The Pirate Inside Building A Challenger Brand Culture Within Yourself and Your Organisation
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The Pirate Inside Building A Challenger Brand Culture Within Yourself and Your Organisation by Adam Morgan eatbigfish. For more information please visit –› eatbigfish.com
The Pirate Inside [summary] The Pirate Inside [summary]
The Pirate Inside What Do We Mean By Pirate?
Building a Challenger Brand A Pirate in our sense is someone (in particular an aspirant Challenger) who
Culture Within Yourself and Your feels themselves in some way restricted or confined by the way the category
or their company has historically done things, and needs to find a new way
Organisation of thinking and acting about their brand in order to succeed. They are thus
Pirates of necessity, not vanity Pirates – they are doing this because their
brand needs it, not because they are looking to advance their own personal
The Core Idea agenda.
Powerful brands – and particularly powerful Challenger Brands – are built
by people. Not by proprietary methodologies, or by unique brand frame- The Pirate Inside lays out the nine personal qualities and behaviours that
works, but by people. In fact, for many of us getting the brand strategy right are required of a necessary Brand Pirate. After exploring each of these, the
is the least of it - while we can all come up with smart strategies and creative book turns specifically to a study of Pirates who are already in the Navy
thinking about how to drive our brand forward, the real issue is this: how – i.e. examples of vibrant challenger micro-cultures within large organisa-
do we need to behave in order to really drive the implications of that brand tions – and looks at what we can learn from studies of legitimised success
thinking through our organisation until it becomes real? When, all too of- (and exemplary failure) of ‘pirate subcultures’ within such large, multi-
ten, the organisation’s systems and structures seem more geared to slowing brand companies. It defines the underlying factors in success and failure for
and diluting, than spurring and galvanising our intent? these brands and companies, and explores the larger benefits to the parent
in supporting such subcultures. Finally we look at the separate phases of
The Pirate Inside looks at what it takes to be a Constructive Pirate: the development leading to the emergence of the BSC – Big Smart Company.
personal qualities and behaviours required of an individual to be a success- In the rest of this summary, we will use the words ‘Challenger’ and ‘Neces-
ful Challenger, and in particular one that is trying to create breakthrough sary Pirate’ more or less interchangeably.
in a large, relatively conservative organisation. It argues that Constructive
Piracy is not the same as anarchy – we are not arguing for ‘no rules’, but for a
different set of rules: a different way of thinking and behaving that governs
everything from where we look for insight, to the way we approve ideas, to
how we deal with the word ‘No’ when we get it from above.
Pirates in real life had their own binding ‘code’ of behaviours called The
Articles, which every member of the crew had to sign before the ship would
sail. The Pirate Inside proposes, in effect, what The Articles would look like
for ourselves and key fellow team members as we try to drive our brand
through the organisation with the intensity and originality and speed it
needs.
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Behaviours That Stimulate Challenger
Brand Cultures
Outlooking – A Different Kind of Insight Seeking The Four
There are two kinds of Insight a Pirate or Challenger individual needs to Behaviours
distinguish between: Insights that frame the problem and task (Reflec-
tive Insights), and Insights that identify where we might build the future Taking It
Outlooking
(Insights of Opportunity). Outlooking is a way of describing how Necessary Personally
Pirates seem to find the latter, and is the first behaviour we need to bring out
in ourselves and our team. The four principal means of Outlooking:
1. A New Emotion Refusing Pushing
Putting a new kind of emotion into the category.
Brand
2. Overlay
Opportunity
Overlaying the rules of a different category onto your own.
Leaning Projecting
3. Brand Neighbourhoods Brand
Radically reframing your competitive set. Vision
4.Grip
Finding a place for the brand to gain traction in contemporary culture.
Wrapping
Binding
Pushing – A Different Kind of Approval
The need to stand out and genuinely reframe the consumer’s perception of Denting
them or the category means that the team on a Challenger brand have to be
prepared to ‘Push’ an emerging idea in order to make it powerful enough.
Whether one needs to push because one is stuck (as Burberry did, needing
to break out from being ‘a brand of conservative winter wear’), or because
one is looking to find a way of making a potentially generic idea (like egg The Five
and customer service) genuinely motivating. Pushing represents a different Personal Qualities
kind of ‘approval’ of ideas emerging in the strategic process.
Merely being a good idea that is on brief may not be sufficient - our first
question should be ‘has it gone far enough? What would happen if we
pushed it further?’
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Projecting – A Different Kind of Consistency Binding – A Different Kind of Contract
We all have far more media at our disposal than we think we do – we just ‘Binding’ is how Challengers create singularity of direction across a Pirate
haven’t seen it as media yet. But we need to use the potential power of each team. One does not in fact need a single individual at the helm of a Chal-
medium by thinking in terms of consistently ‘projecting’ our identity – lenger brand, but one does need a singular vision. Once this vision has been
evincing a strong sense of who we are and what we stand for – rather than agreed, successful teams of Challengers often seem to create agreements or
simply relying on the more conventional concept of ‘messaging’. ‘contracts’ between themselves and their partners in order to bind every-
Powerful examples of this kind of Projection range from a service brand – one in that team to delivering that brand vision. Whether this is within the
Puccino’s, taking on Starbucks – to a chocolate bar (Yorkie). company (like the Lexus Covenant) or between the company and a business
partner (like the Avis Advertising Philosophy), these contracts tend to be
Wrapping – A Different Kind of Communication horizontal ones, binding groups of individuals together to a common brand
Although we tend to think of the template of a successful brand as most goal, rather than an individual one between a person and their company.
usually defined by some combination of a ‘Positioning’, ‘Essence’ and
‘Personality’, in fact many of the most successful Challengers offer a more Leaning – A Different Kind of Commitment
layered and differentiated culture that their consumer can participate in. Being a Necessary Pirate requires a level of personal exposure to risk - cer-
As Necessary Pirates we will need to develop a new behaviour to propagate tainly internal risk, and probably external risk as well (in the way one uses
such a culture: ‘Wrapping’ our brand in the belief system and the language, PR, for example). Rather than flinch from such exposure a necessary Pirate
customs, rituals and iconography that are the constituents of a distinct will profit more from the commitment that comes from accepting and lean-
culture, and then letting that culture - and the people behind it - become an ing into it.
integral part of our relationship with our consumer.
Refusing – A Different Kind of Passion
Challenger Qualities Personal What an individual refuses to accept defines them as powerfully as what
they have passion for - in particular, refusing to accept that the key issue on
Qualities That Foster An Internal their brand cannot be overcome, or that their category is not open to brand
building.
Challenger Culture Taking It Personally – A Different Kind of
Denting – A Different Kind of respect Professionalism
The first personal quality that a Pirate individual or team needs to have It is imperative for a Challenger individual to personally commit to the
is the ability to ‘Dent’: to drive the brand vision forward, and to interpret brand they are working on – a commitment that goes beyond the normal
the word ‘No’ simply as a request for further information. Denters are not confines of what we call ‘professionalism’. Unless they can take their brand
simply mavericks, but share a number of important characteristics, such challenge personally, that brand will probably not be fuelled by the stand-
as their perception that they are employed by the brand rather than by ards, fight and spirit it will need to succeed.
the company, and their acceptance of internal tension if it is necessary to brand-centricity
avoid dilution of the vision. As such, Denting represents a different kind of
respect– a primary respect for what is right for the brand (and therefore the There is a centre to all these qualities and behaviours that we have outlined:
shareholder), rather than the historic practices of the company. not the personal agenda of the individual, but the opportunity for, and
nature of the brand.
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Biting the Other Generals - The Broader Benefits Success-
ful Subcultures Offer
Brand Subcultures How To Be A Pirate
In The Navy, Without Getting Hanged During the Seven Years’ War, the brilliantly unconventional General James
Wolfe proved himself one of the most talented military leaders King George
III had. When some of Wolfe’s detractors tried to undermine him by com-
If the previous pages have looked at the overall behaviours and qualities
plaining to his monarch that General Wolfe was mad, the King famously
needed of a Necessary Pirate, the next focus specifically on the idea of chal-
replied: ‘Oh, he is mad, is he? Then I would he would bite some other of my
lenger subcultures within a larger multi-brand organisation: Pirates who
Generals’.
find themselves already in the Navy, so to speak. What does it take for them
to succeed within such a parent? And what can we learn from success and
There can obviously be enormously beneficial influences from successful
failure?
Pirates on other brands within Behemoth Inc’s portfolio. These range from
the system wide spreading of new perspectives and practices, to the indi-
Red Pill, Blue Pill - Learning from Success
vidual impetus and inspiration they can create in other team leaders to take
If one looks at those successful subcultures, the four preconditions for suc-
risks in pushing their own marketing and communication ideas further.
cess (over and above the nature of the team) would seem to be:
1. A commonly understood brand or business requirement to find a fresh
way of going to market – necessity, not vanity again. Writing the Articles in Our Own
2. A different approach to how one puts the core team together: a combi-
nation of Denters, Idea Hamsters and Implementation Rhinos – spon- Organization
sored by a Smoke Jumper.
3. The establishment of a broad understanding of the cohesive new brand What if we want a little less conversation, and a little more action? What
model. would it mean to actually try to write the Articles for our own brand and
4. An ability to market the brand imperative in commercial language. appropriate subculture within our organization?
Why Brand Centred Subcultures Fail - Learning from Here the book pulls together a number of learning points so far, to create an
Failure overview for the Pirate wanting to foster a Challenger culture within their
What are the learnings of failure? The five principal reasons that brand- own team or organization. While putting forward a practical sequence of
centred subcultures fail? They seem to be: action it is also designed to prompt the behaviours and qualities we have
1. The preconditions for success that we identified above are not being already outlined as necessary for the Brand Pirate.
met.
That Difficult First Year - Emotional
2. A lack of belief from your business partners that you are genuinely try-
ing to do something different.
3. Unreasonable expectations of scale or time frame for success from the
parent.
Preparation
4. The brand failing to deliver the financial return its subculture status
How do you make the emotional preparation for the long days at sea during
requires.
‘That Difficult First Year’ – the time when a challenger team have had to
5. A change in the way that the parent/child see the symbiosis between
commit to their vision, sometimes in the face of open scepticism, without
the two.
yet having the results to be sure that they are on the right course?
eatbigfish. For more information please visit –› eatbigfish.comThe Pirate Inside [summary] The Pirate Inside [summary]
Again, it calls for personal rather than professional qualities – a persuasive
eatbigfish.
tenacity (sometimes to the point of bloody- mindedness), for example an
ability to use things being used against you positively, and a personal moti- eatbigfish is a brand consultancy whose unique focus is Challenger think-
vation and commitment to the brand and what it represents. ing and behaviour. Our expertise is grounded in The Challenger Project - our
12+ year study of how Challenger Brands succeed by doing more with less.
We act as catalysts rather than consultants, and through our collaborative
approach we provide inspiration and frameworks which enable ‘would be’
Praise for The Pirate Inside Challengers to deliver breakthrough solutions for their teams and brand.
You can explore our wider offer at www.eatbigfish.com, email us at info@
Adam Morgan does an outstanding job of taking Eating the Big Fish to the eatbigfish.com, or if you want to speak to someone please call one of the
next level. He not only creates a powerful insight on the unique behaviours numbers below.
and qualities of Challenger brands, but also provides a practical application
perspective with fresh and useful exercises to illustrate key learning points. A London
must-read for any organization looking to move their brand forward. Teresa Murphy
teresa@eatbigfish.com
Mike Wells, Vice President Marketing, Lexus +44 (0)20 7234 9970
Adam Morgan is a thorn in the flesh of complacency. This is a book that liber- New York
ates and excites – and that, with its rich plunder of success stories, reaffirms a Chad Dick
sense of adventure at the heart of brand marketing. chad@eatbigfish.com
+1 203 227 6919
Thom Braun, Director, Unilever Marketing Academy
San Francisco
‘Pirates’ will enter the marketing lexicon as quickly as ‘Challenger Brand’ did, Mark Barden
but with even more impact because this book addresses what the individual mark@eatbigfish.com
can do to make a difference. There is an ‘I’ in team – it’s you, it’s me. And with +1 415 891 8348
Adam’s delightfully eclectic field of vision and engaging writing style, The
Pirate Inside is as enjoyable to read as Treasure Island.
Mark Sherrington, Marketing Director Plc, SAB Miller
If you trust your right brain and think an idea isn’t an idea unless it changes
everything, you’ll love this book in celebration of having brave ideas, of ‘think-
ing different’.
Lee Clow, Chairman & Worldwide Creative Director, TBWA|Chiat|Day
eatbigfish. For more information please visit –› eatbigfish.comThe Pirate Inside [summary] The Pirate Inside [summary]
The Pirate Inside Taking a look at what it takes to be
Building a Challenger Brand a ‘Constructive Pirate’: the personal
Culture Within Yourself and Your qualities and behaviours required
Organisation of an individual to be a successful
Challenger, and in particular one
that is trying to create breakthrough
in a large relatively conservative
organisation.
“‘Pirates’ will enter the marketing lexicon as
quickly as ‘Challenger Brand’ did, but with even
more impact because this book addresses what the
individual can do to make a difference. There is an
‘I’ in team – it’s you, it’s me.”
Mark Sherrington, SAB Miller
Details: 330 pages Buy a copy: Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Year: 2004 Kindle
800-CEO-Read
Author: Adam Morgan
Publishers: Wiley
ISBN: 978-0470860823
eatbigfish. For more information please visit –› eatbigfish.comFor more information please visit –› eatbigfish.com All content © eatbigfish 2014
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