You Have To Love Underdog Brands

Don’t you love to root for the underdogs of this world? Throughout history we have had an affinity for the underdog. From the classic David vs. Goliath to Avis vs. Hertz, the underdog is revered and it is no secret that marketing experts like to use this brand personality to help promote products and services and gain market share through customer loyalty. That’s because underdogs will always be on a quest to grow and relate to their customers in new ways. They have to try harder to survive and thrive.

In 2009 the Journal of Consumer Research published a study, The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination Through Brand Biography, demonstrating how underdog brand biography (UBB) can increase purchase intentions, real choice and brand loyalty because consumers react positively when they see underdog aspects of their own lives reflected in brand products.

We all can identify with underdogs and that goes way back in our culture when we read stories like Cinderella and Robin Hood and then saw movies like the football legend, Rudy, and Rocky for the boxing world. We also know that there can be only one market leader per marketing category but there can be several contenders who struggle and persist in their endeavors. That’s why many identify with the struggle of the underdog.

Market leaders are “overdogs” or the ones perceived as having the top spot in the category and higher levels of public recognition and powerful allies who sometimes bully their way to success at the expense of the underdogs.

Another reason we all like underdogs is that they can provide us with choice. Market leaders sometimes become complacent believing that they already know what customers want and need. If they have the best products, product pipelines, experienced staff and the loyalty of a strong customer base these organizations tend to stop experimenting and adopt a classic “if it isn’t broken don’t fix it mentality”.

Underdogs can seize these opportunities to give customer’s an alternative choice and steal market share before market leaders even realize what happened. Just look at the phone business. While many iPhone users are passionate about everything Apple does there are a growing number of customers that want an alternative like an Android. What is so amazing is that Apple tries to hold on to its underdog brand status even when they clearly have become a market leader in most categories. They cleverly weave their start up story of having to compete with Microsoft and Windows to help keep this brand strategy alive so they can still benefit from being an underdog.

I love underdog brands because they are willing to go the distance and try everything they can to compete in the market even when the odds are against them. That’s when new ground can be broken and new strategies can be developed to promote products and services and provide the market with more choice. That’s when branding experts can really help their clients grow and prosper.