This document discusses strategies for large corporations to respond to challenges from maverick competitors. It outlines lessons from past instances of underdog brands temporarily capturing market share. The key lessons are: do not ignore small threats as they can grow rapidly; competitors may build emotional connections and polarize customer segments; gather intelligence on competitors' strategies, weaknesses, and leadership; understand the market terrain; and design dynamic plans that can change based on the situation. The document uses Patanjali's rise in India as an example, advising that established brands should not have been complacent and should have prepared better strategies to respond to Baba Ramdev's systematic approach.

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'Patanjali' & the Maverick Baba 'Consumer' Ramdev
by
ZUBIN POONAWALLA
Move over....Coca-Cola / Pepsi, HLL / Nirma, LG / Sony, Apple/ Samsung . The new
challenger war for consumer share in the market is multipronged. The bumptious & ubiquitous
'Patanjali' attacking the giants ITC, P&G, Colgate & Nestlé all with their herbal substitutes, at
the same time. The coffee-chats are now about the new marketing genius on the horizon, the
Maverick Yoga Guru - Baba Ramdev ! Don't be too shocked & surprised to see him someday
addressing Harvard on strategic planning for underdog marketing of herbal products &
building of a Rs.5000 Crores empire, soon !!!
The David & the Goliath positioning strategy has always initially sided the underdog. This time
the underdog challenger is maverick Baba Ramdev. The man inside all of us as a consumer
tends to take positions & secretly does not want the daunting Goliath to win. This subliminal
choice has more to do with the triggering of associations with our own struggles & battles of
our lives against daunting odds that garners this support. This time the 'over-dogs' are the
MNCS.
Whenever the underdog player temporarily captures the imagination, induces perception &
successfully positions itself in the consumer mind-space as the 'David'....leads the consumer
sentiments & market view to win this in-equal battle & if the consumer subliminally wants
'David' to win, he will...albeit temporarily till such imagination holds obsessive control over the
consumer mind.
Market has distilled several critical lessons from past experiences . History of the markets
recall many such temporary maverick attacks against established brands. There are also
other lessons from the 'battle-craft' lessons - (a la Sun Tzu's warfare ) that the MNC task
forces mandated to design their 'Silver Bullets' should be mindful & draw from. What therefore
should be the ingredients of such fight-back strategies against maverick competitors ? Let's
explore. But first of all it is important to understand that foreknowledge is critical. It is about
winning the war through information. It is necessary to have first-hand insight & a deep
understanding of the enemy, ones own profile, the terrain & the build- up.
☛ Some Strategic Lessons learnt & Directions to bear in mind
whilst designing your Silver Bullet :
Do not ignore : It all begins small & when you drive big revenues,
small losses initially seem like 'other losses'. Silently they grow & ignoring a problem when it
is small will make you pay a price multiple times its cost. Delay is a peril you need to avoid big
time. Victory is the main object in war. If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted, ardour

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damped & morale depressed. Sooner your attack plan, faster your recovery. Speed &
preparation is critical. To avoid resistance, you have to move swiftly.
Sentiment build-up: There is always an emotional nexus & a planned build up.
Health & wellness thru Yoga is the initial connect built with the consumers. It is in the nature
of initial brand investment. Slowly the converted are introduced to 'herbal products' of the Co
after a systematic & planned market assault on a complacent MNC giants in the market from
the health & wellness platform. You have to break this nexus.
Segment Polarisation & Interest Aggregation :Thru an emotional connect &
sentimental linkage, interest is aggregated to create polarisation of the target consumer
segment. Our Maverick guru has created this on the 'health & wellness' platform which also
is the much hyped Product Value Proposition of his own products. This false nexus has to be
focussed & demystified as part of the attack plan.
Recruit Right Talent to get Real Segment Insights: To determine the
weakness of the enemy, size of his army, position of his artillery, one needs to recruit those
who have worked with the enemy or close to his industry so as to know the consumer insights
first-hand. This should lead to assimilation of information that should help you to. : - evolve
your strategy - counter your enemy's strategy - protect strategy from enemy counter attack
Know Your Competition : Getting your Intelligence right. This is
critical. One needs to get processed, accurate & current information about the competitor in
right time to enable the decision makers to take accurate decisions. His strength,
weaknesses, artillery, locations, alliances & his leadership strength. Particularly under attack
from a wily enemy (Sun Tzu) lead by a Maverick leader it is necessary to track the trends of
his style, his favourite weapons, formations, locations, favourite leaders...each of which could
tell the story of his strategy & plans. Everything matters. Focus should be to attack
competition at its weak spots (like distribution & logistics) & not waste energy & resources
attacking it's strengths. Preparing the battlefield ahead of the battle is the key to victory. What
is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy first. Next best is to disturb
his alliances. Then his supply-lines.
Know the Terrain : Says Sun Tzu that one ignorant of the plan of the
neighbouring state cannot prepare alliances in good time. If ignorant of the conditions of the
mountains, forests, swamps & marshes , he cannot conduct the March of the Army. This
entails reading relevant signals. Market signals are similar & leaders should learn to read
these signals well as they plan their attack. Remember, maverick leaders are generally
masters of the terrain.

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Knowing yourself : An honest audit & fair assessment of the depth of
your own leadership strength, artillery, morale, ability to sustain, capability to cope in tense &
adverse surroundings are critical to the planning process. Character based leadership
that leads by example is important.
Designing your Silver Bullet : Weigh the situation & then
timing the move is important.When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is
because of timing. This is the crossroad point where all data available.. combining & doing
the bid-data analysis to design the 'just-right' fight- back strategy & plan. The General should
know when to attack, when to lie low & when to withdraw.
Execute and Monitor : weigh the situation & then move.
Planned communication & Execution of the strategy with close monitoring plan is necessary.
Good strategies are great to have but finally the war has to be physically fought at the ground
level. Designing an organisation to execute that strategy is important as much as it's close
monitoring as the attack moves progress.
Change on the Move : He who knows
the art of direct & indirect approach will be victorious. Maverick enemies using guerrilla tactics
need dynamic plans which should change on the move & which does not have to be so static
that the enemy can easily read & plan the attack.
Fight-back the Maverick market assault with a plan. Timing is critical. Preparations are
crucial. Mustering full strength is necessary for the market dice is loaded against you & the
temporary consumer sentiment may not be with you.
To rely on rustics or be abusive & not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared
beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues ( Ho Yen-hsi). Wish the MNC
strategic planners would not have gone to slumber & not misread terrain signals when Baba
was preparing & systematically investing in his mass-yoga platform.