Steal this if you want your brand to win...

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INTRODUCTION

Want to know one of the biggest mistakes brands make? Only hiring people with ‘relevant experience’. Over the last year we have worked with a variety of brands at Defiant, and irrespective of their category or stage of growth, the same question rears its ugly head.

“Please can you provide some more category-relevant experience”

This question is not only lazy but it is limiting and dangerous. Let me explain why category expertise can be dangerous and why stealing from beyond it, can prove lucrative…

EXPERIENCE IS YOUR ENEMY

Don’t get me wrong if you're growing a brand you should hire some people with category experience. Hiring a marketing team with connections to retailers and distributors, for a food & drink brand, is essential. Hiring someone who can navigate the legal loopholes, of an alcohol brand, is beyond helpful. And hiring a CEO with a proven track record, in your category, can be invaluable.

But becoming blinded by experience, and only hiring for it, can be dangerous to brand growth. Especially when it comes to defining your strategy, communications & branding. Why? Well, the problem with people only hiring people with category experience is you become blinkered by it. You end up with an approach that too often falls into the tropes of your category and never seeks inspiration, beyond it.

Last year we worked with a wonderful supplement brand to help them redefine their brand positioning and identity. One thing that became immediately apparent is that most brands in the category tended to focus on the same stuff (ie simplicity & ease). Why? Well, these brands had all hired experts from the supplements and wellness space. Experts who tended to all think the same.

Ever noticed how fintech brands all tend to use the same quirky names and bold colour palettes? Ever noticed how most alcohol brands tend to focus on provenance or lifestyle in their comms? Or ever noticed how beauty brands’ tend to follow a formula? Yep, you guessed it - overhiring for category experts.

Now if you are a scaleup or challenger brand, the above can prove to be incredibly dangerous. Because if you are competing in a highly competitive category such as sweets, alcohol or haircare. A category saturated with far bigger brands that outspend & outshot you. Then the most dangerous thing you can do is to have a strategy, branding & communications that ends up being too similar to them.

The truth is if you cannot outspend these bigger brands, you need to find ways to outsmart them. You need to play by your own rules, break category norms and be inventive. And one of the best ways to do this? ‘Steal’ from others.

STEAL TO WIN

Some of the most successful brands are brilliant at one thing above else, stealing from outside of their category.

Liquid Death has grown from $3M to $263m in revenue in just four years. Its founder had no real experience in the bottled water category and actively stole from beyond it. Their whole brand ‘steals’ from the alcohol category and breaks every norm of the bottled water category, they compete in. It’s the reason their can, communications and behaviours are so distinctive and effective.

NICE, the UK’s fastest-growing brand wine brand, was also founded by people with no experience in the alcohol category. Instead, they took a different approach and stole from the lifestyle category. It’s the reason their pink cans are so disruptive, in a category that at the time only sold mini bottles that all looked the same. It’s how they identified and owned different occasions (ie festivals and train travel). And it’s how they unlocked new partnerships for distribution (ie Virgin Atlantic).

Red Bull, one of the most successful brands of all time, is an avid stealer. The product itself was stolen from the health category (it was invented by a Thai Pharmacist). Its brand also steals from the entertainment industry, operating more like a media brand than a drinks brand.

I could go on to relay countless examples, but I won’t. As i hope the point is clear. If you want to win, you need to break norms, ditch the obsession with experience, and seek to steal from beyond your category

Want to know the best way to steal for your brand and unlock 10x growth? Well, this is just one of many tools we teach in our strategy masterclass. Perfect for founders or strategists working for established brands.

The next cohort will be going live on April 29th. The six-week masterclass will help you and your team 10x your strategy skills and brand growth. Want to find out more? Click on the link below.

CHECK OUT THE STRATEGY MASTERCLASS

CONCLUSION

Look I get it. Hiring solely for experience feels safe & secure. It can also help navigate company politics as it reassures your boss, founder or investors. Yet whilst whilst experience is invaluable in some roles it can be so damn dangerous and limiting if it becomes an obsession.

If you are outspent and outshouted in your category, you need to outsmart. Simply if you want to win the game, you need to play by different rules. And one of the best ways to do this? Steal from outside of your category.

If you are a founder building something new, or working for a scaleup or challenger brand…why not get in touch with us? At Defiant we have helped countless brands break the rules, steal from outside their category, and unlock exponential growth.

Drop us an email to: [email protected] 

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Expect big thinking & small typ0s because i'm #MadeByDyslexia 

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Will Poskett

Co-Founder Defiant