We love a next generation challenger strategy here at The Challenger Project. Its classic ‘choice of the new generation’ territory but, done well, the next generation positioning takes your rival and elegantly positions them as a product or brand of the past, and who wants to live in the past hey grandpa?

DirectTV have kicked off 2016 with a series of great next generation spots about ‘The Settlers” – those pilgrim folk making do with old fashioned cable.

So is it just a couple of good ads or can DirecTV develop into a bone fide challenger this year? It certainly has potential.  Bought by AT&T for $49 billion back in July reports are hinting that they have big plans for it in 2016 - not just stealing share from cable but, by bundling AT&T's unlimited data plans with the service, they could be positioning themselves as a challenger to Netflix.

It’ll take more than a couple of TV spots to do that though, we look forward to seeing what else they have up their sleeves.

www.directv.com