A Disruptor's Creed: "Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches
Alice Roosevelt Longworth was a woman of intensity and honesty, not afraid to pursue her passions and break new ground. At a time when a president’s daughter and house speaker’s wife was expected to merely smile in the background, she stole the spotlight to advocate for civil, women’s and gay rights. Her father Teddy once exclaimed “I can either run the country or attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.” You could say she was a disruptor.
She described her life’s philosophy as simple: “Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches.” Sounds like a good recipe for disruption. Fill what’s empty: find gaps in the market and pour your energy into addressing them. Empty what’s full: reinvent whatever is stale or not working. Scratch where it itches: be nimble and take action to make things better.
Fill what’s empty. On the surface, the concept of identifying and addressing material market needs is as old-school as 60-second TV spots.
But disruptors don’t “fill what’s empty” based on exhaustive market research of mainstream America, pursuing the common denominator solution with the highest penetration and buying rate potential. They view opportunities through the lens of their mission-driven organization, focusing on satisfying the needs of a smaller segment of shoppers who can become champions for the cause and advocates for the brand. In this way they are filling not only a functional product need, but a connective emotional need, creating a loyalty more immune to competitive promotion or pricing action. They pursue these solutions with a simple, compelling story and transparency across sourcing, manufacturing and corporate dimensions.
Think of The Honest Company (THC), maker of environmentally and socially responsible baby and mom products. This may sound a lot like an earlier disruptor like Seventh Generation, but THC challenged the current concept with e-commerce, digital marketing and a fresh design sense, perfectly suited for today’s new mom. Their millennial customer support staff were encouraged to engage deeply with shoppers and share product insights and needs with management. Their story of safety with efficacy and their early subscription model not only solved a real problem for their target moms, but created legions of brand champions.
Empty what’s full. Many large corporations struggle with prioritization and focus. But so do many small companies.
Those that are successful disrupting their industries “empty what’s full” by focusing on the really important priorities that are critical to their consumers and customers. They don’t necessarily follow the Big CPG playbook of being at every point of distribution and communicating in every marketing channel. They may own the natural channel, dominate store associate recommendations or outrank the big guys in Instagram strength and sentiment. Exceptional e-commerce capabilities are a common area where disruptors discard focus on the satiated brick and mortar environment to offer meaningful solutions to their most valuable customers’ needs.
In the beginning, The Honest Company strategically chose to avoid the high entry costs of traditional retail, building its awareness and loyalty direct to the consumer with products built for new moms. When they pursued brick and mortar retail to expand penetration, they selectively launched in upscale, urban grocery, natural foods and the design-forward Target, not blanketing the landscape with their niche goods. They focused their energy on the products and channels that were truly core to their mission and existence.
Scratch where it itches. Here the challenger has the natural advantage of a shorter chain of command, less bureaucracy and fewer timeworn habits. And for earlier stage challengers, there’s something about the urgency of making payroll that drives a bias for action.
“Scratching where it itches” is more than just being nimble and action-oriented. It requires being attuned to the organization’s most important pain points and barriers to growth. This requires selective metrics that trigger clear changes in digital or retail action. And those who are redefining their categories are building a culture that rewards risk taking at the same time it emphasizes pulling the plug quickly on failed initiatives.
The Honest Company’s genesis was inspired by the dearth of safe, effective mom and baby products with style. And you can bet management found a lot of “itches” to scratch as they raised their families. Their co-packing model enabled entry into any category in the family/mom/baby space, so management had to learn to judiciously manage line creep as the energy to create new products sometimes exceeded the market’s willingness to buy.
Who cares? Acting like a disruptive challenger brand is not only for start-ups. Established organizations from General Mills and Kingsford to WellPet and Clif are engendering a challenger mindset, both in their culture and their processes. Changing demographics and retail channels demand a fresh approach, and Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s words can serve as a rallying cry for embracing a disruptive, challenger approach.
For more information on how we can help you spark your challenger spirit, call Bob Hilarides @ 847 917 5121, email him at BobH@KnowledgeAmp.com or visit www.KnowledgeAmp.com.
