marketing notes for defense strategies

1. Defense Strategies
Position defense
Position defense involves occupying the most desirable market space in the minds
of the consumers, making the brand almost impregnable, like Wheel detergent/bar.
Flank defense
Al though position defense is important, the market leader should also erect
outposts to protect a weak front or possibly serve as an invasion base counterattack.
For example, Grameen Phone, even at the growth stage, kept the high priceof per
minute call and invested that additional amount in extensive advertising and building
brand equity. Thus, it has made him still market leader by counterattacking the other
competitors.
Preemptive defense
A more aggressive maneuver is to attack before enemy starts its offense. A
company can launch a preemptive defense by several ways. It can wage guerrilla
action across the market- hitting one competitor here, another there and keep every
one off balance; or it can try to achieve grand market envelopment.
Counter Offensive Defense
When attacked most market leaders will respond with a counterattack.
Counterattacks can take many forms. In a counteroffensive, the leader can meet the
attacker frontally or hit its flank or launch a pincer movement. An effective
counterattack is to invade the attacker’s main territory so that it will have to pull back
to defend the territory.

2. Mobile Defense
In mobile defense, the leader stretches its domain over new territories that can serve
as future centers for defense and offense through market broadening and market
diversification. Market broadening involves shifting focus from the current product to
underlying generic need.( Example. Petroleum companies get involved into oil, coal,
nuclear and hydroelectric industries. Market diversification involves shifting into
unrelated industries ( Reynolds, Philips, cigarette companies, moved to produce
beer, liquor, soft drinks and frozen industries)