Being an Underdog Brand Can Be a Blessing
Welcome to the Why to Wow newsletter which is all about inspiring the hearts and minds of people worldwide with the Power of Differentiation. In the Why to Wow newsletter, I share my experiences over the last 40+ years helping leaders differentiate their brands and products. I hope it will inspire you to discover and share your own brand’s uniqueness with the world.
The iconic brands in the world are the envy of their competition. They have a larger market share, sell at a premium, and seem to do little wrong. But since there is only one top dog, what about the others? I love the underdog, and if your brand is one, read on.
Leading automotive designer Derek Jenkins recently spoke with me on our podcast, Difference Talks. Derek is the genius behind numerous Audi and Mazda models, including, more recently, both Lucid Air and their new SUV, Gravity. Many of his opuses have won Car of the Year and other accolades. Derek told me he was drawn to the challenger brands, as he called them. They were excellent products, but often lost in the shadows of the Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Tesla juggernauts. He loved the chance to delight and surprise the consumer by creating an underdog product that usually outshone its larger rival. It’s exciting, even exhilarating, to see the looks of amazement in the eyes of customers who walked in expecting a ho-hum product, only to witness how it exceeds expectations. And often, that underdog brand becomes beloved because of how it performed as a David against an ominous Goliath.
In my firm’s early days, we conducted a competitive challenge event for Volkswagen. We pitted a VW model against the top performers in their segment, including Toyota, Honda, Ford, and even BMW. By the conclusion of our program, consumers were enamored with the VW product because it surprised them—they had given it little thought previously and assumed it was a middling product. But they often responded with endearment once they experienced it and saw its brilliance. It was “The Little Engine That Could.”
Difference-maker #1: Honor and promote your differentiation, even if it’s quirky.
Audi can easily boast the driving performance of BMW or the elite luxury of Mercedes-Benz, but the other brands don’t have quattro, Audi’s unique, advanced all-wheel drive technology that no one else in the world can claim. They share its story and promote it as a foundational brand differentiator. My firm trained Audi salespeople to explain that technology better to separate them from the competition.
Difference-maker #2: Be up for the challenge.
We’ve conducted dozens of competitive comparison events, pitting our clients’ products against their rivals. We openly and honestly display the uniqueness of all the products and let the customers decide. Here’s a secret: often, the category leader finishes first, but they are not the “winner.” Remember the above story about the Volkswagen competitive comparison event and how they won customers’ hearts simply by sharing their differentiation.
Difference-maker #3: Embrace being the underdog.
When the New York Yankees were in their heyday, they won the World Series nearly every year. Sportswriter George Will made an immortal pronouncement, “Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for IBM.” That applies to your dominant rival as well. Who wants to see them do even better? But plenty of people would love to see the “little guy” do well. Give them a reason to cheer for your brand by displaying the brilliance of your product or service. Build a fan base that wants to see you beat the big guy.
Be bold, be yourself, and stand up against the giants, and be prepared to build a loyal fan base. Read more about competitive comparisons in this excerpt from the Power of Differentiation.
I invite you to listen to my interview on the Difference Talks podcast with Derek Jenkins, Senior Vice President of Design and Brand at Lucid Motors. As a renowned automotive designer, he brings unique insights into creating differentiated designs that resonate with customers. We discuss the future of electric vehicles and the use of storytelling to rally teams and build brands. It’s a great way to spend half an hour! Listen here.