Nobody wants to be told that they are drinking their own Kool-Aid. But more often than not, that’s the case. Every brand, challenger or giant, needs to define what they do and why they do it. Brand positioning does just that.

Unless you’re fat, happy and alone at the top of your category, you’re likely battling giants of some kind. You’re a challenger. You’re forced to turn constraints into opportunities by outthinking the competition. 

From off-menu food items to exclusive turndown services, brands small and large have been keeping their best benefits on the DL for their most devout followers.

The art of rejecting the masses in order to attract your most ardent fans. We all have friends that aren’t a good fit in our lives. Guess what? Your brand faces the same problem. 

From infrastructural changes to car sharing to straddling buses, challenger brands are taking a stand against transportation methods that have remained largely unchanged since Henry Ford came rattling out of his garage. 

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little bit of extra.” When you make a powerful operational change that becomes part of your DNA, it can be the drive your team needs to try harder than their competition. 

How do empowered challengers make their brand ethos inherently sharable? Simple. By tapping into what customers of challenger brands care about most. Here are four truths challenger brands never forget when building tribes.

We’ve been thinking a lot about briefs lately. No, not the cotton variety with the stretchy waistband. There’s a misguided belief that an open-ended brief will liberate creative minds and lead to blue sky thinking.  

Not having a positioning statement is bad, but not nearly as egregious as having an ineffective one that you deem to be good. The reason for the latter: denial. 

Crystal balls rarely work in marketing. None of us can truly forecast what’s going to happen 10 days from now. But there are eight percolating trends that are worth noting. And all indications are that they’re here to stay.

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Kristen Groos Richmond, Co-Founder of Revolution Foods, talking about finding a niche in a forgotten industry. 

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Jeff Sheely, Co-Founder of UrbanStems, talking about over-delivering no matter what the cost.

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Jerome Hiquet, founder of Tough Mudder, talking about weeding out the masses through trial by fire (literally).

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Miki Agrawal, founder of Thinx, talking about turning the feminine hygeine industry on its head. 

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Mark Seiler, founder and owner of Maine Root Sodas, talking about keeping up the momentum after starting his business.

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Tom Kartsotis, founder of Shinola Detroit, talking about the importance of authenticity.

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Katie Forrest and Taylor Collins, Founders/Owners of EPIC Provisions, talking about going with their gut.

Another installment in the Empowered Challenger interview series featuring Shauna R. Martin, Founder and CEO of Daily Greens on fueling her brand's growth.

If you’re a challenger brand, business owner, entrepreneur, marketer, or just someone who wants to get a deep dive into the latest in their industry, attending is a must. If you already bought your badge, or a badge fell in your lap, lucky you! You’re golden. If you’re badgeless this year, here are a few tips.

SEO can make or break your visibility online—visibility which is imperative for every brand, challenger or industry leader. So what happens if your smaller brand just doesn’t have the beef of your larger competitors to magically appear first in search results?

There are certain things you just don't hear people say. You don't hear anyone say they are going hunting for “animals." So why do marketers keep saying they are targeting “millennials?” 

Programmatic has helped make a media buying process that was done manually more efficient by removing the need for human negotiations, manual insertion orders and any human error that could happen. Humans...so passé...

Much like how we’ll match our own behavior to those around us, we like to know that other people are buying certain products or services before we buy in ourselves. Challenger brands build tribes of customers that think the way they do.