Big, Small, & Connected Brands: a new framework

Consumer Goods
Written By Filip Lau

By Filip Lau and Katy Osborn

It’s long been common practice for brands to assess themselves against industry competitors. But what happens when a company asks consumers to assess their brand?

1. The insight 

Brands assess themselves against industry rivals – for consumers, the reality is more nuanced. When evaluating the brands in their lives, people instinctively sort them into three cross-industry categories: big brands, small brands, and connected brands – each carrying a distinct set of expectations. 

2. The consequence

Too many brand failures are category failures: brands don’t know which type of brand they are in consumers’ eyes and therefore fail to meet the expectations that come with it.

3. The framework

This article presents a diagnostic framework for identifying your primary brand category and a self-assessment for determining whether you are meeting – or falling short of – the expectations that come with it.

Filip Lau

Filip is a trusted advisor to some of the world’s most iconic luxury brands, across a range of goods including champagne, jewelry, running shoes, fashion, toys, and kitchens. Filip specializes in building brand strategies on the corporate and product level, including channel, marketing, and sales strategies. In his work with clients, he has spearheaded new value propositions, offerings, and go-to-market strategies based on a practical application of the human sciences.Before founding ReD, Filip was a partner at two of Copenhagen’s largest design consultancies and he has written widely on design’s role in contemporary society. He now serves as a commercial advisor for design studio OeO and on the board of Dorte Mandrup architect studio. His book, The Globalists, published in 2007 by Gyldendal has been called a “Book of the Year” in the Danish press. He has published numerous op-eds both in Europe and in the US, and his academic articles have been published by the AAA.Filip has a Masters in Sociology from the University of Copenhagen.

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