By Ryan Widrig
Senior Art Director

Let’s talk a little about the Bible. Oh, come on, it will be fun. … It’s a story I’m sure you’re familiar with, David and Goliath.

So many things in our lives are linked to this story. The same holds true with a creative agency. However, when it enters our walls, we refer to it as the challenger or more accurately a challenger brand. The challenger brand is our David. We see a lot of Davids come through our doors; and that’s cool. I mean, come on, who doesn’t like to root for the underdog? We’re lifelong Red Sox fans, for Christ’s sake. (Damn, I think I just broke a commandment.) Anyway, in terms of creative thinking and design execution, we see challenger brands as a huge creative opportunity here at MicroArts.

A simple explanation of a challenger brand is a brand that’s either new to the market or one that has existed for a while but is not the market leader. In either case, it’s a brand facing a Goliath—a competitor with a huge reputation and often even larger resources. So our Davids need a lot of creative design and thinking. It’s their proverbial rock and sling.

Creative thinking is what helps them differentiate themselves from the competition. And one of the first and most important differentiators we tackle is to create an emotional bond with the target consumer. Immediately, we begin to set our brands apart from the huge lumbering beasts out there who, to be honest, really can’t keep up with more nimble brands. To be able to stop the consumer and engage them on an emotional level with our position, we are first and foremost honest. And our designs reflect that.

We strive for simple clean designs that break through the clutter with the force of a flung stone. And by doing so, we disrupt the market enough to alter how people look at it.

To be sure, Goliaths, who flaunt their size and strength with LOUD marketing messages, cheesy design bursts, triple exclamation points, themed typography and horrible color choices, are here to stay. But they have an inherent weakness. The louder they get as they shout to everyone, the more desensitized the market becomes. Davids, however, speak directly to the innovators, early adopters, early and late majority; they connect on an emotional and intellectual level. And they leave the rest of the laggards to the muscle heads.

Rock. Sling. Boom.

Contact MicroArts to begin planning your branding strategy today!