Leader Brand Strategy

 

Hello. Lately we have had to put a lot of thought into leader-brand-strategy cases. There are big differences between the strategies of leader brands and those of their followers, and I saw no harm in sharing this rather special knowledge with you — after all, they say knowledge multiplies as you share it.

My dear friend and business partner Eren Özata once wrote an important piece on a similar subject (The 2.5 Rule in the Brand Game). As he noted there, the roles of leader brands, challenger brands, and follower brands (or brands — that is, “the others”) all differ.

The Consumer Chooses the Leader
You do not become a leader brand by declaring “I am the leader.” The consumer decides who the leader brand is, and this is an important point in leader brand strategy. In the world of computers, IBM is the leader; in mobile telecoms, Vodafone; in dairy, Danone. Neither they nor their rivals can claim otherwise — to do so would be absurd.

What a Leader Does

• Tells consumers its philosophy of life and lets them dream.
• Leader brand strategy is geared toward developing the category.
• Tries to solve the problems of the sector and to be the pioneer of change within it.
• Brings its strengths and the areas rivals cannot reach to the fore (for example, the unmatched subscriber base that only the market leader holds).
• Studies the product and category moves of rivals carefully and responds in a fitting tone. If a new product or service is involved, it develops it without losing time, using its size advantage to keep rivals from getting ahead.
• Continuously produces new products and services.
• Produces “know-how” for the sector.
• Tells success stories; it feeds off its past.
• Tells dreams about the future; it feeds off the future.
• Tries to solve social problems, acts responsibly, and shows that it gives part of what it earns back to society.
• Appears in the biggest and most eye-catching way, wherever it should be seen.

What a Leader Does Not Do

• Does not signal to consumers that it cares about the rival, and does not respond to jabs. In its communication materials and press statements it does not name or imply the rival, does not sit at the same table, and does not step into the same ring. For example, when a challenger runs ads daring the leader into a head-to-head comparison, the leader simply does not show up to that fight.
• Flaunts its size but is not arrogant (depending on the sector, a little swagger is fine).
• Does not strain to be seen everywhere. Where it would appear smaller than, or behind or below, its rival, it does not appear at all.

So while leader brand strategy looks like this, what do the following brands do? That is the subject of another article…

Have a great weekend, everyone — and Goodjobs!