How marketers attack competitors

The above problems are not only a concern for many businesses, but also a research topic for many marketing experts. Strategy 1: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles. To compete with your competitors, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key, so that you can formulate an offensive strategy and avoid fighting an unprepared battle. The system collects information about competitors, analyzes their strengths and weaknesses, and looks for their weaknesses to attack. Get as much information about your competitors as possible. You can collect information through the Internet, various sales channels and terminals of competitors, various seminars and press conferences held by competitors, your own social and business networks, relevant industry associations, various trade fairs and other channels. Comprehensive information you need about your competitors' products, prices, channels, promotions, terminals, services, organization and management. The analysis of intelligence information is the most important and often the weakest link in one's own competitive intelligence activities, including predicting opportunities, problems, and difficulties that may arise in the process of attacking competitors. Countermeasures are designed in advance. Information analysis is a research-type information work. Only through research and analysis can we provide practical action plans for attacking competitors. The establishment and implementation of competitive information systems must adhere to two principles: practicality and effectiveness. 1. It is necessary to segment the market controlled by competitors. Several principles should be paid attention to when segmenting the market controlled by competitors. The first is the principle of measurability: it means that the differences in consumer demand for goods in the market controlled by competitors must be clearly reflected and explained, clearly defined, and subdivided into several segments from the market controlled by competitors. For a small market, the segmented market scope, capacity, potential, etc. must also be quantitatively explained. The second is the principle of appropriability: the size, development potential, purchasing power, etc. of the segmented markets in the market controlled by competitors should be grasped in sufficient detail to ensure that there is a certain amount of sales after entering the market controlled by competitors. At the same time, it also has the corresponding capabilities and resources to occupy a certain segmented small market. The third is relative advantage: the segmented target market controlled by competitors that we plan to occupy must be able to ensure that we have certain advantages and maintain operational stability for a considerable period of time, so as to avoid incurring negative consequences when attacking markets controlled by competitors. It brings risks and losses to itself and ensures the long-term and stability of its own interests. 2. A brief description of the successful case of Xuer attacking the King of Hearts. Xueer successfully attacked the market controlled by the K of Hearts, making Xueer's sales exceed that of the K of Hearts in many large and medium-sized cities, and it quickly grew into the second brand in the blood-tonifying product market. The main reasons for its success are the following aspects. One is to accurately position consumer groups in market segments. In view of the weakness that the King of Hearts is intended for all anemia patients, regardless of gender, age or child, Xuer has made a breakthrough and focuses on the white-collar female market, because the white-collar class has the greatest consumption potential. According to relevant information, urban young women are at a high risk of anemia, and the urban white-collar female market is a huge potential market for blood supplementation. It can be clearly seen from the positioning strategy of the consumer group that Xueer does not attack the King of Hearts head-on, but avoids its edge. Xueer has achieved the goal of occupying a dominant position in certain market segments through the strategy of segmenting the market. The second is to do the opposite in refining selling points. The advertisement for the King of Hearts promotes "The King of Hearts replenishes blood quickly!". However, Xue'er advocates "the effect of replenishing blood will last longer". At the beginning of its launch, it promoted that its products were transformed from Nobel results. Its new technological breakthrough of "blood-producing factor pi and body-building factor eaa are soluble, achieving long-lasting blood replenishment" has captured the psychology of urban consumers. And quickly formed a blood-replenishing storm. Although the King of Hearts is the leader in the blood replenishment market, firmly occupying the "fast blood replenishment" market and possessing strong strength, Xuer has found the gap in the blood replenishment market and cleverly differentiated its positioning from King of Hearts. Xuer's statement of "long-lasting effect" really hit the soft spot of the King of Hearts. The third is to adopt the form of three-dimensional operations in the selection of advertising media. King of Hearts mainly uses the most suitable carriers for rural areas - wall signs and car stickers. Xuer uses television and daily newspapers as its main media, and more, from high-altitude media to newspapers, grabbing the "eyeballs" of urban women. In Wuhan, two versions of the advertisement are broadcast on TV in turn, and billboards can be seen everywhere on the streets. Xuer also printed on the box of the product that 10% of the profits will be donated to the "Anemia Prevention Foundation" of the Red Cross Society of China. This move earned Xuer a lot of impression points.

The advertising campaign made Xueer a household name and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In many shopping malls, the King of Hearts is placed on the counter of the medicine cabinet, while products such as Blood and Blood are openly placed on the shelves in the aisles. The fourth is to induce dealers to seize channel resources. The King of Hearts leaves little profit margin for dealers. Xueer lures dealers with huge profits. The profit margin they offer is: the retail price is about three times higher than the ex-factory price. This is enough to make dealers excited and induce them to spare no effort to sell Xueer. The fifth is to choose the soft underbelly of the city market to attack. After analyzing the market strategic intentions of the King of Hearts, Xuer first shifted the battlefield from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other economically developed large and medium-sized cities controlled by the King of Hearts. The battle line is not too long. After all, the King of Hearts is the market leader. I know that I am no match for the King of Hearts. If I were hit by it as soon as it was launched, I can’t imagine the consequences. Xuer had no choice but to quietly circle the coastline and enter the market "blind spot" of the King of Hearts. Xue'er's city strategy is undoubtedly successful, its sales have skyrocketed, and it's a winning start! 3. Inspiration from the successful case of Xue'er's attack on the King of Hearts. It is necessary to discover new market gaps in the market controlled by competitors through market segmentation. In the era of homogeneous market competition, it is even more important to adopt differentiated marketing and create new ideas. Since people have different needs and desires, and their personalities are strong, each consumer may constitute an independent market. Therefore, highlighting "personalization" has become one of the best strategies for "originality". The key to this strategy is the word "different". Xue'er found a new way to carry out creative marketing, positioning the consumer group at white-collar women with relatively strong spending power, and implemented differentiated strategies with the King of Hearts in terms of advertising, channels, etc. Misplaced marketing. Therefore, when attacking the control of competitors, you quickly become a winner. This attack strategy is indeed worth learning from. In order to more effectively attack competitors in the market controlled by competitors, one must be good at discovering blank markets controlled by competitors and establishing one's own target market. You can classify the target consumers controlled by competitors and classify product functions. , classifying consumer groups, classifying consumption habits, classifying service needs, and from these different classifications, we can discover the weaknesses of competitors in the market controlled by competitors, use concentrated firepower to attack key attacks, and find opportunities from them and market. Strategy 2: Avoid the real and use the weak to attack the weak points. When confronting competitors, you should choose the weak links of the opponent's market to attack. Do not choose the strong points of the competitor to have a head-on confrontation with the competitor. Avoid the real and use the weak to attack. The cost of controlling an attack against a competitor is often several times higher than attacking or defending in other markets. Therefore, it is not advisable to engage in head-to-head confrontation. Instead, we should develop a market strategy based on the competitor's weak links, avoid their sharp edges, and take advantage of the weakness. There are many examples of how to improve resource efficiency and effectively attack opponents. 1. When attacking competitors, you must analyze your own strengths and weaknesses. When attacking competitors, you must conduct your own SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis represents analyzing your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Therefore, SWOT analysis is actually a method that synthesizes and summarizes all aspects of its own internal and external conditions, and then analyzes the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the organization. Among them, strengths and weaknesses analysis mainly focuses on its own strength and its comparison with competitors, while opportunity and threat analysis focuses on changes in the external environment and its possible impact on itself. The first is the analysis of strengths and weaknesses: the so-called competitive advantage refers to a company's ability to surpass its competitors. This ability helps to achieve its own offensive goals. However, it is worth noting that when attacking competitors, one's own competitive advantages are not entirely reflected in higher profitability, because there may be other competitive factors and reasons. You must clearly and clearly understand in which aspect you have an advantage over your competitors, because only in this way can you leverage your strengths and avoid weaknesses, or attack weaknesses with strength. When doing an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, you must make a detailed comparison between yourself and your competitors from every link in the entire value chain. Whether resources such as products, channels, brands, human resources, and financial resources are competitive. To measure whether you have a competitive advantage, you can only analyze and think from the perspective of existing customers or potential users. Some of your own competitive advantages are relative. If competitors carry out a strong counterattack strategy, your own competitive advantages will be weakened.

There are three key factors to consider: First, how long does it take to establish this advantage? Second, how big of an advantage can be obtained? Third, how long does it take for competitors to make a strong counterattack? If you analyze clearly This factor will clarify your position in establishing and maintaining competitive advantage over competitors. The second is analysis of opportunities and threats: the environment in which competitors control the market is not isolated and static, but more open and turbulent. This change almost has a profound impact on itself. Because of this, analyzing the environment yourself has become a homework that must be done well when attacking. Environmental development trends are divided into two categories: one represents environmental threats, and the other represents environmental opportunities. Environmental threats refer to challenges posed by an unfavorable development trend in the environment. If decisive strategic actions are not taken, this kind of Unfavorable trends will lead to a weakening of one's own position. Environmental opportunities are markets that are attractive to one's own behavior. In this market, oneself will have a competitive advantage. 1. Brief description of Shu Lei’s successful case of attacking Procter & Gamble. When Shulei attacked its competitor Procter & Gamble, it looked for the opponent's weaknesses in channels and terminals. It took advantage of P&G's neglect of the terminal link and focused on the terminal. It used strong terminal promotions, high-density terminal displays and other means to quickly expand its market share. Achieve brilliant results. At the beginning of its offensive, Shulei built its core competitiveness around the terminal, so that Shulei would stay close to its competitors in each store and strive for similar or even more display space than its competitors. The purpose was to maximize the advantages of terminal communication and promote purchases. Consumers of competing brands achieve brand switching, thereby effectively curbing competitors. First of all, in order to effectively control the terminals of the market controlled by competitors, Sibao Group changed the past dealer-based channel model and established branches and offices to achieve direct supply and management of major retail points. , thereby establishing a powerful vertical marketing system controlled by manufacturers. In terms of promotion patterns, Shulei not only regularized promotions, but also formed a systematic operating model of gift promotions, personnel promotions, event promotions, and joint promotions. Shulei focuses on the promotion of goods in large-scale stores and small retail stores, radiating and driving the development of medium-sized stores. Hundreds of Shulay counters have been set up in major shopping malls, and Shulay's shelf docks, stackers, promotional light boxes and pop posters should occupy as prominent a position as possible in each store at all costs; Shulay's "Light Cavalry" has been formed to penetrate into Grocery stores, hair salons, small supermarkets and other places that are closer to daily life. Attacking competitors and seizing the best time and place is your magic weapon to win. Shulei has an experienced sales promotion team, standardized sales promotion methods and closely coordinated background publicity, which are all lethal weapons. The most important thing is that Shulei encourages regional sales staff to creatively use the company's various policies. The headquarters uses Cooperate as quickly as possible to gain a preemptive advantage, seize the opponent's nose, and force the opponent into a passive situation of communication and promotion. 2. Inspiration from Shu Lei’s attack on P&G. It is conceivable how difficult it is to launch an attack on the control of competitors. Especially for a weak brand to attack the control of a strong brand, it is tantamount to hitting a rock with eggs. Among the principles of attacking competitor control, the first principle is to avoid the real and use the weak. Only in this way can human, material and financial resources be used wisely. Use the weak to attack the strong, use the few to defeat the many. Only by analyzing products, consumers, and terminals from different perspectives can we find the most fatal weakness of our competitors and then win by surprise. Shu Lei adopts the cutting marketing method of "attacking the strong with the weak and expanding with the small" to cut off the market controlled by competitors, forcefully carve out a piece of its own territory from its own market terminal territory, and push its opponents to one side. , make way for a passage. When competitors control the attack, it is often easier to choose channels and terminals to attack, and carry out strong attacks from different angles on the needs and defenses of various consumers in the market controlled by competitors, so as to finally succeed. There are many methods and techniques for sending the ball into the opponent's goal and attacking the opponent's terminal. This article emphasizes the following three points. The first is to adopt the strategy of surrounding cities from rural areas: The strategy of "encircling cities from rural areas" is to start from rural areas and suburbs controlled by competitors, and slowly move closer to the heartland controlled by competitors. "Building a channel backwards", the biggest problem it faces is not the final consumer's rejection of the product, but the interest alliance formed by its competitors and dealers. They do everything possible to exclude their own products in order to maintain their vested interests.

The attacker cannot "fight decisively in the central city" like the defender. Instead, it should start from terminals in rural areas and the third-tier market. When it has a certain strength, it can gradually move to the center of competitors. The city's market attack. The biggest feature of "building channels backwards" is to directly disrupt the traditional end consumers and terminal dealers who have not been valued. They are not the recipients of vested interests. They are more likely to identify with their new brands and have high enthusiasm for distribution. Moreover, the "market access" conditions are very low, which can save huge offensive costs. The second is to adopt the "sales with goods" strategy: "sales with goods" generally refers to the behavior of channel members using high-volume best-selling products to drive the sales of other profitable non-best-selling products. In order to drive the sales of profitable products, the usual method is to lower the price of best-selling products, using this as a bait to drive the sales of profitable products, thereby maximizing its own overall profits. The third is to adopt a resource concentration strategy: in terms of terminal publicity and promotion strategies where competitors control the market, they can use a low-threshold, low-cost, and quick-profit promotion method. A single terminal promotion investment method of only terminal promotion without advertising investment is certainly not the most ideal. The wisest approach is to first write enough and good terminal promotion articles that cost less and are effective. Gradually accumulate strength, and when it grows stronger, you can invest in making some advertising such as street signs, light boxes, and car bodies. This strategy is to concentrate one's superior forces. To implement this strategy, one must concentrate resources and always give priority to terminal publicity and promotion. You should choose the stores that can give you a competitive advantage and focus your investment, and do not allocate resources evenly. We must adhere to the principle of "prefer less than excessive". Strategy 3: Attack quickly and strike first. There is a saying in the art of war: "Strike first and strike later to control others." Whether it is in terms of product selling points, media resources, channels, or terminals, you must take the lead and take the lead in order to overwhelm your competitors. 1. Adopt an offensive strategy of destructive innovation against competitors. Effective methods for attacking competitors to control the market can generally be divided into two categories: sustaining innovation and destructive innovation. Sustaining innovation refers to using products with better performance and higher prices to attract customers whose competitors control the market. It can also bring customers with higher profits or expand its own brand awareness and terminal construction through brand promotion. A lot of investment, etc. In this offensive strategy, the winner is mostly the defender. Destructive innovation is to make simpler and more convenient products, sell them to new or less attractive customer groups at lower prices, or directly attack the opponent through comparative advertising and create some troubles, disrupting the opponent's market. Business position. In this offensive strategy, the attacker can often defeat the defender. Once they adopt this disruptive product or gain a foothold in a market controlled by competitors through public relations events, the attacker will begin to improve the product, slowly develop into an upper-class customer base, and at the same time cultivate the brand. Therefore, technologies and products that were not good enough before will eventually improve enough to satisfy a more demanding customer base and build consumer brand loyalty and reputation. Usually, saboteurs are usually attackers. In addition to adopting destructive strategies on products, they also adopt subversive sabotage strategies and means on communication strategies, public relations events, channel strategies, etc. 2. A brief description of the successful case of Dell attacking Lenovo. A building advertisement placed by Dell in mainland China is a successful example of offensive marketing and is regarded by the outside world as the trigger for the marketing war between Lenovo and Dell. The content of the advertisement is as follows: The salesperson was selling a piece of ice cream, but a fat middle-aged man took it away and took a lick before handing it to the consumer. Many people pointed out that the middle-aged man in the advertisement obviously refers to the distributor of PC products. Dell is telling consumers: "Before the computer gets to you, the distributor took advantage of it." Lenovo currently owns the largest computer in China. A huge team of pc distributors. After the incident, "Daily Economic News" took the lead in publishing the article "Lenovo Attacks Dell Advertising" and followed up on the incident. Shortly thereafter, an incendiary email from an American salesperson at Dell was released to the public, and the "email scandal" once again attracted widespread attention. No coincidence. In Taiwan Province of China, Lenovo has also been attacked by HP's comparative advertising. Not only did they claim that only HP is the "authentic American product," but they also ran commercials that said "Don't even think about it." Dell and HP are both carrying out destructive marketing at Lenovo's doorstep.

The use of comparative advertising and offensive marketing is one of the methods commonly used by many companies in marketing wars. The heated advertising dispute between Lenovo and Dell reflects a destructive competitive strategy of foreign brands attacking Chinese brand control. . 3. Inspiration from the successful case of Dell attacking Lenovo. Destructive attacks are divided into two types: tactical and strategic. Tactical attacks are short-lived, temporary, and risky, while strategic attacks do not occur by chance. They must cooperate with the overall marketing strategy, together with channels, organizations, and advertising. , public relations, communication, and partners work together to repeatedly remind consumers and take relevant measures to attack competitors' weaknesses. For example, comparative advertising strategy is one type of strategic sabotage attack. It is a way to compare the characteristics of products against competitors. This advertising type, created by the American Hicks Company in 1972, has become one of the advertising strategies favored by many tit-for-tat competitors around the world in the past 30 years. As long as it is not maliciously slandering competitors, comparative advertising that implies or associates is acceptable. Good comparative advertising should reflect the difference of the brand, highlight the brand's uniqueness, let customers understand the value of the brand, and strengthen the selling point. In implicit comparative advertising, the opponent's brand, appearance, etc. cannot be seen, so it is very important to skirt around the edges. When attacking, you must highlight your own characteristics and comply with business ethics. Moreover, you cannot only focus on short-term benefits and ignore the long-term reputation of your brand. The highest level of a brand is not to sell products or services, but to sell ideas. Dell differentiates itself from its competitors, Lenovo, and spreads Dell's philosophy. Although Dell's product quality may not be higher than HP and IBM, Dell's marketing ideas are better than those of IBM and HP. Offensive advertising requires a more sophisticated approach. These advertisements will eventually be shown to consumers, so before implementing competitive strategies, you must first conduct research to understand what consumers think and conduct precise surveys. Dell has dealt a blow to Lenovo, and Lenovo's response is relatively clumsy. Dell not only chose to strategically attack Lenovo in advertising, but also established three competitive advantages based on time: First, customer demand-oriented time competitive advantage: Being customer-demand oriented means based on customer needs In response to changes in demand, we quickly adjust our design, production, sales and other links to meet customer requirements in the shortest time and with the greatest transfer value. Through perfect supply chain management, Dell Computer has formulated its own development strategy based on the market, which can affect the personalized needs of customers in the shortest possible time. It not only achieves "zero inventory" and reduces inventory and capital costs, but also because it is beneficial to customers. Respond quickly to demand and win the trust of more customers. The second is technology-oriented time competitive advantage: Technology-oriented means shortening the launch time of new products through rapid innovation and occupying the market with maximum output in the shortest time. Dell's personalized customization is based on network technology. The third is marketing-oriented time competitive advantage: as product upgrading continues to accelerate, the life cycle of design and products becomes shorter. If the product cannot be sold quickly after production, its value will continue to decrease. At the same time, Dell's online marketing has reduced circulation costs, and rapid sales have become the biggest factor in its ability to gain profits - marketing-oriented time competitive advantage is the most effective method. Dell Computer sells computers directly to customers through phone calls and mail. Dell is an out-and-out market disruptor, and the Internet is just a maintenance technology for it. The Internet has improved Dell's core business processes, and the profit-making method of online orders has helped Dell make more money. Online sales have considerable destructive power on Lenovo Computer's business model, because Lenovo Computer's cost structure and business processes are designed for the retail channel. Dell adheres to the strategic logic of "value innovation". Under the guidance of this strategic logic, Dell not only focuses on attacking competitors, but also carries out value innovation based on its existing resources and capabilities. Dell strives to achieve the goal in the shortest time through value chain reorganization, production process adjustment, etc. Provide customers with the best service. Excellent believe that time is an intangible cost for most customers. If you can save time and cost for customers in the purchasing process, it will undoubtedly increase the transfer value of the customer's purchasing process and thereby improve customer satisfaction. . This article comes from: China Industrial Investment Decision Network, which belongs to the marketing management column