Beyond the category

published by SPRING 2023

BEYOND THE CATEGORY HOW TO BOLDLY GO WHERE YOUR BRAND HASN’T GONE BEFORE​

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TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME

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INTRODUCTION IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES

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WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY DO? WHEN ARE WE CONSUMED?

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WHO ARE WE REALLY? WHERE DO WE PLAY?

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HOW ARE WE CONSUMED? WORKING WITH CATEGORIES THAT WERE ONCE COMPETITION CONCLUSION

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It’s hardly news that innovation is at the heart of brand progress. But in a world in constant flux it often looks like the riskiest of decisions; What if we get it wrong? We don’t hit the KPI’s? Will there be funding for the next one? Why don’t we just do more of what we do, but better?​ ​ These are all fair. However, understanding what you really provide beyond the product and what adjacent (or unconnected) categories you have permission to play in allows you to go beyond the confines of rigid thinking and bust the category codes and conventions. It gives you an opportunity to reach a new audience. The opportunity to shift perceptions of your brand. And an opportunity to generate incremental revenue.​ ​ Because after all, nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

Stuart Wood,​

Co-Founder of Missouri Creative

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INTRODUCTION If you’ve worked on the strategic front lines of a brand you might be familiar with the following exercise; how would the business behave if bought by …

Whether IKEA or Apple (those of us old enough may even recall Ebay once being in the line up), identifying what other brands do best and what specific aspect of their magic we’d like to harness, is a reframe that gets us out of the granular details and into the big brand picture. ​

Moving beyond the category has become vital for brands – not only looking for their next leg of growth – but also looking to better articulate who they are. From saliency to engagement and adoption, those who dare explore brave new frontiers stand to gain something more valuable than profits. In the face of an ever-shifting commercial landscape, anti-fragility and the ability to be reborn again and again is worth its weight in Cartier. ​

NTRODUCTIO Yet, in pining for what others have there’s a chance our energy is being misdirected from our own magic.

Repose the question to ‘what is it we do brilliantly, and how can we take it to new places?’ and the answers can get really exciting. ​

The following digest covers the centers of gravity of what moving beyond the category can unlock.​

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IDENTIFYING THE OPPORTUNITIES WHAT

WHO

WHEN

HOW

...do we actually do (and how could we apply our competency differently)?​

...are we consumed (and when could we be)?​

WHERE

...do we play (and where could we play?)

WHEN IT COMES TO IDENTIFYING OUR AVENUES OF EXPLORATION THE FOLLOWING ARE KEY QUESTIONS BRAND OWNERS SHOULD ASK OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR CUSTOMERS.

...are we to the consumer (and who could we be?)​

...are we consumed (and how could we be?)​

These questions help us get to the gooey resonant centre of our offering and generate new ideas that align with existing brand.

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WHAT If what we do is create tech that enables movement what else might we move?​

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WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY DO?​

When asking what do we actually do, we’re looking at a brand’s core offering and competencies, the skills and capabilities behind the brand, and the niche and laterally applicable knowledge that can be channeled into innovative products.

There’s no better illustration of this than Dyson. Their excursion from cleaning appliances into haircare takes their precision engineering to an area people are arguably less hesitant to drop large sums, but also an category historically known to use technical jargon as means to confuse the consumer rather than benefit them.

More than three years after its launch, the Airwrap still had over 100,000

people on waitlists for their chance to buy, with four being sold every minute.

If Dyson wanted to emulate another brand’s success, they might have set out to build a cleaning empire, making plays in the master-category that didn’t upset the ecosystem.

Yet in eschewing what their initial category might dictate and centering in on their fundamental offering of being champions of airflow, they unlocked space in new areas crying out for their ability to deliver the best engineering.

Competitors are taking the same approach; Shark Hoovers recently made a similarly quantum category leap, releasing their own range of hairdryers and stylers.

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WITHIN A MONTH OF LAUNCHING, THE DYSON SUPERSONIC HAD BECOME THE BEST-SELLING HAIRDRYER IN THE UK.

GABBY SHACKNAI, ‘INSIDE THE SUCCESS OF DYSON HAIR’, FORBES (2022)

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WHEN If consumers come to us when they want a breakfast treat, where else might we show up?​

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WHEN ARE WE CONSUMED?

Entering new categories isn’t always reliant on new products. It can be as simple as repackaging and finding new distribution channels to make the leap.

Faced with the pandemic-induced closure of hundreds of stores, Asian casual food restaurant Itsu made a pivot from QSR on the move lunches to FMCG at home convenience food that would turn out to be an enormous success. ​ Holding two product development meetings every week, the brand have created an expansive grocery arm, with the Gyoza arguably its breakout star – recent campaigns declare it the UK’s most popular gyoza. Introducing world food for mass-consumption has proved far easier for an already well-established

brand, despite not being founded in the grocery retail space. ​ Whilst the meals and products are at a slightly higher price-point than similar offerings in supermarkets, they’re still more affordable than much of what’s on offer at the high street outlets. As consumers feel the effects of inflation, the brand benefits from a shift in purchase behaviour, with consumers eating out less and buying more premium products to enjoy at home. ​ Consumers looking for East Asian food without the faff is Itsu’s domain. Moving beyond the category in this case isn’t reinventing the dumpling, it’s making them available wherever consumers might crave them.

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REVENUES AT ITSU GROCERY, WHICH SUPPLIES THE GROCERY, CONVENIENCE, ONLINE AND WHOLESALE CHANNELS, INCREASED 39% TO £29.1M IN THE 53 WEEKS TO 31 DECEMBER 2021

THE GROCER (2022)

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WHO If who we are is a character of controversy, where else might we cause it?​

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WHO ARE WE REALLY?

This question requires brands to uncover and define existing perceptions in order to leverage them to their fullest extent. From logistic realities to emotional and metaphysical associations, taking the strongest identity tenets and then applying them to new categories is fertile ground for innovation.

One example of this is Budweiser, the King of Beers, whose owner AB InBev in India asked the question ‘where else might Budweiser’s kingdom reach?’.

With one in every two bottles of whiskey bought globally being purchased in India, and a younger generation only just beginning to explore the category, the opportunity for growth is exponential. ​ In a global first for any beer brand, Budweiser is using its status as India’s no.1 beer brand, bringing beer’s energy and US craft to whiskey with Magnum Double Barrel.

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MAGNUM DOUBLE BARREL HAS MADE SOMETHING GENUINELY NEW HAPPEN IN THE WHISKEY CATEGORY IN INDIA, USING BUDWEISER’S CREDENTIALS TO APPEAL TO A NEW GENERATION OF WHISKEY DRINKERS AND SELLING 350,000 BOTTLES IN A MATTER OR WEEKS SINCE ITS LAUNCH. SHIBA BHUTANI, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, AB INBEV

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WHERE If where we play is in the pursuit of energy, where else should we invest?

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WHERE DO WE PLAY?​

Nike as it stands has a significant stake in dictating where the cutting edge of culture lies, so putting huge investment into the next frontier of the digital world only makes sense. .Swoosh, is a Web3-enabled platform where people will be able to buy its virtual products is part marketspace, part beta testing community, part virtual Nike world. The brand at some point sees users being able to cocreate trainers and clothing to go into actual production, whilst earning royalties.

After the hugely successful Nikeland – a metaverse offering run within the Roblox platform – building an in-brand iteration was a no-brainer. ​ Whilst the vision of exactly what it might turn into is still a little blurry, what’s crystal clear is Nike’s category straddle from athleisure to the Metaverse (or even a tech platform), ensuring that when consumers think of what the future holds, Nike is front of mind.

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6.7 MILLION PEOPLE FROM 224 COUNTRIES HAVE VISITED NIKELAND IN ROBLOX. NIKE DIGITAL NOW MAKES UP 26% OF TOTAL NIKE BRAND REVENUE.​

CHARGED RETAIL, (2022)​

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HOW

How are our products being used by our consumer and what value can we add?​

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HOW ARE WE CONSUMED?​

Hero-ing how consumers use your product is not only a source for fresh thinking but also allows brands to give power back to those who matter most. Acting as a mirror to the reality consumers truly experience communicates an understanding, kinship and even empathy.

Cathedral City’s foray into cheese toasties or Heinz’s concoction of bean-filled hashbrowns might not be category switches that last the test of time, but they successfully communicate that brands are in touch with real consumer behaviour whilst also nudging them to keep products in mind, even if they do replicate them at home from scratch.

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WITH How do we work with the changing tides and macrotrends of our times?

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WORKING WITH CATEGORIES THAT WERE ONCE COMPETITION Marketeers, strategists and brand-owners alike will often tout rightto-win as a metric for potential for success. Whilst this isn’t untrue it’s important it’s used as a helpful guide over a strict criteria for eligibility.

Richmond’s debut into plant-based meats on the surface looks to be one of these paradoxes, its target market undoubtedly in conflict with their historic vertical. Yet the meat megalodon has leveraged its skill in product development and 130-year heritage as a reliable and comforting tea-time staple, that has won instant supermarket shelf-space, and left the likes of numerous edgy vegan start-ups to fight with one another.

If asking the core plant-based consumer whether Richmond had rightto-win in meat-free you’d probably have been met with a resounding (and maybe angry) no. And if you’d asked the core Richmond consumer whether they were interested in a plant-based sausage, you’d probably have been met with an indifferent no. But it turns out when brands make peace with their former rivals, consumers are often quick to follow suit (especially when making undeniably great products).​

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EXTENDING THE BRAND ENSURES THE NEW PRODUCT CAN LEAN ON A CENTURY OF TRUST AND QUALITY ALONG WITH A RICH ARRAY OF DISTINCTIVE ASSETS THAT INSTANTLY COME TO MIND FOR THE TARGET CUSTOMER.​

MARK RITSON – THE FORGOTTEN P OF MARKETING, MARKETING WEEKLY, (2022) ​

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IN CONCLUSION IN CONCLUSION Whether it’s as little as a campaign or as much as a new SKU, moving beyond the category is tantamount to building an enduring business of the future.

When brands step out the rigidity of what their sectors dictate, they can uncover endless avenues for creative expansion, transforming their businesses into ecosystems of sustainable growth.

Insight Author

Alixanne Hucker

Strategist

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THANK YOU MISSOURI IS A DESIGN AND CREATIVE AGENCY.

WE CREATE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL BRAND WORLDS THAT HAVE THE POWER TO MOTIVATE AND MOVE YOU. WHETHER ON PACK, ON SHELF, IN BAR, AT HOME OR ONLINE, WE UNDERSTAND HOW THROUGH INSIGHTFUL AND EMOTIVE DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION WE CAN CREATE IMPACT WHERE IT MATTERS MOST. AND BECAUSE WE ARE UNBOUND BY DISCIPLINE AND WORK ACROSS CHANNELS, WE CAN DELIVER MORE CONNECTED AND COMPELLING EXPERIENCES FOR CONSUMERS AND TANGIBLE BUSINESS RESULTS FOR OUR CLIENTS. WE BELIEVE IN CREATING AWARD WINNING WORK THAT WORKS.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS EDITION OF SHOW ME. IF YOU’D LIKE TO EXPLORE INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW CATEGORIES, FEEL FREE TO GET IN TOUCH.

Missouri Creative 115b Drysdale Street, London, N1 6ND United Kingdom P: +44 (0)20 3051 0277 andrew.mitchell@missouri-creative.com WWW.MISSOURI-CREATIVE.COM