Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

266 BRAND RELEVANCE
The challenge is to continue to innovate. If the brand
achieves the status of an exemplar, it is natural to create ongoing
innovations attached to the brand that can become part of
the defi ned dimensions of the category or subcategory. That will
make the category or subcategory a moving target and make it
harder for a competitor to become relevant. As the defi nition
evolves driven by brand innovations, the relevance challenge
will increase.
Chrysler did exactly that by continuously innovating over
time. Every two or three years there were signifi cant innovations
that raised the bar for competing fi rms. The driver side sliding
door, for example, changed the category parameters. Westin
followed the Heavenly Bed with the Heavenly shower and
accessories like soap and shampoo, which also raised the bar.
Key Takeaways
In creating a new category or subcategory, marketing strategists
need to position the category or subcategory as well as the
brand. It needs to be labeled or described, and its image needs
to be actively managed. Business strategists often overlook this
critical function.
A fi rm can position a category or subcategory based on
functional benefi ts driving a value proposition, such as by augmenting
the offerings with features or benefi ts, a combination
of benefi ts, functional design, and aesthetic design; providing
systems - based offerings or customer - involving offerings; targeting
segments; fostering customer intimacy; creating value, premium,
or new - generation offerings; aligning the offerings with
new applications or activities; and expanding the competitive
space. It can also be based on a customer relationship with a
category or subcategory that extends beyond functional benefi ts
to such dimensions as shared interests, personality, passion, or
social programs. Each provides a potential “ must have ” part of a
category or subcategory ’ s defi nition.