Law of The Category Leadership

Pic Credit: Markus[pexels]

We can think of the category leadership law as a subset of the Law of Leadership or the way around it. We all know it is highly impossible to keep up radical innovation at all times; there will be times when a new entrant or the existing player will come up with a new product line. So does it mean that if you cannot be the leader, then you have lost the chance to appropriate value out of the innovation? Well, not necessarily. There are several ways to secure your fortress, and one of the ways is to create a new category. How can you do that? It is always good to learn via example. Recently Marico has narrowed its focus towards the hygiene segment, which is a quite lucrative and relevant segment for any brand at this time. But apart from the supply chain challenges during these times, the biggest challenge for any new entrant is to break through the clutter as the hygiene segment already has a lot of well-established players and new local players. So to get itself noticed, Marico launched a new product, "Vegie Clean," which created a new category in the hygiene segment and helped Marico to create a perception in the prospect's mind as one of the key players in hygiene segment. Thus, by becoming a categorical leader, a firm can strengthen its positioning in the prospect's mind.