Owning Game-Changing Subcategories
is about creating organizational growth in the digital age by creating and owning game-changing subcategories fueled by digital.
outlines the path to finding, managing, and leveraging new subcategories. In the digital age, the path has been made wider, shorter, and more frequently traveled. Throughout
, David Aaker discusses certain aspects of the digital age that alter this path, such as E-commerce providing fast, inexpensive market access bypassing the cost of gaining distribution into storefront retailers or creating personal sales teams and social media and websites enabling communication on steroids in comparison with traditional use of advertising or events.
Growth is not only a success measure but also creates energy and opportunity for customers and employees. And such growth almost never occurs with “my brand is better than your brand” marketing.
explores the only ways to grow a business (with rare exceptions) which is to:
develop new “must haves” that define a game-changing subcategory that provides a new or markedly superior buying or use experience or brand relationship to a core customer base;
become the exemplar brand that represents the subcategory and drives its visibility, positioning, and success; and
create barriers to competitors that could include “must-have” associations and a basis of relationships that go beyond functional benefits.