In an ocean of brands vying for consumer attention, emerging challenger brands are taking on the Goliaths of the industry and making their mark in an attempt to become iconic brands themselves. They are utilizing a mixture of savvy marketing strategies, customer understanding, and purpose-driven impact to chart a new course. Today, we deconstruct the core principles of what it takes for a brand to become ‘iconic’ using insights gleaned from an engaging conversation with Mark Kirkham, VP of Marketing at PepsiCo, on our ‘Scratch: CMO Interviews’ podcast.
1. The Essential Role of Customer Understanding in Creating an Iconic Brand
An iconic brand, Mark suggests, needs to be more than just a product or a logo. It should be a mirror that reflects its customers’ lifestyles, aspirations, and values. For such iconic brands, the first step is understanding who your customer is, what they need (both their met and unmet needs), and where your brand fits into their lives. This principle is evident in brands like Glossier, the beauty brand that grew out of a beauty blog, into a customer-driven company. The brand built a loyal community first, by genuinely understanding its customers, and then built the product line around what it heard from the community’s input and feedback. Not only does this create immediate demand, but it inspires long-term goodwill from the customer, something which every iconic brand has.
2. Implementing Purpose-Driven Impact for Iconic Brands
The new breed of consumers is increasingly conscious about the impact their consumption has on society and the planet. As such, Mark asserts, the role of purpose in shaping consumer behaviour is gaining greater significance. Take, for instance, the brand TOMS. For every pair of shoes sold, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need. It’s not about purpose for the sake of purpose; it’s about translating a brand's commitment into actions that positively impact society and the environment. This purpose-driven strategy has helped TOMS carve a distinct identity and resonate strongly with its audience. That being said, brand purpose is becoming somewhat of a contentious point amongst both consumers and marketers - in fact, we did a research report to see just how far apart marketers and consumers are when it comes to believing in brand purpose- you can check it out here.
3. Strategic Partnerships – Synergy for Success
For brands looking to establish their foothold and expand their reach, strategic partnerships can provide the necessary impetus and credibility they need in the early stages. These partnerships should align with your brand's purpose and add value to your consumers. A classic example is Spotify's partnership with Uber, allowing riders to play their Spotify playlists during their rides. This not only enhanced Uber's ride experience but also provided Spotify with an avenue to engage with a new audience segment. Being able to continually spot partnerships which your existing audience will appreciate, whilst bringing new audiences to the business is an art as much as it is a science, and the bedrock of identifying these strategic partners comes from understanding the culture of your community.
4. Innovation & Culture for Iconic Brands
Mark emphasizes the importance of creating a culture that values innovation, learns from failures, and prioritizes what's crucial. In the era of digital disruption, it is the brands that learn to fail fast, iterate faster, and prioritize their efforts strategically, which are primed for success. Challenger brands such as Dollar Shave Club exemplify this. Instead of sticking with the tried and true brand language which was basically “ultra manly and smooth dulcet tones” for most men's shaving brands, they took the idea of a modern man and specifically took the idea of self-deprecating humor/tone of voice as their moniker. The company not only disrupted the razor market with its subscription-based model but also set a new benchmark for engaging content marketing with its quirky, self-deprecating launch video that immediately set it apart from the competition.
5. Balancing Global Scale and Local Relevance for Iconic Brands – Act Big, Think Local
The final piece of the puzzle is achieving global scale whilst maintaining local relevance. Emerging iconic brands must ensure that their strategies and messages resonate with the local culture and values, even while they aspire for global reach.
A great real-world example of this that Mark shared was through the medium of iconic imagery. Mark discussed the idea of tying 'Sting', a Pepsi energy drink, back to regional culture, by leveraging the 'energy' element from Bollywood. This was achieved through a captivating series of multiple advertisements, strategically positioning Sting as the ultimate energy drink of choice.
The advertisements depicted a renowned Bollywood actor gaining an immediate boost of energy upon consuming Sting. This move exemplifies how brands can effectively blend a global product with local cultural cues. The idea is to create associations that are both memorable and unique to your brand, just as Pepsi did with its 'Michael Jackson for Pepsi' campaign, or Apple's ‘throwing hammers through the screen' commercial. These bold, iconic moves effectively shaped the brand's image and made them resonate with the audience in a way that was truly groundbreaking.
The playbook for iconic brands is continually evolving. Still, the underlying principles remain the same – understanding and reflecting on your customers, driving purposeful impact, forming strategic partnerships, fostering a culture of innovation, and balancing global reach with local relevance. As brands strive to become iconic and rise with these principles at their core, they are not just selling products or services. They tell stories, spark conversations, and make meaningful connections while providing experiences that stay with the consumer and drive brand loyalty.
But how do you navigate this challenging journey? One of the biggest challenges, according to Mark, is that there's just so much to do now. That's why it's essential to prioritize. In his words, "Focus on the 3 big rocks in the 40 rocks." This approach is about making strategic choices about what you want your brand to be known for and deciding on the channels that will get you there.
As we've seen, these concepts are not mere buzzwords or abstract theories; They're practical strategies, being deployed by iconic brands across the world today, to disrupt the status quo, defy expectations, and capture the hearts (and wallets) of consumers. But the exciting part is, these are not set in stone. As Mark asserts, "Don't be afraid to make mistakes. We learn more from failure than we do from success."
Our conversation with Mark was a deep dive into the workings of successful iconic challenger brands, full of numerous nuggets of wisdom and real-world examples that are sure to inspire you, whether you're launching a new brand, looking to reinvent an existing one, or simply trying to understand the changing landscape of brand marketing. For all this and more, do tune into the full podcast episode. Hear from the expert himself, and uncover the tools, strategies, and mindset that can help you turn your brand into the next industry challenger. Listen to Scratch's latest episode: "How To Build an Iconic Brand with CMO of PepsiCo Int’l Beverages, Mark Kirkham" now. Be a part of the conversation and gain firsthand insights into the world of iconic brands, only on Scratch. Listen on your favorite platform now.
If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗 https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024
How To Build an Iconic Brand with CMO of PepsiCo Int’l Beverages, Mark Kirkham
