What Is a Market Challenger?

Market challengers are those companies that aggressively attack industry leaders or other competitors to expand their market share. These companies can be large companies that are second only to market leaders or those that make their opponents inconspicuous small company. As long as it is to expand market share, companies that launch attacks on other companies can be called market challengers. ^[1] Also refers to those companies that rank second, third, and later in the industry for market leaders. For example, companies such as Ford in the American automotive market and Pepsi in the soft drink market. If a company in a secondary position chooses a "challenge" strategy to challenge market leaders, it must first determine its own strategic goals and targets, and then select the appropriate Offensive strategy. That is, the company has increased its current market share with a positive attitude.

Market challenger

Right!

Market challengers are those companies that aggressively attack industry leaders or other competitors to expand their market share. These companies can be large companies that are second only to market leaders or those that make their opponents inconspicuous small company. As long as it is to expand market share, companies that launch attacks on other companies can be called market challengers. ^[1]

For market challengers, the problem of balancing the brand and sales is how to make the effect of the brand visible, because in the final analysis, the dispute between the sales department and the marketing department represented by sales and brand is because it is easy to measure, and the other One is not easy to measure. Therefore, how to make the effect of the brand visible is the key to effectively balancing the relationship between the brand and the sales volume. Especially for market challengers, only the combination of the brand and the sales volume can effectively combat the market leader's Strong brands and superior resources, and step by step to meet market followers.

In fact, companies in different positions and stages face different relationships between brands and sales levels. Generally speaking, in the market follower stage, it is more necessary to use sales to drive the brand, and in the market leader stage, it is more necessary to use brands. Drive sales, but the relationship between brand and sales is not so clear in the market challenger phase, as in the stalemate phase of protracted warfare, not as clear as the "enemy advances" phase and the "enemy advances" phase. At this stage, offense and defense are intertwined, it is difficult to distinguish. Negative offense is to give up opportunities. Negative defense is to give up hope. For market challengers, focusing on sales and neglecting brands is abandoning opportunities. Only at this stage and position, the brand and sales volume are more closely combined, and this is also the characteristics of market challengers. If they are not used well, they become weak points. If they are used well, they are advantages, and when they are used well. The key is how to make the effect of the brand visible, otherwise it is like just seeing how many records have been captured in the offense without considering the defense Save much strength, for how much time, so let's see the brand's look at the effect is like to see the role of the defense of the same, is not very easy, but is not no way.

1. Establishing a prestige brand is the first rule for brand effects.

The prestige brand is also called the Silver Bullet brand, which is a sub-brand that can be used to support or change the brand image of the parent brand, which is the image brand we often say. It is like inserting a wedge in an important position of the opponent's position. It can attract the opponent's attention and attract the opponent's strength. Second, it can increase its own initiative. Prestige brand has the same magic. The prestige brand can establish its own reputation in the market. This prestige can be high-quality, innovative, excellent in design, excellent in customer service, etc. The product of the prestige brand can be the same product as the parent brand product. It can be the same kind of product. For example, Samsung has established a reputation for exquisite design of its electronic products with mobile phones, which has improved the market position of the entire electronic product, while Sony has established its own reputation in product innovation with the Walkman. Prestige brands must reflect the company's most advantageous characteristics. Especially for market challengers, they must break the halo that surrounds market leaders and gain market initiative for themselves. Besides, prestige brands can also bring fame Effectively promote sales growth, and these can be directly felt by company personnel in the short term, so the effect of the brand can be seen, which has been confirmed by many companies that have established a brand of prestige, such as Hisense's entire prestige through inverter air conditioning The brand has established a high-tech image of its own home appliances, and the role of the brand has also been reflected in the increase in sales. Of course, there is also a lot of risk in it, and it can even be said that it is an action that can only be won and not lost, so you must play this card carefully. In short, establishing a prestige brand is an effective way to let the brand effect be seen.

2. Establishing a driving brand is the second rule for brand effectiveness.

A driving brand is a brand that can motivate consumers to make purchasing decisions. It directly targets sales, and reflects the reference factors of customers' purchasing decisions and factors related to their experience. We often say that special products belong to this category, but we Just armed with price alone, it is also called a popular product. It is like the guerrillas or propaganda teams that we send out, which can effectively curb the market influence of competitors and at the same time share our various costs. Prestige brands, like flags, can strengthen our momentum and contain competitors in momentum, while driving brands like propellants can quickly increase our market impact and contain competitors in popularity. For example, Kelon's Combine and Motorola's MOTO are driving brands, but the former is armed with price, while the latter is armed with fashion. These are factors that can make their target consumers make purchasing decisions. They Gathered popularity for the main brand, strengthened market impact, and brought obvious effects. For market challengers, the momentum is often suppressed by the previous market leaders, and the market impact and market popularity are often difficult to rival market followers. Therefore, by establishing prestige and driving brands, you can gain greater market initiative, and It can also effectively increase sales and make the effect of the brand more obvious. For market followers, it does nt make much sense to launch a prestige brand or a driving brand, because their main brand position is still not stable. For market leaders, launching a driving brand often hits market followers. It does not pose a direct threat to market challengers. The launch of prestige brands is often only to deal with the risks brought by industry changes. The actual market significance is very limited. Whether it is a prestige brand or a driving brand, it has the most effect on market challengers. obviously.

3. Brand audit is the third rule for brand effects.

Brand audit is a comprehensive and systematic inspection of the brand's consumption environment, mission objectives, strategy, health, and brand promotion. Its main purpose is to identify problems, capture opportunities, and provide action recommendations for increasing brand equity and improving company performance. Brand audits can be comprehensive, or a specific audit can be conducted on a certain aspect, which can provide background, ideas and evidence for market decisions. Through brand audit, you can estimate how much the resources invested in the brand have produced. What are the effects of these returns on the short-term performance of the company? Then compare the other aspects of investment returns and relevant data of competitors to see What is the true role of the brand and how much it contributes. For market challengers, brand auditing is more significant. It not only makes the brand's effect visible, but also immediately finds the gap with the market leader's brand and the advantages compared with market followers, and actively takes Countermeasures.

4. Brand extension is the fourth rule for brand effects.

Brand extension is also a way to see the effect of the brand. It can bring new products to the free ride with little increase in sales costs. It can also directly reflect the power of the brand. It has become the central growth strategy of many companies. This is especially true in the past ten years or so, as the increase in media and channel costs and fierce competition have made it more costly and risky to launch a new brand, which makes brand extension an ideal choice for corporate expansion, such as P & G The new global president Lafley s big brand strategy is because it s much easier to make big brands bigger than new ones, so the core of his Rejoice plan is brand extension, because this kind of The effect of the "small" method can be quickly reflected in performance, unlike the new brand risk, which does not require a certain cultivation period. However, the failure rate of brand extension is not low, but most of the final successes are brand extensions rather than new brands. Therefore, although the brand extension risks are large, the prospects are promising. It is like the implementation of ERP and other management software systems. The chance of failure is relatively high, but the ultimate winner must have implemented this system. Besides, brand extension is also the best proof of brand value. Especially for market challengers, it is very important to see the effect of the brand and the value of the brand. It is a necessary condition for the scientific and reasonable allocation of market resources.

5. Brand authorization is the fifth rule for brand effects.

Brand authorization, also known as brand license, refers to the granting of the brand owned by the authorized person to the authorized person. The authorized person engages in business activities (usually producing, selling a certain product or providing a certain service) as stipulated in the contract, and provides The authorizer pays the corresponding royalties, and at the same time, the authorizer provides guidance and assistance in terms of training and business management. For example, Disney has more than 4,000 brand-authorized companies worldwide. Its products range from the most ordinary ballpoint pens to watches worth 20,000 US dollars apiece, and the well-known cartoon brands Babudou and Snoopy are authorized to operate in China. Brand authorization can make the brand value more reflected on the basis of the complementary advantages between the licensor and the authorized party. For the licensor, it is equivalent to a profitable investment, but the risk it bears is very small. For market challengers, they can not only collect brand royalties, but also strengthen their brand's presence in the market and expand their scope of influence. This is also a way to see the effect of the brand.

6. Brand syndication is the sixth rule for brand effects.

Brand alliance is the establishment of a collaborative alliance between two or more brands to achieve complementary advantages. The joint brand can better indicate the quality of the product. It can either be a combination of two tangible products, or it can promote the two products to complement each other and be used independently of each other. Examples of co-branding are almost everywhere. American Airlines, Citibank, and MasterCard have joined forces to provide users with the same type of credit card. Most domestic credit cards are co-branded. The advantages of co-branding can not only reduce marketing costs, but also quickly transfer the connotation and image of an existing brand to another brand. In short, co-branding can quickly improve various aspects, so it is particularly attractive. . For market challengers, it can quickly increase the brand's influence and bring enthusiastic responses from the market. For example, the combination of Jianlibao and the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team has transferred the image connotation of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team to the Jianlibao brand and has been widely recognized in the market.