The Anti-Originality Bias
Why Challengers-in-training must defy human nature. New ideas make you uncomfortable. It’s okay. It’s not you. It’s your human nature....
eatbigfish
Mark Barden
Challenging in Cheer
How Rebel Athletic takes on a monopolist’s entire business model.
How Challenger Thinking Helped the Chief of Naval Operations
The Art of Cultivating Ideas (and limes)
What fruitful plants and fertile innovation cultures have in common.
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Why Challenger Brands must win advertising awards
Our West Coast partner Mark explains why Challenger Brands need fame, and what better way to get famous than by winning shiny advertising awards?
How not to talk about Climate Change
In light of Hurricane Sandy, Mark asks us why we haven’t started thinking about climate change from a challenger’s perspective.
David vs Goliath
Our first thoughts on 'David and Goliath', Malcolm Gladwell's upcoming book about how underdogs win.
Challenger Type: The Enlightened Zagger
Swim against the prevailing cultural tide
Challenger Type: The Visionary
Transcend the very nature of the category
overthrow small
Challenger Type: The Real & Human Challenger
The people behind the brand
The three stages of a radically different idea
Hard lessons from Mark after a difficult experience with an unconventional and audacious start-up.
Bags of Personality
eatbigfish has been banging on about ‘house media’ since method first put out a bowling pin and innocent wrote on ...
These Books Blew My Mind
A curious twist of fate helps with some essential reading for Mark.
Start With The Story
How Betabrand used "HoodieGate" to get lucky.
If you’re selling sleep, how the hell do you compete?
Sleep. It’s a few of hours of, well, who knows what really happens when you’re catching zees? Sleep is still ...
What happened to the Crazy Ones?
Why are Apple’s Marketing Communications now so dull? I get it. If you have product this good you just get ...
Some Truthiness about Change and the Changiness of Truth
What Challenger brands can learn from the recent pre-election protests in Russia.
The Muddle in the Middle
The Muddle is everywhere. It's in every single worthwhile (i.e. Difficult) project you undertake. Mark gives us 4 pointers to get you through.
Why an eyebrow salon might just be the right idea
At lunch with Gareth Kay a few months back we got into a conversation about the benefits of thinking and ...
Was Carol Bartz fired because she forgot Mrs. Trotter’s orchids?
Betabrand: 99% fiction, 1% fashion
Some refections from Mark on what we can learn from the Betabrand model.
3 Bits of Advice for a Challenger Brand
Chris Lindland, Betabrand founder
Reflections on working with entrepreneurs…
Mark shares some lessons from his recent work with Challenger Brand start-ups
A Circus inside a Theatre…
So I am here in Vegas for CES and wanted to share this story about Vegas legend Jay Sarno, who ...