Disruptive branding as a marketing concept involves integrating new concepts, products, or services that change consumer behavior and the market substantially. As such, this approach is more familiar than branding since it not only sells a product but also transforms the market context. Since clients are getting wiser and competition increasing, disruptive branding has emerged as a necessity for brands that are looking to connect with their consumers. In this article, the author presents the idea of disruptive branding and discusses its relevance, approaches to the execution process, potential difficulties, and noteworthy cases.
Disruptive branding on the other hand is narrowly defined as brand identity that seeks to shift the boundaries in any given industry. This strategy often fits with the introduction of new technologies, the exploitation of new marketing communication tools, or the identification of new business models for targeting consumers’ attention as well as for reshaping market prospects. In terms of strategic behavior, disruptive brands are oriented towards risk-taking and change, they are not followers.
To effectively implement a disruptive branding strategy, companies should consider several key approaches:
Existing competitive analysis is critical in this phase of considering any market disruptions that may be possible today. Products should identify those aspects of consumers’ daily lives that may be painful or get attention but are not currently satisfactory served. It can identify possibilities not yet met in the market that this brand can address through more creative solutions.
Pioneers of technological trends are usually associated with disruptive brands. Organizations should allocate resources for research to come up with products or services that will revolutionize the market. For instance, Tesla has heralded the manufacture and use of electric cars, innovation, and sustainability as the key drivers of change in the automobile market.
I was not aware that storytelling was such a significant component of disruptive branding. The suggestions for brands are as follows consumer emotions and feelings should be communicated in an elaborative manner. When communicating the vision and mission of brands, there is usually a call to action with the audience to support the given brand.
Social sites are useful to disruptive brands since streaming to customers is made easy through online platforms. Brands should use such channels for sharing great content, communicating with consumers, and creating a community based on brand values.
Partnering with other innovative firms or celebrities can greatly increase the impact of a brand’s message and extend its target demographic. It promotes possible joint efforts to create programs that have high visibility and high credibility.
Many disruptive brands are willing to experiment with customers in their communication messages. This could include out-of-the-box television commercials or street marketing strategies that grab people’s attention and make them talk. For example, Dollar Shave Club began gaining massive attention with a humorous launch video that debunked conventional shower razor advertisements and portrayed an engaging story most people could easily identify with.
While disruptive branding offers numerous advantages, it also presents several challenges:
Several brands have successfully implemented disruptive branding strategies:
The company swept through the hospitality market by offering residents the opportunity to rent out their homes as apartments or hotel rooms. Airbnb was able to disrupt conventional hotels and offer the differentiation that allowed it to enter a new segment, which wanted to have a more genuine traveling experience for less money.
Netflix for example displaced traditional entertainment by moving from DVD rentals to streaming which is a complete change of stratum for the consumer. The company’s original programming then not only strengthened its place in the industry but also changed the way people watch their television around the world.
Today, Tesla has done nothing less than revolutionize the automotive industry with a focus on electric cars and green energy. By such measures as using technology in a pioneering approach to consumer market selling, and sustained emphasis on environmentally friendly products, Tesla Motors has established itself as a renowned automobile company in the production of energy products.
Warby Parker has been able to challenge the conventional practices of the eyewear industry by selling prescription glasses exclusively online at low prices but brands fit. One was the ‘home try-on’ program wherein customers could place orders for frames, and then try them on, before going against the grain of the conventional form of selling sunglasses.
Dollar Shave Club’s comical ad strategy brought about competition as a force to the traditionally dominated razor market of companies such as Gillette. Subscribing for the delivery of razor handles at a cheaper cost and then removing consumer irritation towards traditional purchasing, Dollar Shave Club gained significant popularity and regular customers.
Disruptive branding can be therefore understood as a radical brand management approach that enables companies to upset existing paradigms and develop brand relationships with consumers. Heralding innovation great storytelling and powerful marketing ideas accompanying distinctive partnering, brands create their niches in the exceedingly cogent world. Those businesses that are prepared to bet big whilst remaining loyal to the business’s values will not only derive a competitive advantage but also reinvent industries for generations.