Great Brands Don’t Compete—They Pick A Fight
Brands like Airbnb, Apple, and Coca-Cola win by defining what they are against.
This article, written by Laura Ries, Chairwoman of Ries, was originally published on Inc.com.
Too many entrepreneurs waste time trying to convince people why their product is “better.” This is a losing game.
Brands need more than a purpose. They need a rival, a foil, a clear enemy that sharpens their message, rallies their tribe, and clarifies their difference. It isn’t about being negative, it’s about being unmistakable.
In my new book, The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For, I show how successful brands don’t win on benefits, they win by standing against something.
Below are three of the most surprising insights from The Strategic Enemy, a playbook for entrepreneurs, marketers, and business leaders ready to define their brand not just by what it is—but by what it fights against.
You Can’t Have A Hero Without A Villain
Bold brands don’t just launch products, they make their position known by standing against something. By defining what you stand against, it makes it clear what you stand for which rallies consumers to your cause.
Oatly didn’t just promote oat milk, they challenged the dairy industry. Through bold messaging and provocative campaigns, and the tagline “Wow, No Cow” Oatly repositioned milk as outdated, unhealthy, and environmentally damaging.
Airbnb didn’t just promote being cheaper place to stay, it repositioned traditional hotels as impersonal, overpriced, and disconnected from local culture. Airbnb offered the opposite: community, authenticity, and local flavor.
For 30 years, Chick-fil-A’s iconic “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign uses cows protesting beef and reminding us to eat more chicken. To find an enemy, you need to draw a hard line then dramatize it.
Opposition Beats ‘Better’–Every Time
It’s tough to win by claiming to be better. The problem with “better” is believability. When prospects hear superiority claims, they think: If you’re so much better, why aren’t you the leader? Hard to argue with that. Claims are subjective. Opposition doesn’t ask for belief, it delivers clarity. It says, We’re not them. Contrast creates instant understanding.
Liquid Death never said their water was better. They made plastic bottles the enemy and proclaimed #Death to Plastics. Liquid Death comes in infinitely recyclable tallboy-style aluminum cans. Its heavy-metal goth branding allows consumers to drink water instead of beer and still look cool.
7UP positioned itself as the “Uncola,” not a better cola. Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign didn’t say Macs had more RAM or better specs. It reinforced a clear contrast. Cool and creative vs. corporate and clunky.
Beware Of The Line Extension Trap
For many companies, their own line extensions stand in the way of finding an enemy. Brands that stretch across too many categories via line extension risk losing focus and a clear enemy. Often, they become their own worst enemy.
Coca-Cola Life? Coca-Cola Energy? While these line extensions failed, Olipop/Poppi and Red Bull/Monster are big winners. New categories demand new brands. Line extensions rarely win against focused brands. Being first won’t even save you either. Kodak invented the digital camera, but Kodak Digital went bust.
The leading brand represents the category itself. Ideally, it becomes the word used for it: Google is the internet, we Uber to the concert, we Swiffer the house.
Kodak stood for film photography; the mind rejected the brand in digital.
The alternative to line-extensions is the opportunity to give birth to your own strategic enemy like Mike’s Hard Lemonade did with White Claw. Or the Gap did with Old Navy. Kodak should have done the same by launching a new brand for the digital category.
Action Items
The Strategic Enemy is a call to clarity: To stand for something, you need to stand against something. In today’s crowded and fast-moving marketplace, the most successful brands are those with the courage to define what they oppose and the discipline to remain focused on that position. And a strategic enemy isn’t always another brand; it’s sometimes the old category, a tired convention, or an outdated belief.
In the battle for attention, emotional connection, and cultural relevance, neutrality is not safety. It is invisibility. If your goal is to lead, don’t merely articulate what your brand stands for. Make it clear what you stand against.
