Stephen Denny

Biography

Stephen Denny is a competitive strategy + marketing consultant, helping brands in technology, consumer products, clean energy and services define their competitive positioning, communication strategies and implementation plans in the market. He is the author of Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry (Portfolio US & Penguin UK).

Apart from writing and consulting, Denny is a frequent speaker at corporate events, industry conferences and graduate business schools on topics relating to competitive strategy and marketing. He holds multiple patents, has lived and worked in both the US and Japan, and has an MBA from the Wharton School.

Prior to consulting, he was a 20+ year senior marketing executive having managed the people, strategy and budgets at brand name technology companies like at Sony, Onstar, Iomega and Plantronics. He lives just south of Santa Cruz, CA.

Publications

Killing Giants:
10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry

Everyone thought Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry were crazy to start Method, a new cleaning products company. The category had long been dominated by P&G, Unilever, and Colgate-Palmolive. Those giants had so much clout with the retail chains that their soaps had barely needed updating for decades. But by taking advantage of its underdog position, Method carved out a very profitable niche: environmentally sound products in stylish, innovative packaging. Despite having a far smaller marketing budget than their competitors, Method connected with a substantial minority of people who wanted to "buy green" but who also wanted high-quality products.

Marketing expert Stephen Denny argues that, like Method, any brand can directly challenge the giant of its category and not only survive, but thrive. While it`s inconvenient to be the little guy, it can also be a blessing in disguise. Giant - killers can afford to shake things up and take bold steps. They can be faster and nimbler than giants who are too slow and hidebound to make the painful but necessary changes to stay competitive. By the time they notice that slingshot, they`re already keeling over.

During his two decades in the trenches, Denny has taken on quite a few giants. And he has interviewed more than seventy other giant-killers across industries- from software to cosmetics to aviation-for their most powerful techniques.

Our need to work smarter, with fewer resources, isn`t dependent on the state of the economy or on any sense of stability you think you have in your industry. Denny`s ten powerful strategies will help you overcome stale business thinking and bureaucracy. They include:

~ Win in the last three feet. Leverage someone else`s investment-just be there the moment the customer grabs their wallet.
~ Create "thin ice" arguments. Shift the conversation to places where the competition can`t-or won`t-go.
~ Fight unfairly. Learn how the underdog can turn the tables.

From the hypercompetitive world of social media to high-stakes business-to- business sales to the trenches of retail, Killing Giants is The Art of War for a new era. It proves that size does matter-the size of the fight in the dog.

Titles

Leadership: What Separates "Giant Killers" from Everybody Else

Competitive Strategy: How Smart, Nimble Brands Out-maneuver the Giants They Face

Marketing: Beating Goliath: Creating "Hard to Kill" Brands

Branding: Brand Tension, Eigen Values & Building a 21st Century "Giant Killer"

Change: Creating Speed Cultures, Driving Cultural Adoption & Other Lessons from the "Giant Killers"

Retail: Winning in the Last Three Feet