Post by account_disabled on Mar 5, 2024 21:43:25 GMT -7
Why are brands working on the category? A brand is a symbolic reality in which functional, emotional and participation axes act. More and more brands aspire to generate a powerful position in the market by building a new category (or subcategory) around them. A category is a market reality that has a lot of symbolism: values, attributes, personality, rules of the game and meanings relevant to its audiences. It is no longer enough to compete with quality or price. Some organizations are working deeply on the variable of perceptions, an approach with significant influences on the management of a brand. Al Ries and Laura Ries claim that when you dominate a category you achieve an extremely powerful position (and they dedicated their second immutable rule of marketing to this). Nike The reasons for this strategy are easy to understand: the first positions in the market enjoy a lower image, more margins, a better relative position, greater preference and loyalty.This phenomenon is described in Zipf's Law (which takes its name by philologist George Kingsley Zipf), who states that in the current market the leading brands (that is, the winners) take almost everything. It is reminiscent of the behavior of the British electoral system, in which the voter exercises his right only for one candidate, and the winner represents the entire constituency.
It is enough to have 50% plus one vote to represent 100% of the votes (in a system known as first-past-the-post). Zipf extended this majority system to other areas. According to their measurements, the most used word in English is used ten times more than the tenth most used word, one hundred times more than the hundredth and, very significantly, a thousand times more than the word that occupies the thousandth position in the ranking of words. most used in this language. The result: occupying the first position is extremely better than occupying the second or third position. It seems like an all or Industry Email List nothing equation. According to a study by the advertising agency Young & Rubican on 40,000 brands in 44 countries across 70 variables, the leading brands stand out far above the rest of the brands in almost all variables. In the rest of the brands, the most efficient variables will probably be achieving an optimal quality-price ratio, taking advantage of the narrow differential in quality perception between the manufacturer's brand and the distributor's brand in some categories, and investing in more segmented own brands. Working correctly in a category generates a position of relative leadership, builds barriers to entry and offers a valuable offer to consumers.
It is an approach that goes beyond the idea of mere relevance (which should be about a topic, for a certain person, with a focus and at a certain time). Working on a category makes the competition irrelevant (thanks to blue ocean processes). Generating a category is a way of defining the market and makes it easier to manage visibility, perceptions and attitudes, and, at the same time, guarantees the visibility and energy of the brand. It is a strategy that we constantly see with brands like RedBull, Zara, Ikea, Whole Foods Market, BestBuy, Lekué... Creating a new category (or subcategory) requires identifying the main symbolic associations (from a rational, emotional and participation perspective), positioning, and generating entry barriers for new competitors through the product, communication or corporate behavior. In essence, it is a strategy with the following phases: Creation of the concept (defining associations) Highlight the advantages offered by the category of belonging Use a product or an idea as the backbone Compare with other examples and generate barriers to entry The challenge will be, therefore, for the brand to become the example thanks to a preferred status (which has nothing to do with being the generic brand, such a powerful position). This exemplarity involves constantly innovating, achieving sales leadership and working especially for the category (and not just for the bran.
It is enough to have 50% plus one vote to represent 100% of the votes (in a system known as first-past-the-post). Zipf extended this majority system to other areas. According to their measurements, the most used word in English is used ten times more than the tenth most used word, one hundred times more than the hundredth and, very significantly, a thousand times more than the word that occupies the thousandth position in the ranking of words. most used in this language. The result: occupying the first position is extremely better than occupying the second or third position. It seems like an all or Industry Email List nothing equation. According to a study by the advertising agency Young & Rubican on 40,000 brands in 44 countries across 70 variables, the leading brands stand out far above the rest of the brands in almost all variables. In the rest of the brands, the most efficient variables will probably be achieving an optimal quality-price ratio, taking advantage of the narrow differential in quality perception between the manufacturer's brand and the distributor's brand in some categories, and investing in more segmented own brands. Working correctly in a category generates a position of relative leadership, builds barriers to entry and offers a valuable offer to consumers.
It is an approach that goes beyond the idea of mere relevance (which should be about a topic, for a certain person, with a focus and at a certain time). Working on a category makes the competition irrelevant (thanks to blue ocean processes). Generating a category is a way of defining the market and makes it easier to manage visibility, perceptions and attitudes, and, at the same time, guarantees the visibility and energy of the brand. It is a strategy that we constantly see with brands like RedBull, Zara, Ikea, Whole Foods Market, BestBuy, Lekué... Creating a new category (or subcategory) requires identifying the main symbolic associations (from a rational, emotional and participation perspective), positioning, and generating entry barriers for new competitors through the product, communication or corporate behavior. In essence, it is a strategy with the following phases: Creation of the concept (defining associations) Highlight the advantages offered by the category of belonging Use a product or an idea as the backbone Compare with other examples and generate barriers to entry The challenge will be, therefore, for the brand to become the example thanks to a preferred status (which has nothing to do with being the generic brand, such a powerful position). This exemplarity involves constantly innovating, achieving sales leadership and working especially for the category (and not just for the bran.