I was asked recently to do a competitive review for a client of mine. One of the competitors I reviewed was comparatively new to the market. As such, the company positioned as a challenger brand.

Challenger brands recognize that they don’t have the years of experience or the volume of successes of their competitors (like my client did). So they adopt an approach that challenges. 

This is not a new positioning tactic. I’ve seen it many times before. And yet, I’m still struck by how shortsighted it can be if not approached correctly.

Challenger brands too often believe that, in order to lift themselves up, they have to disparage their competitors. In this case, the challenger attempted to sow seeds of doubt about its more experienced competitors (which included my client) by portraying them as staid and even out-of-touch. 

Fear and anxiety suck as branding tactics

There is a real danger when you choose to spin your story in a way that makes it sound like your competitors are behind the times and even incompetent (this really happened).

Even though you trumpet your solution as the way to avoid the purported trap of your competitors, you have done it by creating fear and anxiety for your prospects.

Fear and anxiety are powerful short-term motivators. People don’t want to make bad decisions. So you get their attention. But what price do you pay for that attention?

The product category I’m talking about is a solution that is a considered purchase. In other words, it’s not an impulse buy like a candy bar. It is a solution that takes a significant investment and can be difficult to undo if you had second thoughts. So, as you would imagine, prospects would do their research. 

Of course, once they started doing that research, prospects would discover that the spin of the challenger brand was just that. Spin. There were real reasons to go with a more seasoned solution. 

This is where things can backfire. Your challenger brand becomes associated with all that fear, anxiety, and negativity. And while it did initially get you the attention you craved, it eventually works against you.

And turning up the volume doesn’t work, either. The more you focus on the negative, the more your prospects become numb to it. After all, nobody likes an extra dose of fear and anxiety.

Don’t be mean

There is nothing wrong with being a challenger. All new entrants to a market are naturally challengers to the established brands.

So how do challenger brands succeed? Don’t be mean. 

Seriously. Don’t sow fear and anxiety. Think about people or brands in your life that have done that. They suck, right?

Here is how to approach the market. Don’t position against someone or something. Position yourself for someone or something.

Really focus on those you hope to serve. Understand their fears and aspirations, Then show how your brand works to allay those fears or helps them work toward those aspirations. This will do a couple of things. First, it shows them that your brand is focused on them rather than focused on disparaging your competitors. And second, really focusing on them forces you to clarify what’s really defining and differentiating about your brand.

Do this and prospects will love your brand. Because you're not defining your brand by looking outside, identifying what you’re not (‘We’re not like our competitors”). Instead, you’re defining your brand by looking inside. Deep inside. You’re defining yourself by what you are to those you hope to serve. And there is no more powerful way to position than that.