Challenger to winner
Just got back from a lovely meal at Boulcott St Bistro with some powerful Wellington CEOs. Apart from figuring that the Lions are due for a great season because the ‘Canes were so awful (hey, we got to the NPC finals last time), there were some superb conversations on a wide range of business topics - e.g. infrastructure economics, having the right government minister in your industry, the basic rightness of being honest business people in a world full of ratbags, and so on. Yes, hardly riveting to some people, but meat and drink for us boss-types. Sincere thanks to our hosts - you know who you are - for a great evening.
For me, the best conversation of the evening was prompted by a guest who challenged our host: (I paraphrase) ‘What do you do if you’re the challenger brand, now you’ve won?’ Our host had the perfect answer - ‘Redefine your target market.’
If your whole organisational ethos is based on beating the big fellah, your advertising strategy is based on being the cheeky upstart, your whole modus operandi is being fresh and new, and you end up with the largest market share - suddenly you become establishment, the tall poppy who needs to be cut down to size, the nasty ogre who has a devious agenda. Think about Microsoft - the great upstart of the PC era, sued for antitrust behaviour; think about Google - morphing into the boogie monster of the internet; think about TradeMe - the Kiwi internet battler darling now dominating the classified ads space.
Our host tonight had it right - if your whole ethos is about being the challenger and you succeed, you need to find a bigger fish to challenge, or you lose who you are and what made you a winner. Redefine your target - take on an even bigger challenge, set another impossible goal. Stir the blood!
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May 8th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
No-one ever got anywhere “big” without setting goals or constantly challenging themselves. I really like this post Jim because it re-iterates that it is no different for the clever corporate no matter the size or place in the market.
From experience with working in both start-ups and larger corporates it means having a culture that embraces changes and sees it as a asset rather than a burden.
May 8th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
[…] A:”Redefine your Target market” […]