The Contender’s Corner - Google Just Made Bing the Best Search Engine

The Contender’s Corner is our monthly round-up of challenger brand news, information, case studies, disruptive ideas, and resources for aspiring brands who are ready to get F.I.E.R.C.E. and take on the market leader! For more great content, subscribe to our Challenger Brands topic on Scoop.it and follow our #isfierce hashtag on Twitter.

Google Just Made Bing the Best Search Engine

Google changed the way search works this week. It deeply integrated Google+ into search results. It’s ostensibly meant to deliver more personalized results. But it pulls those personalized results largely from Google services—Google+, Picasa, YouTube. Search for a restaurant, and instead of its Yelp page, the top result might be someone you know discussing it on Google Plus. Over at SearchEngineland, Danny Sullivan has compiled a series of damning examples of the ways Google’s new interface promotes Plus over relevancy. Long story short: It’s a huge step backwards. (Read More…)

You Don’t Have to be a Market Leader to Win an Audience

Most of us don’t gaze down on the masses from the penthouse. Our companies are growth-focused with products and services that deliver measurable value, yet it’s a constant struggle to effectively position against larger, better-funded competitors. To compensate for this shortcoming, midsized and small government contractors often scream at the market through grand, unsubstantiated statements. A more effective approach for a fast-rising government contractor or technology vendor is to create a chorus of credible voices to raise awareness and to validate the company in the minds of key audiences. Here are a couple of ideas to help you execute on this “chorus” strategy… (Read More…)

Why Best Buy is Going Out of Business…Gradually

Electronics retailer Best Buy is headed for the exits. I can’t say when exactly, but my guess is that it’s only a matter of time, maybe a few more years. But the numbers only scratch the surface. Its last earnings announcement disappointed investors. In 2011, the company’s stock has lost 40% of its value. To discover the real reasons behind the company’s decline, just take this simple test. Walk into one of the company’s retail locations or shop online. And try, really try, not to lose your temper. (Read More…)

How to Become Your Company’s Storyteller: Capitalize on the Underdog Effect!

“People love underdogs because they identify with them and this idea of the American dream, where you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” Paharia says. Such tales have proved successful for Clif Bar, whose owner talks of once living in a garage, and Nantucket Nectars, which started with “a blender and a dream.” Since all startups are underdogs, constructing a good narrative is a way to inspire and connect with customers and investors, Paharia says. There was a time when a company’s “About Us” page didn’t matter quite so much: A short bio, a mission statement and boom, done. These days, corporate-weary consumers care more and more about buying locally, supporting independent businesses and owning products that are made sustainably and responsibly. (Read More…)

Finish vs. Cascade: The Phosphate Ban and the Great Dish Detergent Wars of 2011

For decades, Cascade has been entrenched as America’s best-selling dish detergent. At last, Finish—the longtime No. 2, a classic “challenger brand”—had found its moment to pounce. “Challenger brands have an obligation to be more provocative,” says Paquin. “The leading brand will assert that it’s on top in sales as a result of its superior product. The classic challenger campaign tries to make people rethink their choice and wonder if they could be doing better.” (Read More…)

Wait a Minute; Women are Building Disruptive Companies, Too!

I recently read an article on Huffington Post by Carla Rover (Writer, The Advertising Technology Review) where she argues that the reason women are not rising to the top at tech companies is because of their mindset. She eludes that women, despite their education and decade of work experience, have been socialized into psychological submission by a culture that teaches women that confidence, assertiveness, and demanding to be heard translate as unattractiveness, arrogance, and the dreaded “bitchiness.” And those adjectives add up to the “unlikeable.” Although I disagree with Carla, my intent here is not to get into a debate on whether or not Carla is right in her premise. I only want to point out that there are many women who are not only rising to the top, but they are also Disrupting the space that they are in. We have the privilege here at Daily Disruption of interviewing and speaking with many of them! Here’s just a few examples… (Read More…)

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