better product).Company’s Branding focuses on the authentic burger restaurant experience: A white and red picnic tablecloth, a traditional burger menu, and peanuts on the table to seal the deal.
And that burger and fries are delicious. they have won many awards.
Competing as an underdog brand is not easy. We have to put in a lot more effort than the brands we already know. And you have to be creative and resourceful in your marketing.
Successful underdog brands use a combination of the strategies shared above. And most importantly, we put our customers first.
