No brand is too big for innovation: How big brands can compete with niche offerings

As niche offerings and challenger brands capture emerging demographics, can the mass market brand compete with innovation?

The notion of the ‘Infinite Shelf’ is long associated with the rise of e-commerce, and the Amazon platform in particular. At a time when retail opportunity was literally constricted by shelf space in stores, large brands’ domination became a powerful competitive advantage.

The reason was simple. However intriguing the innovation a niche upstart offered, for a retailer to buy into it took a leap of faith. In the world of FMCG, the consequence of this has been the evolution of bloated super-brands dominating categories, despite innovation being marginal or, at best, sporadic. Physical limitations put a stranglehold on category dynamics...

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