Twenty years after the concept of the challenger brand was popularised, a new wave of challengers has been changing the way the categories around us think and behave. Financed by a new type of investor, harnessing emerging structural changes and new ways to build relationships with their consumers, they have generated an enormous energy and excitement in their marketing and business community. In this six-part podcast series, hear from PHD, eatbigfish and a selection of brand guests as they draw on experiences and discuss how a challenger mindset can help give a clear focus, and what aspects of a challenger mindset are going to be important to thrive in this new world.
In this spin-off episode, the Overthrow II podcast series concludes with a conversation between guests Harold Klaje, EVP and President of Advertising at Reddit; Rebecca Burchnall, Managing Partner at PHD UK; and host Adam Morgan, Co-founder of eatbigfish, as they discuss the power of community and how challengers – even those as large as Reddit and Diageo – can utilise the support and authenticity of their communities.
In the sixth episode, Mailchimp’s Chief Marketing Officer Tom Klein joins Adam Morgan, Co-founder of eatbigfish, and Olivia Douglas, Global Business Lead at PHD US, to reflect on how and why Mailchimp built such human connections with its customers in a B2B space and how their challenger spirit has fuelled Mailchimp’s internal ethos and external success in a category not usually known for being personal.
In the fifth episode, host and founder of eatbigfish Adam Morgan speaks to Lisa Kirkbright, Communications Manager of ŠKODA UK, and David White, Strategy Director at PHD UK, about challenging gender inequality in the world of cycling and what we can learn about being a challenger in a large organisation.
In the fourth episode of PHD and eatbigfish’s podcast series, host and founder of eatbigfish Adam Morgan speaks with Daniel Ordóñez, Chief Growth Officer at Danone, and Avin Narasimhan, Head of Communications Planning at PHD US, on what a challenger mindset means for legacy brands and why challenger thinking isn’t necessarily about being small or new.
In the third episode of PHD and eatbigfish’s podcast series Overthrow II: Challenger strategies for a new era, Ernesto Schmitt, Co-founder of VC fund The Craftory, joins Adam Morgan, Co-founder of eatbigfish, and Rohan Tambyrajah, Chief Strategy Officer at PHD Global Business, to discuss the role of cause for both challenger brands and venture capitalists, how challengers effect change at scale and what lies ahead for investment in this evolving landscape.
In the second episode of PHD and eatbigfish’s podcast series Overthrow II: Challenger strategies for a new era, host and founder of eatbigfish Adam Morgan speaks with Kerry Chilvers, Brands Director at Direct Line, and Hugh Cameron, Chairman at PHD UK, on how a brand which has lost its challenger edge in a changing category can revitalise its challenger status and brand proposition.
Adam Morgan, founder of eatbigfish, and Malcolm Devoy, Chief Strategy Officer at PHD EMEA, join forces once again to introduce the podcast spin-off of their publication ‘Overthrow II – 10 strategies from the new wave of challengers’ to discuss how the media landscape has changed for brands, what this means for category behaviours, and where the opportunities are to build brand value through creativity and challenger thinking.
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