How Challenger Brands Can Steal the Spotlight

For challenger brands looking to break into a new category, it pays to stand out from the crowd by doing something fresh and out of the ordinary. As the saying goes, when everyone’s zigging, zag. So, when new entrant Slather recently launched into the Australian SPF Sunscreen market, it saw a category awash with warm, fun, and family-friendly personalities—and made the bold decision to instead go dark on the sun.

‍

Rather than the usual upbeat celebration of the great Australian outdoors, Slather introduced a sinister, sun-shaped villain, luring unsuspecting victims outside to (quite literally) burn them alive. While the no-holds-barred approach was an unsurprisingly divisive tactic, it certainly delivered the appropriate shock factor—making the ad impossible to ignore.

What’s more, the stark contrast in positioning from other sunscreen brands worked to carve out a unique space for Slather to operate in—particularly among men. In fact, males responded to the campaign considerably more positively than females—suggesting the brand’s goal of converting a predominantly male target market (who are less likely to use sun protection) is on the right track.

But grabbing attention is only half the advertising battle. For new category entrants just as big of a challenge is ensuring the brand reaps all the benefits of this newfound attention. When brands have little in the way of established devices to lean upon, the safest way to navigate this hurdle is by ensuring the brand is central to the narrative, acting as the one who resolves the build-up of tension. While the gruesomely melted protagonist had its desired effect, Slather didn’t sufficiently present itself as the resolution—limiting the extent to which the memories and impressions were intrinsically linked to the brand.

That aside, there’s a strong foundation to build upon with respect to developing long-term ownable brand cues, with the sun villain having the potential to evolve into a key asset if consistently deployed. Brand characters and mascots are incredibly potent weapons because they can simultaneously trigger recognition and emotion without the brand’s presence feeling forced and artificial. What’s more, in its use as an antagonist rather than protagonist, the character offers the opportunity to position the brand as a countering force—the hero battling against the villain. Just like Mortein’s Louis the Fly, this approach can be used in a multitude of topical scenarios to keep the campaign feeling fresh and relevant over the long-term.

Ultimately, while the ad’s performance was hindered by polarization and a (so-far) limited arsenal of branding devices to lean upon, there are however green shoots. Slather has come in and disrupted a stagnant category and, with consistency (and perhaps the creepiness dialed down a notch), could turn this initial shock value into a platform with long-term potential.

‍