Recommended by: Varsha Jain

Content:

Chapter 1 The Only Way to Grow

A Game-Changing Subcategory

Subcategories

Brand-Preference Competition

Brand Leadership Competition

What Are “Must-Haves”?

Parity “Must-Haves” That Negate “Reasons Not to Buy”

Higher Level “Must-Haves” Versus Supporting “Must-Haves”

Finding “Must-Haves”

Evaluating “Must-Haves”

Transformational/Substantial versus Incremental Innovation

The Exemplar Brand

The Committed Core Customer Base

Barriers to Competitors

Playing Defense

Seizing the Opportunity

When the Subcategory Matures

The Digital Age

The “Digital Lite” or “Digital Free” Case Studies

Going Forward

Chapter 2 The Payoff

Online Retail

Computers

Apple

Automobiles

Chrysler Minivan

Services

Reliance Jio

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Retail

DMart

Uniqlo

Sephora

Packaged Goods

Chobani

Homely

Digital Case Studies

Unified Payments Interface

Takeaways

Subcategory Competition Pays Off

Evidence of Game-Changing Subcategories on Financial Return

R&D and Stock Return

Differentiation Affects Performance

The Next Step

Chapter 3 Digital Disruption: Six Keys to Airbnb’s Success

The Airbnb Story

Entrepreneur Hosts

Guests Looking for Adventure with a Homey Feel

An Outstanding Visual and Functional Interface Experience

Scaling to Become the Most Relevant Option

Outstanding Leadership

Call It Luck, or Call It Timing

Airbnb versus Uber

Airbnb Learnings

Chapter 4 Digital Disruption: E-Commerce

Amazon’s Superpowers

Product Scope

Low Prices

Customer Reviews

1-Click

Prime

Subscribe and Save

Personalization

The Amazon Magic

Adapting to India

Dualing Market Leaders

Beyond Amazon

Strategies That Win against Amazon

Establish Subcategory Credibility

Create a Simpler Choice Set

Build a Brand Community

Share a Higher Purpose

Have a Personal Touch

Be the Feisty Underdog

Position as the Alternative to Storefronts

Challenges for New E-Commerce Brands

Chapter 5 Digital Disruption: The Internet of Things

Alexa

The Connected Car

Tesla

The Self-Driving Car

New Retail Experiences

AmazonGo

Future Group

Hema

Starbucks

The Pervasiveness of IoT

Smart Homes

Smart Hotels

Smart Wearables

Smart Medicine

Smart Cities

Smart Farming

Smart Manufacturing

Smart B2B Offerings

Smart Energy

The Power of IoT

IoT Business Opportunism

Chapter 6 Building Loyalty through Digital Communication: Stories, Communities, and Personalization

Digital Communication That Spreads, Influences, and Creates Intimacy with Stories

Use Signature Stories

Online Brand Communities

How Brand Communities Provide Value

Different Community Types

Offering-Focused Brand Communities

“Beyond the Offering” Shared-Interest Communities

What Brand Community?

Personalization That Creates a Relationship

Enabling Technologies Create Subcategory Opportunities

Chapter 7 Finding New “Must-Haves”

Offering-Driven Ideas

A Failed Idea

Customer/Market-Driven Ideas

Customer Frustrations and Annoyances

Find the Core Motivation

Find New Unintended Applications

Consider Noncustomers

Develop a Shared Interest Brand Community

Create or Energize a Higher Purpose

Market Trends

From Where to How

Ethnographic Research—A Route to Uncover Unmet Needs

Ideas from Beyond Target Customers

Customer Partnering in Concept Generation

The Evaluation of the “Must-have” and New Subcategory

Chapter 8 Evaluating Potential “Must-Haves”

The Cheapest Car Ever Made—Tata Nano

The Evaluation Task

The Rosy-Picture Bias

The Gloomy-Picture Bias

A Portfolio of Concepts

Chapter 9 The Exemplar Role and Managing “Must-Haves”

Become the Subcategory Brand Exemplar

Managing the “Must-Haves”

Identify and Prioritize

Execute

Using “Must-Haves” to Frame the Game-Changing Subcategory

Enhance “Must-Haves”

Communicate the “Must-Haves” with Stories

Leverage the “Must-Haves”

Add New “Must-Haves”

A “Must-Have” Personality—The Case for Humor

A “Must-Have” Social or Environmental Program

Chapter 10 Creating Barriers: Sustaining the “Must-Haves”

Muji—The “No-Brand” Brand

Creating Barriers

Committed Customer Base

Exemplar Brand Associations with Substance and Breadth

Execution—Delivering on the Promise Every Time

Trust

Branded Innovations

Brand Communities

Visibility/Energy

A Moving Target

Playing Defense

Implications

Chapter 11 Twenty Takeaways

Game-Changing Subcategories—The Only Way to Grow

The Digital Factor—Driving or Enabling Game-Changing Subcategories