It's in their DNA to challenge the status quo of business. To challenge the idea that business exists only for profit.
Adam Morgan originally coined the challenger brand concept in his 1999 book "Eating the Big Fish". While this was before the founding of B Corp, a lot of the case studies are about brands that would later become B Corp.
Brands like:
Adam states that for a brand to be a challenger brand, it wasn't just about challenging the market leader in the industry, it was a state of mind. Challenger brands challenged everything that was considered the status quo in the business world. Typically, this challenge mentality lead to an increased success rate in challenger brands.
Throughout the book, Adam covers the characteristics that every challenger brand has that lead to increased success. Here are some of the top insights that I think B Corps can use:
Be clear about what you are challenging. Whether it is inequality in the workplace, climate change, or some other topic; make a monster out of it. Then rally your audience against that monster.
Success as a challenger brand comes through developing a very clear sense of who or what you are as a brand, and then projecting that identity intensely and consistently.
Create big, impactful acts or marketing ideas that capture the indifferent consumer's imagination and bring rapid re-evaluation of their image in the consumer's mind.
These are just a few of the insights that B Corps can use to be successful challenger brands.
Now get out there are challenge the world.