Why All Brands Need to Behave Like Challengers

You won’t have to look far for doom-and-gloom economic headlines – or the stats to back them up. These are uncomfortable times for businesses, but they can still be in charge of their own destiny.?

Of all the estimates being bandied around at the moment, one sticks in my mind:

By 2030, 50% of the FTSE will be made up of firms which don't exist today.

This might make you think: What commonalities will these new firms share? For how long had these companies traded before becoming FTSE-listed? Will my business be in this list?

It encourages you to look forwards at the possibilities and outwards at the market changes enabling the journeys of these future FTSE firms. For me, this is the real story.?

The market is evolving quicker than ever before – and businesses need to reinvent themselves to stay ahead of consumer demand and expectations. It might not feel like it, but now is arguably a brilliant time to build and grow a business or rethink your customer proposition.

Uncertain economic times provide opportunity for transformation, for three reasons:

1. Many other businesses are retreating from the market, so there’s less aggressive competition standing in the way of your growth
2. Attitudes and behaviours are changing. Recognising these changes and staying close to them is the key to success. By investing in your proposition and thinking differently about what you’re bringing to market, you can capitalise on trends and grow into new areas?
3. As people's budgets tighten, consumers become more price-conscious. While people still need (and want) products and services, they may have different expectations of what value is. By focusing on customer needs, brands can personalise customer offerings to provide rewards which help consumers feel more valued – building loyalty long-term?

At Infinity Works, we’ve been at the cutting edge of innovation across all major sectors. We’ve seen first-hand what success looks like for brands small and large, new and established, fast-growing businesses and market leaders.?And there’s one thing all these businesses have in common: a challenger mindset.

A challenger mindset is the:

1. Belief to back yourself and bring bright ideas to life at speed
2. Desire to reimagine new services, new experiences, and new levels of personalisation
3. Ability to think without limits to adapt your operations
4. Boldness to experiment, evolve, and reinvent your business proposition
5. Agility to move quickly to accelerate transformation and offer immediate value?

The challenger mindset is not unique to start-ups. A business of any size, experience, or sector, can adopt a challenger mindset and provide a game-changing solution. For example:

• Starling Bank wanted to do banking differently by offering a digital-only service. It saw a new opportunity to deliver tax services to small businesses under the UK “Making Tax Digital” initiative. By increasing their cloud-native engineering capacity, this digital-first bank – with a digital-only ethos – improved the customer experience for thousands of small businesses managing their accounts.
• cinch was launched in 2020 by BCA Marketplace – the largest used car selling group in the UK. BCA had an appetite to shift their proposition to respond to the rapidly changing automotive market. Through cinch they reinvented the way people find, buy, and change cars by developing a ground-breaking online platform. Nine months later, it became the UK’s fastest-growing digital marketplace for used cars. And all during a pandemic.

I’m proud of the role Infinity Works has played in these brands’ journeys. It motivates me to know that we have our DNA in some of today’s most recognised brands. We always want to leave our customers with the ability to provide delightful and differentiated customer experiences – and more autonomous in their ability to realise their digital ambitions.

But how can Infinity Works help businesses with a challenger mindset turn their vision into a reality?

Quite simply, because of our cross-sector experience and ability to bring the customer vision to life.?Day in, day out, our teams solve complex problems and engineer innovative solutions for energy companies, media giants, government departments, and more. That gives us the ability to draw on sources of inspiration beyond the echo-chamber of a client’s own industry.?For example, a solution which may have worked for a market-leading energy company, could also be repurposed for a fast-growing business in the insurance sector – and vice versa.?

When looking to transform, moving at speed is critical. We think in days and weeks, rather than months and years, to open up new possibilities for businesses to deliver tangible value – fast. And right now, all businesses need to act fast.?Well established businesses often find it harder to transform and be disruptive, why, because they are bound by their own processes, structure, legacy and brand expectations. But to be truly transformative, these businesses need courage. The courage to think differently and to challenge the status quo from within.?

The foundations of how we operate has shifted and so the strategies that made these businesses successful have now expired. It’s not simply a case of rinse and repeat. Having a challenger mindset means having the willingness to challenge not just market demands, but to challenge your own thinking. Businesses must be bold enough to set fire to their house in order to rebuild one which will continue to prosper in the new world.

The household brands of tomorrow are switching up their propositions today – so speed is of the essence for brands that want to stay relevant in a changing world. Whether your business is cloud-native, or was established long before the digital revolution, adopting a challenger mindset is an imperative.