Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

234 BRAND RELEVANCE
events ” every six to eight weeks to introduce something new,
such as an acquisition, partnership, or product, and to talk about
the future direction of the industry and its role in that future.
As noted in Chapter One , when creating a new category or
subcategory, marketing strategists have a new responsibility
in addition to managing their brand. They need to defi ne and
actively manage the category or subcategory, a task that is usually
assumed away. However, in dynamic markets the category
and subcategory defi nitions are very much in play and the challenge
is to be the driver of the dynamic. We turn fi rst to the category
or subcategory defi nition, which provides the platform for
its management. In doing so, a set of eighteen dimensions that
have been used to defi ned categories or subcategories will be discussed
and illustrated in order to provide a baseline feel for the
defi nitional challenge. Finally, some comments and suggestions
will be introduced about how categories and subcategories can
be managed including how the underlying substantial and transformational
innovations can be leveraged.
Defining a New Category or Subcategory
Managing a category or subcategory, like managing a brand,
starts with a defi nitional task in which the priority aspirational
associations, usually one to fi ve in number, are identifi ed. This
defi ning set often is selected from a larger aspiration association
set. As noted in Chapter One , the priority association set should
differentiate the category or subcategory from alternatives,
appeal to customers, deliver functional and, if possible, self -
expressive and emotional benefi ts, and drive choice decisions. It
should defi ne the category or subcategory so that the boundaries
are as clear as possible, especially if the category or subcategory