When you’re the market leader, it’s also in your interest to grow the category. We recently worked with a client who has developed unbranded “demand generation” programs designed to increase demand for the category because they know they will be the primary beneficiaries.

As your post points out, the real trick is to be differentiated AND relevant so for anyone who has differentiation (like niche companies) then the challenge is to try and become relevant. This can be especially tricky for brands where their relative obscurity is part of the appeal. Sometimes you have to be prepared to lose your original fans to widen your audience.