Most full service advertising agencies back away from consulting on the tough choices demanded by tough times — like whether to accelerate or put on the brakes. Not Gigante Vaz. We specialize in Challenger Brands, and offer a unique degree of insight and experience.

Brand leaders are resource rich but risk averse. That’s their weakness. Challenger Brands outsmart rather than outspend; they need to be nimbler, faster, and way more resourceful.  They need to know everything there is to know about their customers: how to get attention, gain trust, and initiate relationships.

Economic downturns can present significant opportunities to brands that are willing to think differently, take some chances, and reject the status quo. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Seen from the perspective of the three core Challenger Brand principles, the economic crisis offers a few silver linings.

Out-think rather than out-spend the competition.
The current economic environment pretty much removes the prospect of outspending the competition as a viable business strategy.  And the new business reality presents a familiar environment for Challenger Brand marketers–a familiarity that may well be exploited as an advantage.

Challenger Brands created themselves by learning how to succeed without the comfort and reassurance of being able to outspend their competitors – by working harder and out-thinking their rivals.  Those other brands–the ones who grew fat and unresponsive in the security of their well-funded marketing budgets–will find themselves, like the dinosaurs, faced with a changed environment and without the DNA to adapt.

Become a Thought Leader in the category.
As the traditional ways of doing business change in response to the changing environment, the ties between brands and their customers will evolve as well.  The time-honored relationships and accepted perceptions in a wide variety of product and service categories will be re-cast by fundamental changes in business dynamics.

This newly-leveled playing field offers Challenger Brands the opportunity to re-write the rules of their category by seizing the mantle of leadership and re-defining the brand/customer dynamic to their own ends.

Break from the conventions of the category.
While many things about the current business environment remain unclear, the one thing that is indisputable is that the way things are done will change.  As thought leaders, Challenger Brands look for ways to exploit the status-quo by selectively breaking the accepted conventions of their category.  And, it is interesting to note that these breaks can be easier – and costs less – when the conventions themselves are changing as well.

The ideal time for Challenger Brands to make their move is when things are in flux, when the lead brands are flailing, when it’s open season on new ideas. That time is now.