Avis | Why weakness can be a strategic superpower

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INTRODUCTION

Want to know one of the biggest mistakes in strategy today? An obsession with the future. Now before you begin to move this week’s newsletter into the trash folder, let me explain myself. You see whilst innovation & invention are generally great, when it comes to strategy some of the best lessons can be learnt by looking to the past. Don’t believe me? Well, let me show you what we can learn from one of the most iconic brand strategy pivots in history. Let me show you the strategy behind Avis…

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#1 A POINT OF DIFFERENCE

Some mistakingly believe that startups & scaleups are a relatively new phenomenon. That companies with radically new approaches, who disrupt legacy players, have only really been around over the last twenty years or so. In reality, startups & disruption are a tale as old as time. The invention of the printing press disrupted the biggest brand of the time…religion. Ford Motor Car disrupted the legacy horse industry. And Avis, our lesson for today, disrupted the American car rental category.

Throughout the 1950s & 1960s, Avis disrupted the legacy car rental category. What they realised, like all great startups, was that the world was changing. They realised that American consumers were travelling more frequently and they were increasingly travelling by Air (as it became more affordable). This understanding led them to disrupt the market leader Hertz, in two ways. First, they targeted American travellers rather than city dwellers. Second, they placed their car rental locations at Airports rather than in city centres.

Having such a clear point of difference enabled Avis to sidestep the category, carve out a niche and rapidly expand. It saw the company quickly open a number of new locations across America and rapidly attract a decent customer base. However whilst their revenue was rapidly growing the company faced a number of challenges. First, their rapid expansion was expensive and so they struggled to become profitable. Second, despite all this growth the company had only secured 2% market share. All of this would change, however, when Avis pivoted their brand into a radically bold new direction.

#2 EMBRACE WEAKNESS

Whilst the world of brands today is radically different from the 1960s, there is one thing that still prevails. Most brands believe that they need to show strength at all times & that they should never show any form of weakness. This approach can be dangerous, however. It too often leads brands to show up in a very generic way. It also doesn’t reflect the imperfect reality of brands, people and the world. And the inconvenient truth is people are savvy at seeing through this ‘perfectionism’ bullsh*t.

Avis was smart however and took a different approach. At a time when most American brands were claiming how big & brilliant they were Avis subverted not only the category but marketing as a whole. What did they do? They embraced their biggest weakness. They embraced the fact they were No2 in the market and reframed it as a positive. What was their strategy exactly? Well, it was an insanely clever one. Their positioning was “Because they were No2 in the market they had to work harder than anyone to succeed". This was translated into a brilliantly distinctive creative campaign “We try harder”. 

This strategy does three things brilliantly:

• People love an underdog and this strategy plays into this fact.

• It was a statement of intent (ie we will always work & try harder).

• It allowed them to steal fame from their biggest rival.

The final point above is a particularly important one I want to delve into it briefly for a second. Long-time readers of this newsletter will know I tend to bang on about one thing over and over again….Fame! As many of you now know fame is proven to be the single biggest driver of brand growth.

Avis achieved fame in an incredibly smart way. They positioned themself as No2 in the market and ‘fired shots’ at the market leader. This, in turn, forced Hertz to respond, join the conversation and allow Avis to steal some of the much bigger brands’ fame.

COMMUNITY SHOUT OUT

Thank you to both Dawn & Jasper who emailed me to say they love the newsletter last week 🙌. However unfortunately no shout-out this week as nobody shared the newsletter on Linkedin or Twitter. If you reading this and are outraged because you did, I apologise. Unless I am tagged in the post there is no chance I will be able to see it and in turn, share it.

So, want to get a shout-out to over 3,000 CMOs, CEOS & founders next week? Simply post this link on your LinkedIn or Twitter, tag me and write a few words about why you recommend Grow Club. The only way this newsletter can grow is if it you share it.

#3 INSIDE OUT

One of the biggest mistakes I see brands make is that they think brand strategy only influences external communications. Nothing could be further from the truth. A great brand strategy should guide all you do both inside and outside the company. And Avis is a brilliant example of this.

The inconvenient truth is that when Avis repositioned their brand around the idea of being ‘No2’ and ‘trying hard’…well they really did need to try harder. Their customer service was not always that great. And their cars were often not as clean as Hertz's. Yet this is exactly why their strategy was so powerful and important. Let me why explain below.

Their strategy was much more than a strapline or clever creative campaign. Before they even communicated the idea to consumers and the wider world, they began by getting their house in order. The idea of ‘trying harder’ was actually used as a rallying cry internally to inspire change in the company. It was presented at management meetings, toured at dealerships and every employee of the company was brought on board to make the strategy a reality.

One final question remains, did this strategy actually work? Massively. The company not only went on to become profitable for the first time in its history. It actually unlocked new levels of revenue and commercial growth.

CONCLUSION

Another week, another newsletter. Thanks as always for reading. To recap here are the three lessons we can learn from this week.

• First, whilst distinctiveness is more important than differentiation when it comes to brands, the same is not true when considering the wider company. Most great startups have one thing in common. They have found a real point of difference in the market.

• Second, consider flipping your greatest weakness into your greatest strength. Of course, this might not always be possible. However, if it is done well, it can be hugely effective and allow you to cut through the competition.

• Third, stop thinking that brand strategy only influences the external. A great brand strategy should operate both inside and outside a company.

Many thanks,

Will Poskett,
Founder of Defiant