Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

WINNING THE BRAND RELEVANCE BATTLE 43
of the brand relevance strategy. It is not necessary to hold out
for a home run in the form of new categories. The reality is that
for every opportunity of creating new categories, such as a sports
TV channels or cruise ships, there are dozens of opportunities
for creating subcategories, such as a golf or tennis channel or
cruise ship for kids or singles. The inclusion of subcategories
gives the strategic thrust of the relevance model a wide scope.
Nearly every business can continuously be looking for subcategory
opportunities.
What is Coming
The next chapter will elaborate on the relevance concept.
Drawing on theories and fi ndings in social and consumer psychology,
the discussion will help us understand and use this
concept.
Chapters Three , Four, and Five consider the development of
new categories and subcategories in three very different industries
— retail, automobiles, and packaged goods. In describing
twenty or so case studies I will attempt to show where ideas
come from, how categories or subcategories are defi ned, why
competitors respond or fail to do so, what barriers are erected,
and the underlying causes of success or failure.
Chapters Six through Nine will examine how to create a
new category or subcategory. Four mission - critical tasks — fi nding
concepts, evaluating concepts, defi ning the category or subcategory,
and creating barriers to competitors — are discussed.
Readers for whom these chapters are of immediate practical
interest are welcome to skip directly to them.
Chapter Ten examines the other side of the coin. What is
the threat to fi rms facing emerging categories and subcategories
that are making their existing business areas vulnerable? How
do they best respond? Chapter Eleven details the characteristics
of an organization that will support innovation. Without an
organization that encourages and enables, creating substantial