Chapter 42 Focus on strategy

The most powerful weapon in market competition is to concentrate all energy on one point, or only have one concept. Thunderbolt is no match for a flash of lightning that erupts in an instant. "The greatest focus is often the greatest success of the enterprise." Focusing strategy means that the company concentrates its advantageous resources on a specific market segment, establishes a comparative competitive advantage in this specific market, serves customers in this specific market better than competitors, and obtains high profits in this way. Rate.The most obvious difference between the focus strategy and other development strategies is that it focuses on a narrow part of the overall market rather than the entire market.

The most common mistake many companies make is not focusing their energy on one point.They always have a wide range of interests and lack of greed. One mountain looks at another high, and they go from one place to another. As a result, the enterprise was large and weak, and the entire army was wiped out when it was vulnerable to a single blow. The success of Focus lies in that Jiangnanchun has become stronger at one point, thus making the enterprise grow stronger; breaking through at one point, thus achieving the greatest success. It doesn't mean that you can hit the target with more bullets. After all, as the saying goes: "Lock the target, and the bullet will never miss."

If a person concentrates on one point for a long time, he can achieve amazing success.In the same way, although the scope and scale of the target market is not large, the company can still obtain a rate of return above the average level and achieve unexpected benefits because it can concentrate on providing better products and services to specific customers. Achievement.This is the power of a focused strategy. However, companies that successfully implement the focus strategy generally have only one concept.Coca-Cola only has the concept of beverages, Mercedes-Benz only has the concept of cars, Dell only has the concept of computers, Oracle only has the concept of software, Sina only has the concept of the Internet, Shanda only has the concept of online games, Quanjude only has the concept of roast duck the concept of……

Most of the market leaders also have only one concept.Xerox is a leading brand of copiers and only has the concept of copiers; Kodak is synonymous with film and cameras and only has the concept of film and cameras.To a large extent, the strategy of relentless marketing focus will be necessary for market leaders to maintain their leading position. On the contrary, a company with scattered energy and rich concepts, even if it does its best, is not doomed to fail, but it is indeed difficult to succeed.Even companies like Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Haier are no exception.Because, the ambiguity of multiple concepts naturally cannot make enterprise products have penetrating power.

Coca-Cola once acquired the Columbia Film Company, trying to own the concept of movies, but failed in a mess, and ended up handing over to Sony; Lenovo tried to own the concept of the Internet, but Lenovo Internet soon faded out of people's sight; As a result, the mobile phone encountered unspeakable embarrassment. If you don't work hard on one point, it means that you haven't exerted your full strength on all points, but on your place? ? ?On this point, there are a large number of opponents who only work hard on this point, how can enterprises win in the competition?This is like investing all the funds in one field. In most cases, it is better than spreading "spreading" in 10 different fields, especially when there are quite a lot of opponents in these different fields.

"Don't work in unfamiliar fields" is the perception of Jiang Nanchun's advertising career for more than ten years, and it is also the persistence of a concept adopted in the focus strategy in the growth of Focus.The failure of getting involved in online games reminds Jiang Nanchun from the side all the time that the development of Focus is not to pursue "full blossoming", but to concentrate on making the concept of "Focus" bigger and better in a "limited" city range. . When Focus Media expanded nationwide, it did not adopt a pure direct marketing strategy, but adopted a focus strategy that focused on direct marketing and supplemented by franchising.Specifically, even if it is "staking the land", Focus also has screening and emphasizing, where to start, where to attack, which key points to keep, and which burdens to let go, instead of making no distinction between the "importance" of all cities and swarming them.

Focus first concentrates elite and superior forces in major cities, trying to penetrate and thoroughly understand the local market.In other areas where the business opportunities are not yet ripe, or the profits cannot be guaranteed for the time being, the brand advantages are used to select local advertising companies with strong economic strength, rich media management experience and local connections, and carry out standardized commercialization for them. Model, operation management, and media professional knowledge training are allowed to join after confirmation. The franchise company does not need to pay the franchise fee, but must use 2/9 of its own advertising time for Focus.After the franchise company matures and crosses the break-even point, Focus can acquire the franchise company at a premium.

With the help of the successful practical operation of the focus strategy, before going public in 2005, Focus gradually formed a network covering Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Changsha, Shenyang, Xi'an, More than 20 cities in Kunming, Xiamen, Shijiazhuang, Wenzhou, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shantou and a chain network composed of more than 20 franchised cities, more than 95% of them are concentrated in the cities where customers choose to invest. camp network.The advertising time obtained by Focus in the franchised cities is only used to provide value-added value for large and medium-sized advertisers, and is not used for direct sales.

Concentrate the company's manpower and capital on economically developed cities with relatively high investment output, and focus on the first- and second-tier cities through a thorough and strong strategy, so that Focus can not only occupy and consolidate the territory, but also save money.At the same time, "leveraging strength" in third-tier cities and integrating with local resources in the form of franchising not only quickly occupied the city, but also its scale effect brought barriers for latecomers to enter, which not only accelerated the speed of expansion across the country, At the same time, it can avoid the negative impact of losses in third-tier cities.This rational and pragmatic focus strategy has been highly appraised by investors, and the advertising effect is also guaranteed, which is recognized by agency clients.

In addition to the above, Focus also makes focus more powerful. In fact, the "point" that Focus focuses on is its uniqueness from the beginning, that is, "gathering" the mainstream crowd. Unlike traditional newspapers and TV media, Focus Media does not select advertising audiences indiscriminately, but strategically selects people who are suitable for its advertising model and makes targeted advertisements.The advertising effect is good, and of course Focus's turnover has also increased. With the perfect combination of unique creativity and focus strategy in the early stage of entrepreneurship, how can Focus not become the "leader" of the industry!

Lenovo has increased professional concentration by merging IBM's PC part, and it is easier for consumers to remember and believe in Big Macs, while IBM has concentrated its strength to realize its professional value. "Stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade." The author summarizes the basis of Focus Group's competitive advantage obtained by implementing the focus strategy and adhering to a concept as follows, for the reference of latecomers: First, a company can serve a particular market segment at a lower cost than its competitors, thereby establishing a low-cost advantage in the local market.If a company can significantly reduce its costs by concentrating its resources and capabilities on a particular market segment, then a concentration strategy based on low costs can be successful. Secondly, the company can provide special products and services to customers in specific market segments to meet their special requirements, that is, to establish a differentiated advantage.Similarly, if a company can provide products and services that specific target customers really need by concentrating its resources and capabilities, then a focus strategy based on differentiation can also be successful. Whether based on low cost or differentiation, a company's focused strategy is more attractive and more likely to succeed when: 1. The target market that the company focuses on is large enough and has great growth potential, which can guarantee the company's profitability. 2. There are many small market segments in the entire industry, and no company has sufficient resources and capabilities to enter more market segments in the entire market. 3. The company has the resources and capabilities required to serve a specific target market. 4. The company can build certain barriers to enter the target market through the competitive advantage established by the focus strategy, so as to resist the challengers and potential entrants in the industry. 5. The target market that the company focuses on is not the key market of the main competitors in the industry, or even ignored by them, or they do not have a strong competitive advantage in this specific market segment. 6. Few or no other competitors specialize in the same target market.