Ten years ago, Adam Morgan, believed by many (including me) to be the Challenger Brand guru, wrote the first edition of Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders. Morgan, who worked for one of the largest ad agencies in the world at the time, wrote from his experience with second, third and fourth-place brands. Nevertheless, the Challenger Brands he used as examples were still industry behemoths compared to the regional players or early-stage types that I am accustomed to working with. He outlined eight credos in his book to guide others to succeed, and I became one of his disciples — or as Seth Godin might say, a member of Morgan’s “tribe.”

(more…)