Winning the Brand

Winning the brand relevance competition requires finding the right “must have,” bringing it successfully to market and then growing the resulting business. The problem is that success breeds competitors, and the benefits of pioneering a new category or subcategory can be short-lived. A key step is to create barriers such as ongoing innovation, a large group of satisfied or even passionate customers, proprietary technology and preempted distribution. 

The ultimate barrier is to become the exemplar of the new category or subcategory, the brand that represents it in the minds of the customers. The exemplar brand is, by definition, relevant in that it will always be considered when an option from that category or subcategory is sought.