In this ongoing series for Petfood Industry, we analyze how emerging brands deploy the FBMO (First, Best, Most, Only) framework to win market share. Rather than competing head-to-head with giant budgets, this method leverages a clear corporate mission to create an undeniable connection with a core audience, allowing a challenger to win meaningful brand leadership and scale within a targeted market segment.
Executive brief: The 60-second takeaway
The challenge: Small brands entering a mature market get crushed fighting Goliaths on traditional ad spend and marketing methods.
The solution: Deploy a First, Best, Most or Only (FBMO) superlative strategy that fundamentally changes the terms of the matchup and inspires media, influencer and consumer attention.
Case study: How Archway Pet Food leveraged an innovative fish protein to secure undivided consumer attention and dominate a premium niche (while uniting political adversaries).
Competing head-to-head on a giant's terms is a structural trap. To win, an agile challenger must change the rules of engagement entirely. A textbook masterclass is Archway Pet Food's innovative use of wild-caught invasive fish — a purpose-driven strategy that uniquely unites consumers across today's deep political divides.
David doesn't need to actually slay Goliath here. Victory lies in using precision to carve out undisputed leadership in a highly specific consumer niche.
Crucially, your mission is a powerful mechanism through which you can unlock your FBMO status. When a challenger brand roots its identity in an unassailable purpose, that mission can fuel the superlative strategy required to command focused consumer attention — the critical spark that actually gets them to look at your bag.
Sometimes this mechanism lives in a soul-linked mission. (In future volumes of this series, I will share how we used purpose-fueled strategy to help multiply sales and profits.) But when we look at how a startup can use a product-linked mission to fuel an undeniable superlative strategy, claim a dedicated fraction of market share and unite a divided audience, Archway is a masterclass.
Tim Wall | DALL-ECase study: How mission drives Archway's "Only" ecosystem
The roots of a superlative strategy often come from looking at massive, systemic problems through an entirely new lens. Years ago, when my son Ben suggested using invasive fish species in pet food, I was skeptical, thinking the nascent supply chain couldn't support it. Years later, Gabe Huertas del Pino and the team at Archway Pet Food proved that skepticism wrong, turning that radical concept into a highly viable reality.
Instead of launching another generic kibble into an already crowded marketplace, Archway altered the terms of the matchup. The company looked at an ecological disaster and used its environmental mission to fuel a powerful "Only" strategy utilizing an invasive species: wild-caught silver carp.
The challenger brand needs a tiny slice of consumers to not just "get" it, but to be wildly enthusiastic about it. Rural sportsmen and progressive eco-activists passionate about rivers and lakes — many with a hatred for invasive species choking the waterways they love — think this is the greatest idea they've ever seen!
So if your brand's goal is $50 million per year, that's under one-tenth of 1% of the U.S. pet market. No, getting that fraction is not easy. But the fraction reminds you what a small niche of buyers you need.
By analyzing Archway's approach, we see exactly how a mission functions as the engine for strategic niche dominance:
The mainstream ripple effect
This profound market authority didn't just capture media attention; it fundamentally altered the brand's distribution trajectory. By standing resolutely behind an unassailable environmental mission, Archway successfully commanded the attention and shelf space of the industry's gatekeepers — propelling its invasive fish line directly into strategic retailers like Only Natural Pet, The Kind Pet, Concord Pet and Earthwise, as well as Chewy and Amazon.
When you use your mission to fuel an FBMO strategy, market authority follows naturally.
Archway's shift to making silver carp its flagship offering proved a vital business point:
65% of total revenue: Generated directly from its invasive silver carp flagship line.
10 times the corporate average: Contributed to nonprofit conservation partners via its official commitment as a member of 1% for the planet.
Earned mass media: Captured a local news feature spotlighting how the brand actively protects the Great Lakes from ecological imbalance — zero ad dollars required. See it here: Archway Pet Food: A Sustainable Approach to Dog Treats
Goliaths often spend millions on corporate PR campaigns to manufacture that level of community trust; for a purpose-driven David, it is the natural byproduct of changing the terms of the battle through a focused superlative strategy. The media simply love a compelling FBMO narrative.
David doesn't need to slay Goliath to build a massively successful business; he just needs to claim undisputed leadership over his chosen territory. From a venture capital or private equity portfolio perspective, owning an exclusive niche allows a challenger brand to maintain higher margins, insulate itself from price wars and command premium valuation multiples.
Tim Wall | DALL-EFinding your smooth stone
The lesson for founders, CEOs and executives is clear: Bypassing the giants' terms is often the shortest path to sustainable growth. You don't have to out-advertise or out-manufacture companies that own the legacy infrastructure. Remember that FBMO is not the destination — it is the strategic vehicle.
In Archway's $68.3 billion U.S. pet food and treats market, tiny fractions of a percent of market share mean tens of millions of dollars of growth.
Look at the landscape, identify the systemic issue or emotional truth your brand is uniquely equipped to solve, and let that mission fuel your strategy. Find superlatives — First, Best, Most or Only — that command the focused attention of a target audience, inspire earned media, win your niche and own your FBMO.
Disclosure: I am incredibly proud to serve as an advisory board member for Archway Pet Food, supporting its mission to use business as a force for river restoration. I'm also a former board chair and director of the Pet Sustainability Coalition.
David Yaskulka is a chief marketing officer and strategic advisor specializing in turning emerging CPG brands into sector leaders. He was vice president of marketing for Halo, CEO of Nature's Logic and senior vice president for Mid America Pet Food, and has served as board chair at Pet Sustainability Coalition and Greater Good Charities. He now advises Love, Nala, Archway and rePurpose Global, focused on elevating commercial performance and corporate purpose.
Tim Wall | DALL-E
Tim Wall | DALL-E
Tim Wall | DALL-E
Tim Wall | DALL-ETim Wall | DALL-E
