It’s the concept of using disruptive strategy and creative concepts to fight against the status quo and mammoth brands. Basically it’s how to take over the number-one Brand Position. That was the subject of our Presentation at the 2011 Corporate Image and Branding Conference.

Every once in a while, we run into a company that’s created a product, idea or service that truly has the ability to turn the market upside down. Enter Pegasystems. One of the fastest-growing software companies in the industry. Founded by Alan Trefler, one of the smartest CEO’s I’ve ever worked with (at 19 years old he was the world’s chess champion). His vision and idea was to change the way companies program business software—actually his big idea was to eliminate the need for software coding by IT—saving companies millions of dollars by automating the process. Something that would put companies like Oracle and SAP on notice. The idea would put businesses back in control of their destinies and rival the competitive set. So what was the challenge?

Like most technical companies, branding is not their gig. It’s not in their DNA. So they resort to speaking in industry jargon . Enter RiechesBaird. Working with the Chief Marketing Officer, Grant Johnson, we created a brand position, creative expression and language to re-energize the brand and differentiate Pegasystems from the competition. The idea of “Transforming the way business works” was at the heart of our “Challenger Brand” concept and theme that promised to drive change in the marketplace. The brand strategy has been integrated into all communications and is now hitting the street.

Challenger branding is a wonderful concept and powerful way to reshape a business, change an industry and break from convention. It’s also one of the strongest ways to build a brand. The only caution being, you’d better have the goods. Making a promise of this magnitude must be delivered upon or you are toast.

If you’d like to study the concept, check out the book, Eating the Big Fish by Adam Morgan. It’s chock full of outstanding “Challenger Brand” examples. If you’d like to see or discuss our philosophy, or see the Pegasytems work, get in touch. So, is Challenger Branding right for you? Let us know what you think.

[Previously written and posted on b2bbranddebate.com]