Eating the big fish - Adam Morgan

Years ago, Avis was a little fish in the car rental industry. Fearing the company would be swallowed up if they didnt "try harder," Avis boldly announced its #2 status to the world through advertisingand the rest is history. Why has this approach become a marketing legend? Because there are more people who can relate to being #2, 3, or even 4, than can claim they know what its like to be the Big Fish.

There are plenty of little fish out there, circling in schools around the brand leaders they so desperately wish to surpass. Squeezed by new competition, a retreating consumer, and aggressive retailing practices, marketers of second and thirdrank brands are struggling to survive in a business environment where they have fewer resources and less control than ever before. But instead of watchingand copyingevery move the Big Fish makes, these "Challenger" brands need their own set of marketing rules if they have any hopes of staying afloat and competing effectively against the leader.

Eating the Big Fish is the first book that sets out to define those rules. Adam Morgan offers an innovative mental and strategic framework for those who find themselves in this new, hostile middle ground, looking for aggressive growth against the market leader. Morgan, the Joint European Planning Director of TBWA (the international advertising agency behind the campaigns for such brands as Absolut vodka, Apple computers, and Sony Playstation), has examined in detail forty of the most successful Challenger brands of the last ten yearsnew or relaunched brands which have achieved rapid growth (and fame) with limited marketing resources. He outlines the reasons why Challengers must think differently in order to survive, offering handson advice, plentiful examples, and invaluable information to help a Challenger learn how to swim out of the shadow of the Big Fish.

At the heart of the book are the Eight Credos of Challenger BrandsMorgans analysis of the common marketing strands that these Challengers seem to share, which range in scope from the need to project who you are and what you believe in (#2, Build a Lighthouse Identity) to insights about the organizational structure and focus in such companies and brands (#8, Become IdeaCentered, Rather Than ConsumerCentered). Morgan fully analyzes each Credo, discussing in detail the marketing strategy and behavior of the specific Challenger brands that have shaped the rules. He provides case studies that include both his agencys clients and other wellknown brands, such as Lexus, Oakley, Fox TV, Energizer, Virgin Atlantic, Swatch, Nissan, and more. Morgan then draws the Credos together into a "Challenger Strategic Program" that can be applied to the readers own market and brand challenge, offering a proposed outline for a twoday OffSite Program that will attempt to kickstart the Challenger process for a core group within any marketing or management team. In addition, Morgan looks at the great Challengers of the last ten years who have gone on to become brand leaders, and shows how even the rules of brand leadership have changedwhy staying #1 now means, in fact, thinking and behaving like a #2.

Anyone can follow a leader. It takes a smart company to go up against the Big Fish, and Morgans innovative, strategic program will show even the littlest fish how to make a meal out of the competition.