As the middle market takes a battering in many sectors, size matters more than ever. It matters up and it matters down – because the positioning options themselves are becoming more extreme. You either expand to compete regionally or globally or you go the other way entirely and focus on specific opportunities.
In this presentation I look at why competitiveness is changing so much and what that means in terms of the options that brands now have. As you’ll discover, global brands are nowhere near as prevalent as you might think, and obscurity, in the right places, can actually be a credential. As I like to say, we’re entering an era of hyper-awareness: consumers are either hyper-aware of brands; or hyper-unaware of their existence. Both can be recipes for success.
Who is this presentation for?
This is a presentation for brand and business decision makers considering which way to leap as they look to evolve their brands for the competitive environments of tomorrow. Book this presentation if you’re curious to see where you are best positioned to grow. (It may not be where you think.)
Presentation outline
- The end of the middle – the middle market is dying, starved of profit and unable to pay its way in a world dominated by increasingly radical brand structures.
- The best place of three – with the middle market now a sink hole, there are three places left you can potentially prosper.
- Turn of the tide – markets ebb and flow in terms of their value and priority. Before you choose a position, understand how to read and navigate the market ‘tides’.
- The five real options – ultimately, there’s five choices left in terms of what type of brand you choose to be. I look at why they’re different, how they work and some great examples of just what’s possible.
- Finding the next balance – increasingly smart brand managers and owners are diversifying their risk by taking simultaneous brand positions.
- Competitive radicalisation – the next era of competitive positioning will focus less on market position and much more on the blending of attitudes that, until now, have been seen as incongruous.
Why this presentation?
Brands today have been led to believe the only way is up. This presentation challenges that assumption in a range of ways. It gives you new strategic options, and in so doing, enables you to think about how your various brands can be spread to provide customers with the best choice of experiences and to deliver your business the best returns for your brands individually and collectively.
Formats
This is an interactive keynote. I’ll lay out the options as I see them and break down the principles for each option along with my favourite examples. If you have room in your schedule, let’s add discussion time to talk through which places best suit your portfolio and how you will need to rebalance your portfolio and your strategies to get there.
