Person
Paul Mellor
Guest; Managing Director, Mellor & Smith; executive producer, Boiling Point
Managing director of ad agency Mellor & Smith, which specializes exclusively in getting "underdog" brands noticed — brands ranked roughly 4th-to-10th by market share in their category, too small to coast like the top three, but large enough to have a real budget to fight with. Clients include Brooks Running Shoes, Mango Bikes, Fat Lad at the Back, Klarna, GoCardless, and Remitly. Executive producer on the film Boiling Point, a low-budget British indie drama that used a genuine single continuous shot to stand out against much larger Hollywood releases (see Boiling Point One-Shot Distinctiveness Case).
Argues underdog brands should never copy the market leaders in their category — the top three brands are simply maintaining the status quo and have little incentive to innovate, so copying them wastes an underdog's limited budget chasing an unwinnable game. Instead, underdogs should do "the thing the biggest brand in the category can't, won't, or daren't do" (see Underdog Brand Positioning). Argues customer loyalty is largely a myth worth ignoring — most consumers are highly disloyal, buying based on convenience and mood rather than brand allegiance — so underdog growth should focus on winning new, disloyal customers through distinctiveness rather than trying to deepen loyalty among an already-small existing base.
Discussed in
- Episode 250 — 250-how-this-indie-movie-used-psychology-to-beat-hollywood