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A manual for mercenaries

This playbook gives you insider access to the strategies and tactics used by some of the most successful challenger brands in the world.

You’ll learn how

Formula E Racing: went from the brink of bankruptcy to a billion dollar valuation
Turkish Airlines: transformed itself from a regional player into the world’s largest super connector
T-Mobile USA: did the the unthinkable and leapfrogged from #4 in the market to #2
Obama 08’: overcame the odds from outsider candidate to winning the democratic primaries
And many more…

Many of the cases come directly from my consulting work with senior brand leaders at Shell, Al Jazeera, Turkish Airlines, Samsung, Formula E Racing, Wahed Invest and others. The models and techniques we use were informed by my time at Prophet (a global brand and marketing consulting) and refined in my own practice Creative Business Company.

Above all we hope you walk away inspired by the many ways challengers can position for explosive growth and perhaps a new understanding of positioning - not simply as an inspiration for communication, but a powerful organizing construct for your business.

FAISAL SIDDIQUI

FOUNDER, STRATEGIST

CREATIVE BUSINESS COMPANY

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Most purpose-led brand campaigns don’t drive commercial results
Most product-focused brand campaigns don’t build brand equity either
Good positioning makes brand marketing more effective because it unlocks a unique space your brand can own (we call it ‘fighting where you can come first’)
You can come first by…

Unlocking your hidden advantage
Aligning your organisation around it
Dramatising your differences

Executive summary

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Why brand marketing is misfiring	4
How to get brand marketing back on track	23
A formula for coming first	39
Last words	70

Creative Business Company

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Most of your customers aren’t ready to buy right now

The majority of a businesses customers are not actively shopping the category
That means don’t have a problem that needs solving and may not even be familiar with your brand
Because they aren’t actively shopping the category, we call them ‘future customers’

NOT IN CATEGORY (95%)

FUTURE CUSTOMERS

Source: Advertising effectiveness and the 95-5 rule: most B2B buyers are not in the market right now, The B2B Institute

ACTIVE IN CATEGORY (5%)

CURRENT CUSTOMERS

“UP TO 95% OF

A BRANDS CLIENTS ARE NOT IN THE MARKET FOR MANY GOODS AND SERVICES AT ANY ONE TIME.”

PROFESSOR JOHN DAWES

EHRENBERG BASS INSTITUTE

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Performance marketing only works with in-category customers

Performance marketing works by instantly serving ads to anyone who actively declares a need for something
These hard-sales (often discount and promotional) messages are built to convert those who are ready to buy now
But future customers aren’t ready to buy now, so performance marketing messages don’t work on them

halal investing

Declaring a need

Performance ads

Checking account

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Brand marketing

is perfectly built for engaging future customers

IN CATEGORY (5%) CURRENT CUSTOMERS		NOT IN CATEGORY (95%) FUTURE CUSTOMERS
Performance marketing	vs	Brand marketing

Product-centric hard sell messages that try to convert customers in the category now

Company-centric soft sell messages that warms future customers to the brand

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	IN CATEGORY CURRENT CUSTOMERS		NOT IN CATEGORY FUTURE CUSTOMERS
TYPE OF MARKETING	Performance marketing	vs	Brand marketing
TARGET	Those in category now	vs	Total addressable market
OBJECTIVE	Convert existing customers	vs	Create future customers
HOW	Hard-sell, product centric messages that nudge people to buy now	vs	Soft sell messages that builds awareness and warm feelings for brand
HOW MUCH	40% of media spend	vs	60% of media spend

Source: The Long and Short of It, Les Binet and Peter Fields

95%

Companies grow

by investing in both

brand marketing and performance marketing

Brands scale by speaking to customers actively shopping the category, and those that may do so the in the future
To do this, you must balance different types of marketing tactics and allocate budgets according to the size of the opportunity

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But brand marketing suffers from a reputation problem… and it’s not totally undeserved

Brand marketing can often lack impact
Brand marketing can often be unaccountable
Brand marketing can often be very expensive

Craig Miller @craigmillr

As the CMO for Shopify and Kijiji, two iconic brands, I spent very little time & money (read $0) on brand or brand marketing. Instead, I focused on digital, attributable, direct marketing. Get people to the product.

If you want to build an iconic brand, it has little to do with the marketing team. It’s all about the mission of the company and its culture. Get that pointed in the right direction and you won’t need to waste marketing time/money on brand.

224

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What’s limiting the

impact of brand marketing?

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While there's nothing wrong with having a purpose, making it the focus of your brand marketing can be incredibly value destructive - especially for challenger brands

Purpose-led brand campaigns

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Purpose statements are bland by design

Purpose statements are built by moving up the benefit ladder from the specifics of a business to generic themes common to all brands in the category
When your messages is the same as everyone else, it fails the first rule of marketing, which is to get noticed and stand out

Connecting Canadians

and our communities

Advancing how Canadians connect with each other

and the world

To connect Canadians

to a world of possibilities

We connect people to

opportunity, while expanding

the understanding of our planet

and the people within it

Connecting People.

Uniting the World

Connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.

3 REASONS WHY PURPOSE

KILLS BRAND MARKETING

REASON #1

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Purpose campaigns speak to no-one

Most purpose campaign features themes that have nothing to do with the product or the category
CSR style themes like the environment and social justice have generally a weak influence on purchase*
By attempting to speak to everyone, the message overshoots the market and speaks to no-one at all

REASON #2

BEYOND YOUR ADDRESSABLE MARKET

AKA “Purpose land”

Audience

The whole world

Common themes

Social justice

Environment

Awakening

3 REASONS WHY PURPOSE

IS KILLING BRAND MARKETING

TOTAL ADDRESSABLE MARKET

FUTURE CUSTOMERS

(+) CURRENT CUSTOMERS

Category need #1

Category need #2

Category need #3

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TOP DERIVED DRIVERSOF ENGAGEMENT

BOTTOM DERIVED DRIVERS OF ENGAGEMENT

DRIVERS OF ENGAGEMENT FOR AN ELECTRIC MOTORSPORTS BRAND

(Using derived vs. stated importance)

*Purpose has a weak influence on purchase

Consumers are generally not very aware of how they make purchase decisions or which attributes in a value proposition (e.g price, quality, performance, image, purpose etc) most influenced their decision
Instead of relying on what consumers STATED as the main reasons for purchase, DERIVED IMPORTANCE surveys use methods like regression analysis to measure how strongly each attribute actually influenced likelihood to purchase
Most surveys that claim brand purpose has a strong influence on purchase, use STATED IMPORTANCE, whereas the survey on the right - for an successful electric motorsport brand - used DERIVED IMPORTANCE
It showed that delivering entertaining races is what really drove eyeballs and bums on seats, not the organization’s internal purpose which was to reduce the world’s dependence on oil via green and clean racing

Source: Fan research, US/UK/GER/CN Total n=4,055

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Purpose campaigns evoke a single type of emotion and it’s often the wrong one

Emotion makes advertising powerful, but it needs to be relevant for the category you are in
For example, a toilet paper brand shouldn’t talk about world peace
Purpose campaigns are guilty of evoking a single type of emotion (emo tugs on heartstrings), which is often the wrong emotion for the category

There are many emotions. You’re allowed to use them

REASON #3

3 REASONS WHY PURPOSE

IS KILLING BRAND MARKETING

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PERFORMANCE OF PURPOSE

VS. NON-PURPOSE CAMPAIGNS

Long-term business effects: sales, market share, new

customer acquisition, customer loyalty, pricing power, and profit.

Source: Peter Fields, Study of IPA Effectiveness Awards Databank comparing 47 brand purpose cases with 333 non-purpose cases

This leads to poor business results

Purpose-led campaigns have fewer positive long-term business effects compared to non-purpose lead campaigns

Measured in positive long-term business effects

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“IN MARKETING WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL NOT

JUST TO PLAY OUT OUR PURPOSE. BECAUSE IF YOU

TAKE ‘HELPING PEOPLE FIND A HOME’, THAT’S EVERY SINGLE MORTGAGE YOU’VE EVER SEEN, RIGHT? IT’S THE CATEGORY NORM. SO WE ARE CONSCIOUS OF HOLDING OUR PURPOSE AS OUR NORTH STAR. BUT IF WE PLAY IT OUT, WE KNOW WE’VE GOT IT COMPLETELY WRONG.”

ABBA NEWBERY

CMO, HABITO HOME SERVICES

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… but the answer isn’t product focused brand campaigns either

While these types of campaigns are powerful at driving short-term sales spikes, they rarely build the brand with future customers

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They can be just as generic as purpose campaigns

Product-focused campaigns can be equally generic because the message centres on functional benefits that are often common to many brands in the category
The result is same-y messages that fail to stand out

3 REASONS WHY PRODUCT CAMPAIGNS DON’T REACH FUTURE CUSTOMERS

REASON #1

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They often undershoot the market, speaking only to current customers

Product-focused campaigns use coded language or boring specifics that are only familiar or interesting to current customers
As a result, these campaigns fail to engage future customers who aren’t interested in the category

REASON #2

This ad uses jargon only understood by those active within the category, as a result it does not reach future customers.

FUTURE CUSTOMERS (95%)

CURRENT CUSTOMERS (5%)

3 REASONS WHY PRODUCT CAMPAIGNS DON’T REACH FUTURE CUSTOMERS

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They’re overly rational and fail

to evoke emotion

Isolating a specific benefit to promote is only half the job of creating a compelling campaign
The real work is dramatising that benefit in a fresh, memorable and intelligent way - so that it stands out and gets remembered

REASON #3

3 REASONS WHY PRODUCT CAMPAIGNS DON’T REACH FUTURE CUSTOMERS

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	PURPOSE-LED BRAND CAMPAIGNS	PRODUCED-FOCUSED BRAND CAMPAIGNS
MESSAGE	Bland because the message is too high on the benefit ladder	Bland because the message is too low on the benefit ladder
AUDIENCE	Overshoots the market because the message focuses on macro themes (global peace) that rarely influence purchase	Undershoots the market because the message focuses on boring product specifics only relevant to those in the category
OUTCOME	Evokes the wrong emotion	Evokes no emotion

What’s stopping good brand marketing?

SUMMARY

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Why brand marketing is misfiring	4
How to get brand marketing back on track	23
A formula for coming first	39
Last words	70

Creative Business Company

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But not the fill-in-the-blank template style that’s so common

The solution is positioning

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Good positioning unlocks the unique value a challenger can deliver

Good positioning (unlike most purpose or product campaigns) acknowledges competition
Positioning therefore defines the unique value a brand can deliver relative to that competition
That value can be functional or intangible, and can be often manufactured out of thin air

REASON #1

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

Hertz car rental was #1, with the largest fleet size and most dealerships across the country.

Avis framed a service play with a simple story about an underdog that everyone could relate to.

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REASON #1

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

Budget car rental was #1, with the largest fleet size and most dealerships across the country.

Avis framed a service play with a simple story about an underdog that everyone could relate to.

Good positioning unlocks the unique value a challenger can deliver

Good positioning (unlike most purpose or product campaigns) acknowledges competition
Positioning therefore defines the unique value a brand can deliver relative to that competition
That value can be functional or intangible, and can be often manufactured out of thin air

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REASON #2

Good positioning helps challengers get famous with a simple and contagious story about the company

Good positioning helps brands speak broadly and specifically to future customers by framing a long set of features and benefits into a simple and entertaining story about the company
When that story is told with wit and charm, future customers take notice

All the major airlines were boring. Braniff Airlines decided to position itself as the funnest way to fly

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

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REASON #2

All the major airlines were boring. Braniff Airlines decided to position itself as the funnest way to fly

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

Good positioning helps challengers get famous with a simple and contagious story about the company

Good positioning helps brands speak broadly and specifically to future customers by framing a long set of features and benefits into a simple and entertaining story about the company
When that story is told with wit and charm, future customers take notice

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Good positioning provides a broader palette of emotions to work with

It opens creative possibilities by…

Allowing your brand to behave in different ways (personality)
Evoking a range of emotions that are best suited to your context and category

REASON #3

T-Mobile was #4 and didn’t have the network coverage or speed to compete against market leaders. The only play they could make was to blow up the rules and channel consumer frustrations.

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

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REASON #3

T-Mobile was #4 and didn’t have the network coverage or speed to compete against market leaders. The only play they could make was to blow up the rules and channel consumer frustrations.

3 REASONS WHY GOOD POSITIONING MAKES BRAND MARKETING MORE EFFECTIVE

Good positioning provides a broader palette of emotions to work with

It opens creative possibilities by…

Allowing your brand to behave in different ways (personality)
Evoking a range of emotions that are best suited to your context and category

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	PURPOSE-LED BRAND CAMPAIGNS	GOOD POSITIONING	PRODUCT-FOCUSED BRAND CAMPAIGNS
MESSAGE	Bland because the message is too high on the benefit ladder	Unlocks the unique value a brand can deliver	Bland because the message is too low on the benefit ladder
AUDIENCE	Overshoots the market because the message focuses on macro themes (global peace, social justice) that rarely influence purchase	Helps challengers get famous with future customers with a simple and contagious company story	Undershoots the market because the message focuses on boring product specifics only relevant to those in the category
OUTCOME	Evokes the wrong emotion	Broadens creative possibilities by providing a broader palette of emotions to work with	Evokes the wrong emotion

SOLUTION

Good positioning unlocks

the power of brand marketing

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% CAMPAIGNS WITH VERY LONG PRICE EFFECTS

(PROFIT, PRICE SENSITIVITY)

Source: Effectiveness in Context, IPA Databank of 497 for profit cases and 121 not for profit cases submitted between 1998-2016. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising UK.

Positioning unlocks the biggest benefit of brand marketing; stronger profit margins

In a study of over 500 financially audited campaigns, businesses that repositioned for growth were able to strengthen margins by a factor of 3 to 1

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What makes a good positioning?

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They help you fight

where you can come first

Good brand marketing strengthens the link between a brand and a category
This investment pays off when a consumer is in a buying scenario and the brand comes to mind
Once a market leader wins this top position (in mind and market share) it’s nearly impossible to dislodge them
Instead of competing head to head for the top spot, challengers need to fight where they can come first
That means limiting comparisons with the market leader, by narrowing your competitive set
Good positioning does this by framing a new space (or sub-category) around your strengths

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The first car rental that cared

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The first airline that made it fun to fly

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The first uncarrier

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COMING LATE INTO MARKETS AND HOPING

TO STEAL SHARE ON THE BACK OF “A BETTER PRODUCT AT A LOWER PRICE” IS VIRTUALLY DOOMED TO FAILURE. WINNERS MAKE MARKETS. AND TO MAKE A MARKET MEANS TO BRING SOMETHING NEW INTO EXIST.

JULES GODDARD

UNCOMMON SENSE

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Why brand marketing is misfiring	4
How to get brand marketing back on track	23
A formula for coming first	39
Last words	70

Creative Business Company

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HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES

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HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE Great businesses know what sets them apart and leverage their distinct advantage. By defining and demonstrating their strengths, they give customers powerful reasons to believe and employees authentic reasons to belong.

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES

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CHALLENGE

CATEGORY

CODES

MAKE THE

CATEGORY

MORE INCLUSIVE

ATTACK A

CATEGORY

PAIN POINT

LEVERAGE

A ‘SOFT’ ASSET

DELIVER NEW COMBINATIONS

OF VALUE

CREATE A NEW SUB-CATEGORY

Source of advantage

Expressing your advantage

Six sources of advantage

External

Internal

Marketing and communications

Marcomm + products, services, experiences

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Situation: Often challengers find early success on the back of functionally unique products or services that fulfill the needs of a niche segment, but find future growth hard to come by as the relevance of their brand is weak with future customers.

Source of advantage: Reframe

your brand’s core offering for a broader audience by speaking to some of its more intangible qualities - e.g. the values that informed it or the intangible benefits it delivers

Example: Wahed Invest is the world’s first automated Islamic investment platform with over 200,000 clients in 130 countries. To fuel their next phase of growth, Wahed needed to appeal to a broader cross-section of Muslims; not all of whom made investment decisions based on their faith. To achieve this, they reframed a founding principle of Islamic Finance (that you can only generate wealth from work) into a message that reflected the immigrant work ethic that defines many of North America’s diverse immigrant communities.

LEVERAGE

A ‘SOFT’ ASSET

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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CHALLENGE

CATEGORY

CODES

Situation: Most scale-ups know above-the-line advertising can be

a highly effective and sustainable way

to drive a new wave of customer growth, but lack the deep pockets to fund long-term brand building campaigns

and can’t afford to wait for returns either.

Source of advantage: Improve the effectiveness of your marketing by making your brand not look, sound and feel like anything else in the category. This creates advertising that stands outs, grabs attentions and demands action.

Example: Habito is an online home buying service. While they knew above-the-line media was critical to building the brand awareness they needed to succeed, they faced three critical challengers (i) limited budgets (ii) need to drive sales now (iii) limited number of consumers active in the category. The result was a deliberate strategy to create a brand building campaign, that didn’t talk about the product but the pain in the category, brought to life in the most unconventional way. The result was spontaneous brand awareness doubled, customer volumes increased 3.5x and CAC were 75% less than when the campaign kicked off.

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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DELIVER NEW COMBINATIONS

OF VALUE

Situation: Often challengers find themselves “stuck in the middle” - not quite as innovative or premium as the market leaders and not quite as cheap and no frills as value oriented players. They run the risk of getting forgotten.

Source of advantage: By providing new and unexpected combinations of value, challengers can create new sub-categories of choice that can draw growth from both value oriented customers ‘trading up’ and premium customers ‘trading down.’

Example: Turkish Airlines was in a fierce battle with well-funded Gulf based carriers to be the global transfer superhub connecting west and east. Unable to compete in the sky (you can’t offer showers

and first-class suites in narrow body fleets) Turkish Airlines levelled the playing field with a unique combination of affordable fairs and Istanbul based ground experiences - free city tours, overnight stays and rapid transfers in and out of the city. Leveraging Istanbul-based experiences became a key pillar of their brand and in 2019 Turkish Airlines overtook all of the Gulf-based carriers in annual passengers carried.

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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MAKE THE

CATEGORY

MORE INCLUSIVE

Situation: More and more categories are dominated by large incumbents who own the majority of market share. In fact market concentration

is increasing in 2/3 of American industries. As a result, challengers are struggling to break through.

Source of advantage: Challengers can grow by bringing new customers into the category with a combination of lower prices, simpler services and more inclusive messaging and engagement.

Example: In 2008, Barack Obama was an outsider candidate against the Clinton political juggernaut for the leadership of the Democratic Party. Knowing Clinton’s stranglehold over traditional voters, the Obama campaign needed to expand the electoral base - inspiring people who hadn’t engaged in politics, to get up and vote.

The strategy informed everything from campaign messaging to the allocation of the candidates time. On the campaign trail that meant refusing to attend traditional rallies and events where there would only be a limited audience of Clinton Democrats, and spending most of his time in depressed communities. The strategy paid off - with a record number of small donations and participation from first time voters.

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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CREATE A NEW SUBCATEGORY

Situation: When a category is dominated by a single large brand that commands the majority of market share, challengers should limit comparisons with them at all costs.

Source of advantage: Sub-category creation shields challengers from incumbents by positioning not as a substitute but an entirely new class of offering. The sub-category should offer consumers with a unique and desirable proposition and the differences between the sub-category and main category should be easy to understand.

Example: With slower cars that made no noise, Formula E was drawing unfavorable comparisons to Formula One. But it was precisely these qualities that offered a hidden advantage; silent, emission-free cars could race on the streets of the world’s capitals, whereas F1 could not. Formula E framed a new whitespace around these strengths, creating a new category of motorsport called City Street Racing. Following the repositioning, a policy decision was made that the sport would only race in urban city centres while other on track innovations (e.g. power boosts) were added to broaden relevance with a younger audience. Since then, Formula E unlocked triple digit increases in viewership and attendees and recently gained a $900million valuation.

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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ATTACK A

CATEGORY

PAIN POINT

Situation: In most mature categories there are a set of core needs that consumers are looking to address (e.g. in telco; network coverage, speed, reliability.) Brands that are seen to deliver on those needs win.

Source of advantage: Because the core needs are so important, incumbents could de-prioritise other elements such as customer service. Challengers who can’t compete on the core needs and sense peak customer frustration, can throw out the industry playbook and go all in on becoming the consumer champion.

Example: In 2013, T-Mobile was the #4 player in fiercely competitive market without the network coverage or speed to compete. With nothing to lose, T-Mobile ripped up the playbook and made a big bet that solving customer frustrations would pay off. Positioning themselves as the ‘Uncarrier,’ T-Mobile delivered a rolling thunder of signature moves like ending annual contracts, providing unlimited global data and texts and even paying to end the contracts of other carriers customers. A game changer, T-Mobile gained customers faster than their top three competitors combined, and in 8 years went from #4 to acquiring their nearest rival, to leapfrogging AT&T to be #2.

UNLOCKING YOUR

HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

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CHALLENGE

CATEGORY

CODES

MAKE THE

CATEGORY

MORE INCLUSIVE

ATTACK A

CATEGORY

PAIN POINT

LEVERAGE

A ‘SOFT’ ASSET

DELIVER NEW COMBINATIONS

OF VALUE

CREATE A NEW SUB-CATEGORY

Source of advantage

Expressing your advantage

Six sources of advantage

External

Internal

Marketing and communications

Marcomm + products, services, experiences

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How do you find your hidden advantage?

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Putting theory into practice

Watch: How to uncover your hidden advantage [01:23]

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THE VALUE OF DIFFERENCE / DISTINCTIVENESS

Source: Kantar Millward Brown, Ebiquity, Jenni Romaniuk via the Value of Difference, Tom Roach

The more different or distinct your advertising the better it performs

+34%	+90%
Brand recognition: advertising featuring known distinctive brand assets achieved an average +34% increase in brand recognition	Short-term sales: ads that rank highly for 'make the brand seem really different’ achieved a +90% increase in likelihood to drive short-term sales (STSL).
+62%	+22%
Profit ROI: distinctive brand campaigns’ achieved a +62% stronger short-term profit ROI vs campaigns which didn’t	Charge a premium: Meaningful and different brands can charge 22% more than competitors that aren’t

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GOOD STRATEGY WORKS BY HARNESSING

POWER AND APPLYING IT WHERE IT WILL HAVE

THE GREATEST EFFECT. THIS MEANS ATTACKING A PROBLEM [WITH THE RIGHT] COMBINATIONS OF POLICY, ACTIONS AND RESOURCES…OR DEVELOPING CAPABILITIES THAT WILL BE

OF VALUE IN FUTURE CONTEXT.

RICHARD RUMELT

GOOD STRATEGY, BAD STRATEGY

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HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES

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HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT Challengers can outsmart larger players by focusing their energy on the few key areas that produce the greatest rewards. Good positioning helps employees understand a business’ strengths (via its strategic pillars) align around them and use them as a filter for decision making.

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES

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ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND YOUR ADVANTAGE

Process and strategic framework

Define the key strategic pillars required to deliver your source of advantage
Start from the bottom of the benefit ladder and work your way up
Group the top level benefits into the fewest themes possible and craft about 3-5 strategic pillars
Articulate your strategic pillars as instructions to employees
Use your strategic pillars as a filter for strategic decision making

Feature

group #2

Feature

group #4

Feature

group #1

Feature

group #3

Emo / functional

benefit 2

Emo / functional

benefit 4

Emo / functional

benefit 1

Emo / functional

benefit 3

Strategic pillar #1

Strategic

pillar #2

Strategic

pillar #3

Source of advantage

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ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND YOUR ADVANTAGE

Example: Formula E Racing

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ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND YOUR ADVANTAGE

Example: Wahed Invest

STRATEGIC PILLARS

HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES

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HOW TO COME FIRST

UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN ADVANTAGE

ALIGN YOUR ORGANISATION AROUND IT

DRAMATISE YOUR DIFFERENCES Brands work because they help us avoid rationalising each purchase, serving as a shortcut for whatever feels good instead. Lacking these advantages, challengers can cut through by dramatising their differences. Use the 5s model to “express your advantage” imaginatively across every employee and customer encounter.

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SOURCE OF ADVANTAGE	Nothing to lose, willing to attack status-quo and address category frustration
STORY	Sub-category label: Un-carrier
STYLE	Visual: Shocking pink, urban Verbal: Loud, aggressive, on-your-side
SIGNATURE MOVES	End annual contracts Simple global: unlimited global data and texts Music Freedom: streaming that doesn’t eat your data Carrier Freedom: pay to get you out of your contract
STAFF	CEO becomes a vocal touchpoint and emblematic of new challenger attitude

REVENUE AND SUBSCRIBER GROWTH ($ MILLIONS/ THOUSANDS)

T-Mobile: the first uncarrier

“We’re in the changing-the-phone- company business.” John Legere

Source: T-Mobile keeps growing, and CEO John Legere won't stop bragging about it, Fortune

5S MODEL: HOW T-MOBILE WENT FROM #4 TO FASTEST GROWING

Surpasses Sprint as #3 carrier in the US

Uncarrier strategy launched

End to annual contracts

Introduces Jump

Upgrade your phone on demand

Introduces Simple Global

Unlimited global roaming

Introduces Lifetime Coverage

Introduces Carrier Freedom

We’ll pay off your phone plan

Revenue

($millions)

Customers (thousands)

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Why brand marketing is misfiring	4
How to get brand marketing back on track	23
A formula for coming first	39
Last words	70

Creative Business Company

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Most purpose campaigns don’t drive commercial results
Most product-focused campaigns don’t build brand equity either
Good positioning makes brand marketing more effective because it unlocks a unique space the brand can own (we call it ‘fighting where you can come first’)
You can come first by…

Unlocking your hidden advantage (using the six sources of advantage)
Aligning your organisation around your advantage (using the strategic pillars framework)
Dramatising your differences (using the 5S framework)

Summary

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Thanks for reading

FAISAL SIDDIQUI

FOUNDER, PRESIDENT

fsiddiqui@creativebusinesscompany.com

@faisaldontbunt

IAN BARNARD

STRATEGY DIRECTOR

ibarnard@creativebusinesscompany.com

@mixesintheattic

BOOK A CALL

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An introduction to�Creative Business Company

2024

creativebusinesscompany.com

A strategic growth consultancy at the

intersection of marketing and brand

CBC OVERVIEW

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Get your brand back in the black

Brand has a reputation problem: it’s seen as expensive, unaccountable and incapable of making any real financial impact. But we know its true potential. And we help strategic marketers unlock brand, and its value.

Business leaders are quick to shout about the value of their brand. But slow to invest in it.

This is especially true in sectors where people buy products and services for apparently rational reasons.

We work with strategic marketers in exactly those sectors. Helping them transform brand from a cost center in the red, to a revenue driver in the black.

PROBLEM

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Our mission is to make brand more accountable and effective

We run the numbers

We re-frame brand as a commercial engine – �so that not investing in your brand looks risky.

We create tangible value, fast

Our brand work delivers results. Not “over time”. �But real results this quarter. Results you can shout about around eight weeks after launch.

We use metrics they can’t argue with

We have practical, simple tools that measure the impact of brand. Analyzing brand performance using KPIs that show up in your P&L.

We champion brand. And champion you

The more your business underdogs brand, the hungrier we are to work with you to unlock its value.

PROBLEM

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We help you get attention, convert leads and drive sales

01 BRAND PLANNING Get the budget �for brand
Win over the C-suite by proving the impact of brand on the bottom line Market segmentation Brand investment planning Customer / market research Key drivers

02 BRAND POSITIONING Create messaging that converts
Find the sweet spot between what makes you unique and what makes people buy Full funnel positioning Message and testing Identity and guidelines Value proposition

03 BRAND CAMPAIGN Lower your cost �of acquisition
Reach more customers and acquire them for less with always-on brand campaigns Campaign and media strategy Concept and creative Artwork and copywriting Measurement and optimization

04 PORTFOLIO+ARCHITECTURE Make it �easier to buy
Streamline your offerings and reduce confusion with a brand portfolio strategy Brand portfolio strategy Brand architecture strategy Governance and systems Employee induction

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We partner with �challengers & champions

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The way we work, works

We’re a flexible, fast-moving, group of strategists and creatives. We work as an extension of your team, relying on evidence not hunches to deliver real results, fast.

$900m	Valuation achieved for ABB Formula E, three years after strategically repositioning the brand and less than six years after a near insolvency

580%	Yearly increase in return on ad spend (ROAS) for Penny Appeal Canada after introducing a top of funnel campaign into their marketing stack

10x	Increase in MQLs for Callstack, within 3 months of repositioning their brand in a crowded global B2B software development space

3x	Increase in candidate leads for EngagedMD thanks to new full funnel messaging and website design that helped them reposition in a crowded medtech space

7	Transform and Strategy Magazine Awards for winning case studies in brand positioning, visual identity and brand campaigns

BRAND MANAGER�BRIDGEFUND

Brand Investment Blueprint

�The exact process we use to convince executives to invest in brand.

Helping a software pioneer drive results fast by shifting perception and driving sales

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Why performance marketing won’t grow your brand

�The rise of performance marketing has given us cheaper and more efficient ways to advertise, but has created very few big brands.

3 ways to measure brand awareness for free

�Don't have the time or money for primary research? Estimate your brand's awareness for free.

Why hard times are good times for challenger brand

�Read why downturns are one of the few times that challenger brands can become champions.

Planning

�Overview of our simple 12 month plan that you and the team can use to work more efficiently and effectively

3 ways to lower your cost acquisition

�Simple strategies to acquire customers more sustainably.

How do you differentiate yourself?

�At Creative Business Company we talk about the six sources of strength challenger brands can draw upon to unlock their hidden advantage...

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Our work is recognised globally

Gold • Best Naming Strategy	MORNINGSTAR 2023 Transform Award

Gold • Best Visual Identity by a Charity, NGO or NFP	HOOPO 2022 Transform Award

Bronze • Best Brand Architecture Solution	MORNINGSTAR 2023 Transform Award

Bronze • Best Creative Strategy in the Tech Sector	CALLSTACK 2022 Transform Award

Gold • Best Brand Development Project	HOOPO 2022 Transform Award

Bronze • Best Visual Identity �in the Tech Sector	CALLSTACK 2022 Transform Award

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Core team

Ian�Barnard
STRATEGY DIRECTOR TORONTO, CA
A brand and marketing consultant with hands on experience in scaling companies, Ian creates brand strategies that deliver marketing results. With 10 years of experience in the non-profit and retail industries, he specializes in data-driven marketing strategy and brand management for online businesses who want to grow.

Felicia Rosenzweig
STRATEGY DIRECTION LONDON, UK
A senior consultant and advisor with strong and diverse experience in customer / employer brand, marketing, innovation and customer / employee experience across sectors and geographies. Deep experience in financial services (insurance, banking, asset management) and FMCG, amongst many other industries, leading projects around the world that span strategy, value proposition, transformation, implementation and culture change. Until mid-2019, she was a Partner with Prophet in London, where she has lived and worked since 2010 after relocating from New York.

Turlough�Fortune
CREATIVE DIRECTOR LONDON, UK
Turlough Fortune is a creative director and graphic designer specialising in brand and identity design. He began his career at renowned agency Pentagram, before progressing as a freelance designer at several prominent London studios. Between 2016 and 2019 he worked on the company-wide rebranding of British multinational telecommunications company BT and was involved in the change managment process across the business. Turlough takes a strategic approach to design and has over 10 years of experience across a variety of sectors.

Faisal Siddiqui
FOUNDER TORONTO, CA
A board level strategist for Fortune 500s, start-ups & non-profits, Faisal delivers high performance brand & marketing strategies that help organisations scale & speed up. A specialist in developing positioning strategies that perform. He has over a decade of experience leading large-scale engagements in over 15 countries around the world. His clients include Google, Shell, Morningstar, Callstack, ABB Formula E Racing, Al Jazeera, Turkish Airlines, and Wahed. Before founding his own firm, he spent 11 years living and working in London, UK and was last the Senior Director of Strategy at Prophet.

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Core team

Toby Ingram
COPYWRITER LONDON, UK
Toby is a brand and strategy writer who converts strategic thinking into clear, human language, building distinctive stories, messages and communications. Toby has written for a great range of businesses in many sectors. Today, his clients range from luxury hoteliers, to UK Government investment funds and Peruvian fruit growers. In the recent past he has written strategy and delivered campaigns for the Toronto Star, BP, Samsung and Nat West Bank.

Dan Mcallister
COPYWRITER LONDON, UK
Dan is a writer. First, as a national journalist writing for The Financial Times, The Independent, The Times, Evening Standard and Daily Mail. Then, as a conceptual copywriter for creative agencies in London, New York and Bristol, working on global brands from Sony to Spotify, and everything in between. Dan is a writer. He has helped businesses from Christie's to Nestlé get their story straight, and express their value and difference, in a language that provokes, informs and inspires..

Jean-Remy Benat
ART DIRECTOR TORONTO, CA
Jean Remy is an experienced Designer and Art Director with over 7 years experience in digital design, brand identity, editorial design, motion design, video editing. He consistently strives to strike the perfect balance between great design and consumer experience, and has worked with Puma, Mozilla, and Digiphy. Jean Remy’s strengths are (but not limited to), digital design, brand identity, editorial design, motion design, video editing.

Iain Montgomery
INNOVATION DIRECTOR TORONTO, CA
Iain has spent the past decade helping established organizations identify, design and launch the breakthrough new propositions critical for their long term futures.

CREATIVE BUSINESS COMPANY

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Our work gives

customers new reasons

to believe and employees new reasons to belong

CASE STUDIES

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We serve as global brand guardians

for an investment ratings giant

BRAND Morningstar SECTORS Brand Strategy Brand Campaigns Brand Architecture

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BRAND Morningstar SECTORS Brand Strategy Brand Campaigns Brand Architecture

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BRAND Morningstar SECTORS Brand Strategy Brand Campaigns Brand Architecture

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BRAND Morningstar SECTORS Brand Strategy Brand Campaigns Brand Architecture

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We helped an ethical investment platform grow beyond their base

BRAND Wahed Invest SECTORS Brand Strategy Visual Identity Brand Campaign

CASE STUDY

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BRAND Wahed Invest SECTORS Brand Strategy Visual Identity Brand Campaign

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BRAND Wahed Invest SECTORS Brand Strategy Visual Identity Brand Campaign

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PURPOSE
PROMISE
PILLARS
PERSONALITY

ACHIEVEMENT Invest in yourself
Set goals and reach them with easy to follow plans, guides and progress trackers that let you know how far you are on your journey
Encouraging but not judgmental

ACHIEVEMENT Invest in yourself
We make investing easy to understand, simple to get started and available to everyone with no minimum investments and low tees
Quietly evangelical

STABILITY Rock solid stocks
Instead of risky crypto and day trading we spread your money across a number of dependable, long-term investments proven to outperform the market
Solid but not soulless

ETHICS Make your principles pay
Instead of risky crypto and day trading we spread your money across a number of dependable, long-term investments proven to outperform the market
Solid but not soulless

DEBT-FREE Break up with your bank
It you're in debt, you can't build wealth. Learn how Wahed is building a financial future where banks partner with (not profit oft their customers
Courageous & contrarian

Wealth. It's not just for the wealthy.
Wealth for those who work for it Make your money work as hard as you do, simply and responsibly, with Wahed

PROPOSAL

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We helped

a B2B software developer stand out and drive sales

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BRAND Callstack Engineers SECTORS Brand Strategy Visual Identity Digital Design

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BRAND Callstack Engineers SECTORS Brand Strategy Visual Identity Digital Design

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WHO
WHAT
WHY

CROSS-PLATFORM CAPABLE Build across multiple platforms and operating systems
Unified UI language on every platform Javascript runtime environment Cross-platform functionality Instant cross-platform updates iOS/Android/web support for wearables and niche platforms

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION Simplify team structures and reduce duplication of work
One programming model Improve end-to-end development skills and capabilities Breakdown knowledge and communication silos with a single programming model Access an ecosystem of expert Open Source community knowledge

FASTER WITH FULLSTACK Develop both the front and back-end in one language
Universal Javascript/Typescript front and back-end frameworks Trusted & maintained Open Source libraries Faster user pageloads with server-side rendering Dynamic code loading and global OTA updates

BOOST APP PERFORMANCE Find and fix issues that stop your apps from performing
Diagnose and reduce technical debt Perform holistic performance audits and code base optimizations Remove technology and process obstacles Futureproof your tech stack Upskill and train your teams

Total Software Engineering Consultancy
We transform organizations and teams through transformative apps
Most software is built in silos. This leads to duplication of teams, processes and work. That’s why at Callstack we build apps in the React Universe - our cross-platform and full-stack tech stack that combines different languages and frameworks into a single programming model. The result is transformative apps that transform the way you work.

HOW

PROPOSAL

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We helped a medtech SaaS company get famous beyond fertility

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BRAND EngagedMD SECTORS Brand Strategy �Visual Identity

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BRAND EngagedMD SECTORS Brand Strategy�Visual Identity

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SLOGAN
PROMISE
POSITIONING

Deliver better staff and patient experiences Give carers the time and space to do what they do best and deliver better quality care to more people.
Allow for more efficient and effective consultations Improve patient satisfaction with seamless, personalized processes Put more power into patients’ hands by completing pre and post-treatment activities from home See more patients without having to hire more staff

Save time by automating admin Automate patient education and admin processes to deliver meaningful time savings to front line staff.
Get patients into your EMR workflow instantly and effortlessly Make in-person classes a thing of the past Cut out time-consuming paperwork Let our smart robot handle patient reminders and routine interactions

Reduce risks and improve compliance Ensure patients understand their procedures and comply with necessary rules and regulations.
Ensure every form is completed correctly with no missing signatures Embedded knowledge checks to ensure patient comprehension Provide an audit trail showing patients meet full compliance before and after treatment Reduce the legal risk of lawsuits and malpractice claims due to human error or oversight

Make your medical practice run like magic Take the friction out of front-line care with an intuitive software platform that evolves with your needs.
Works seamlessly with your existing EMR and workflows Beautifully crafted, simple to get started, easy to use Custom-developed for your medical practice’s area of expertise Frequent updates with new features and integrations to meet your evolving needs

Helping carers carry on caring
We help carers operate at the top of their license by automating up to 56 minutes of education and admin work per patient.
EngagedMD automates patient education and admin, two time-intensive functions that get in the way of carers actually caring for people. Medical practices that use EngagedMD save up to 56 minutes of patient time per day. Which means more time for high-quality consults, more space to support patients, and more moments to breathe. The effect? Happier staff taking better care of more people. What would you do with an extra hour a day?

PILLARS

PROPOSAL

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We helped a social fintech reposition for accelerated growth

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BRAND Hoopo SECTORS Brand Strategy�Naming�Visual Identity

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SLOGAN
ABOUT US

From donations to dividends
We’ve created an investment - not a donation - model. Micro entrepreneurs get the investment they need to succeed and you get a healthy return on investment, making Hoopo a sound financial choice and a sound moral one too.

From aid to employment
Donations create dependency. We think there’s a better way. We put your kindness where it counts, creating jobs that transform poverty-stricken communities into thriving social enterprises.

From bloated to lean
When you donate to a charity, nearly half the money doesn’t make it to the field. Our admin fees are zero. So all of your money funds micro investments that deliver a macro impact that lift up communities for good.

Re-defining charity from pity to paychecks
Hoopo is a social enterprise that transforms impoverished communities through the power of work. Our unique investment model creates jobs that break the reliance on handouts, while delivering a return to our supporters as well. We put your kindness where it counts.

PRINCIPLES

PROPOSAL

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