Social movements have a lot to tell us about disrupting a category and building a challenger brand.
It tells us how we can be a Martin Luther King of a category by thinking like an Evangelist.
Evangelists do not advertise or sell; they build movements.
They understand people’s frustration over prevailing practices, leverage collective anger and discontentment and offer a better world.
They devise a set of doctrines and practices that give people access to a source of irresistible power.
There is a pattern behind all the social and religious movements.
Now imagine applying the same approach in developing a disruptive business model.
Is there an inefficiency in the market which drives people enraged?
We can think of our product or service as an answer to the market inefficiency- like those doctrines that Evangelists devise to give people the source of power and freedom.
Brands like Starbucks, Nike, Bodyshop, Zappos, Apple, Dettol and Harley Davidson have emulated these principles from social movements to build challenger brands.
When everyone in the market sold coffee as an expresso, Howard Schultz saw people longing for experience.
Zappos identified an inefficieny in customer experience. Tony Hsieh took the role of a saviour and altered the rules.
People always desire change and look for substitutes.
Especially if the category is boring, lacks creativity and existing companies take advantage of customers.
This frustration opens up an avenue to build a new category and a movement-led brand.
Are you ready to wear the hat of Martin Luther King?
