Chapter 8 Chapter 6 A Thorough Study of Competitor Strategies

Today, competition is not only ubiquitous but also fierce every year.The competition in the market is so fierce that it is not enough for a company to only understand its customers.As a result, companies must pay close attention to their competitors. Properly finding one's own competitive position is the premise for an enterprise to determine its competitive strategy, and it is also the basis for discussing the ranking competitive strategy.At present, many industries use the market share index as the basis for the analysis of competing companies, so as to establish their own competitive position.One example is the US copier industry.

The competition in the copier industry is global. Xerox, Canon, Sharp, and Minolta have occupied 75% of the copier market share since 1991. They are the well-deserved leaders in this industry, but only in this 75% In terms of market share, the competition among these companies is also very fierce.The remaining 8 manufacturers account for the remaining 25% of the market. Price, speed, reliability, and service are the four criteria consumers use to evaluate copiers. In the early 1970s, Xerox, Kodak, and IBM controlled the entire copier market by establishing branch networks covering the United States. Although their prices were high, their service quality was also high.By the mid-1970s, three Japanese copier manufacturers, Canon, Minolta, and Ricoh, began to expand in the US market.The prices of the Japanese competitors are a little lower, but at the same time the products are less reliable.

Initially, industry giants such as Xerox, Kodak, and IBM, which dominated the U.S. copier market, did not pay enough attention to Japanese competitors, believing that Japanese companies were too small and had too little market share to compete with U.S. Companies compete head-on for position.But Canon, Minolta, and Ricoh quickly gained a foothold in the US market and set out to improve their products to take market share from US companies.At the same time, Japanese companies targeting niche markets entered growing markets, especially target markets such as color copying. By the 1990s, Canon had become the company with the largest market share in the industry.The total sales of this market in 1993 was 6 billion US dollars, Canon's market share was 28%, Xerox and Sharp's combined market share was 34%, and another 20 companies had the remaining 38% market share. In 1993, the sales growth rate of color copiers was less than 1%.Canon has 75% of these shares, and Kodak and Xerox combined have only 14% of the market.

By examining market share, one can clearly understand a company's competitive position and its ups and downs, which enables those companies (such as Xerox and Canon) that aim to maintain or take the lead in the industry to formulate targeted competitive strategies.Of course, market share is not the only indicator for determining a company's competitive position.For an enterprise, its operating income can also reflect the strength of its competitive position. Arthur D. Little Consulting believes that any company will occupy one of the following six competitive positions in the target market of its industry:

leading position.Dominant firms in an industry dictate the behavior of other competitors and have wide leeway in strategic choices. position of power.Firms in a dominant position can operate independently without jeopardizing their long-term market position, and they can maintain their long-term position no matter what competitors do. vantage point.Such firms have the power to execute a specific strategy and have more opportunities to improve their market position. enough to sustain.Such businesses run themselves well enough to stay in business.But their existence is under the tacit permission of those companies with dominant positions, and there are fewer opportunities to improve their own market positions.

weak position.The operating conditions of such enterprises are not good, but there are still many opportunities for improvement. They must innovate, or they will be forced to withdraw from the market. Difficult to maintain.The operating conditions of such enterprises are extremely poor, it is difficult to maintain normal operations, and there is no turning point. Before formulating a marketing plan, an enterprise first needs to evaluate its own competitiveness.The analysis of enterprise competitiveness is the analysis made by comparing with the competitiveness of other enterprises, including comprehensive competitiveness analysis and product characteristic analysis.For example, the competitiveness analysis of steel, fashion, and supermarkets is as follows:

Critical success factors for steel, fashion, supermarkets Industry analysis of needs Analysis of competition Key success factors ·Customers include automobile, machinery and container manufacturers ·Customers are very price sensitive and usually require product consistency and supply reliability · Special technical regulations require special steel ·Competition is mainly reflected in the price?Is the intensity of competition stemming from falling demand, high fixed costs, excess capacity, low-cost imports, and high barriers to exit?Shipping costs are quite high?Economies of scale matter

·Improve cost-effectiveness through efficiencies of scale in production, low-cost plant locations, ability to quickly adjust production, and efficient use of labor?Range of differentiation through quality service and advanced technology ·Based on workmanship, style, quality, color, the demand for fashion is very diverse?Are customers willing to pay a higher price for style, exclusivity and quality?The general market is very price sensitive?Retailers looking for reliability and speed of supply • Low barriers to entry and exit?Very low concentration of sellers and very limited economies of scale?Intense international competition?Retail chains have strong buying power

· Need to effectively combine differentiation with low-cost operation?The key differentiating variable is speed of response to changing fashion, style, prestige and quality ·low price?Shopping convenience?Wide range of products?Adjust product assortment based on preferences of nearby customers?The product is fresh, not long after leaving the factory?Neat shopping environment, excellent service, pleasant atmosphere ·The market is very localized, and the market concentration is usually high, but the customer's sensitivity to price encourages fierce price competition?The use of bargaining has a large impact on factor costs, and there are economies of scale in operations and advertising

• Low-cost operations, which require efficient operations, efficiencies of scale in stores, large total purchases to maximize purchasing power, and low wage costs?Differentiation, which requires spacious stores (to accommodate a wide range of products), convenient shopping locations, and convenient parking spaces The competitiveness of an enterprise includes the overall competitiveness of the enterprise itself, as well as the competitiveness of its products.That is to say, to examine the comprehensive competitiveness of an enterprise, it is necessary not only to compare the components of the enterprise's competitiveness with competitors one by one, but also to examine the main characteristics of the product and conduct a comparative analysis with competitors' products.In this way, the advantages and disadvantages of the company's products can be fully clarified, and a specific basis can be provided for formulating market competition strategies.

Marketing experts list the following main factors that affect the competitiveness of enterprises.Of course, due to different industries, the weight of each factor will also have considerable differences.These factors generally include the following: market share.In addition to evaluating based on the overall market share, it should also be analyzed by category and region. The number of sales staff and their configuration.By analyzing this factor, we can grasp the distribution of sales forces in various markets. Sales channels.That is, the main sales channel of the product. Sales service system.Including product pre-sales display, advertising, guidance to dealers, personnel composition of after-sales service, technical services, etc. monthly average.This is the main factor to measure an enterprise's manufacturing capacity, sales capacity and manufacturing cost. manufacturing cost.That is, the production cost of a single product, including fixed costs and variable costs. selling price.Including the ex-factory price, the final retail price and the enterprise's ability to control and adapt to the price. product quality.Refers to the grade of the product, the level of quality and the degree of technology. R & D capabilities.Including new product development capabilities and old product innovation capabilities. Variety completeness.Whether the product series is complete, whether the specifications of the same series of products are complete, etc. are the main factors to examine the completeness of varieties. Advertising capabilities.Including product advertising capabilities, corporate public relations capabilities, etc. comprehensive profitability.That is, the value creation ability or profit creation ability of an enterprise can be measured by indicators such as per capita profit and per capita added value. Michael Porter identified five forces that determine the long-term intrinsic attractiveness of a market or segment: competitors in the same industry, potential new competitors, substitute products, buyers, and suppliers. With the continuous development of the market, market competition is not only widespread but also fierce year by year.In the fierce market competition, enterprises are more and more aware that it is not enough for us to just know our customers, we also need to always pay attention to the competitors we must face in the market. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the two largest beverage companies in the world that produce cola.But with the emergence of some new beverages in various markets, the two giants began to face challenges from competitors in the industry.The products produced by these small-scale beverage companies have many varieties and full flavors, ranging from mineral water, beverages, beer, to fruit and vegetable nutritional juices and original juice drinks, and have begun to invade the market of the two major cola companies. According to the statistics of New Product Information, there were 1,350 new beverages in the western world in 1991, and more than 1,100 new beverages came out in 1992.Such as Snap Beverage Company, its revenue rose rapidly from 13 million US dollars to 215 million US dollars between 1988 and 1991.Especially in the western United States, Snap's tea and soft drinks are in short supply, beating out other beverage makers in regions such as the Midwest and the East Coast. These small beverage companies have produced thousands of varieties of various beverages, and the assortments and varieties allow consumers to choose and taste to their heart's content, satisfying the various needs of consumers.In 1991 alone, consumers drank $1.3 billion worth of beverages of different categories and brands, including bottled iced tea, coffee, mineral water, soft drinks, fruity waters, fruit juices and sports drinks. In the cola market, global cola consumption in 1991 was 12.2 billion gallons.However, compared with the 10% increase in the sales of various other beverages, the consumption growth rate of Coke this year has decreased by 1.5%, and the image of Coke's soft drink empire has shown signs of decline. In order to regain Coke's position in the beverage kingdom, Coca-Cola decided to repackage a teardrop-shaped bottle that has been used for 20 or 30 years in order to better compete with other companies.They also took advantage of smaller companies, such as developing a convenience drink with Nestle. PepsiCo has followed suit, marketing Avalon mineral water, iced tea (with Lipton) and juice (with Ossian Spree).PepsiCo's Stewart has said that an important part of the company's long-term strategic goals is to develop a variety of beverages for consumers to choose, thereby defeating the competition of those small beverage companies. It can be seen from the case that whether it is the leader in the industry (Coca-Cola) or the challenger (Pepsi), they may face competition at any time—including competition from the other party and competition from other small businesses.The market competition is fierce, and enterprises must be in a competitive situation at all times, and fully analyze the competitive environment of the industry and the competitive behavior of competitors.Michael Porter divides the competitive environment of an enterprise into five categories: direct competitors in the same industry, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutes, and potential entrants.Here is a brief description of the five categories: (1) Direct competitors in the same industry.In the same industry, if there are already many, powerful or highly competitive competitors, then the market segment will lose its attractiveness.If the market is in a stable or declining period, and the production capacity continues to expand substantially, the fixed costs will be too high, and the barriers to exiting the market will be too high. (2) Suppliers.Suppliers have two methods that can threaten the development of enterprises, one is to increase supply prices; the other is to reduce the quality of supplied products or services, thereby reducing the profits of downstream industries. (3) Analysis of bargaining power of customers.To understand the bargaining power of customers, companies must understand why customers choose a product or service because of low price, high quality, fast delivery, reliable service, interesting advertising, or the ability of salespeople?If a business doesn't know what appeals to customers and how their choices will change, it will eventually lose its competitive advantage in the marketplace. (4) Alternatives.If there are substitutes or potential substitutes in the market that the enterprise serves, then the market will be unattractive.Any enterprise should pay close attention to the price trend of products. If technology develops in these substitute industries, or competition becomes increasingly fierce, it may lead to a decline in the price and profit of this market segment. (5) Potential entrants.A company that may join the industry at any time and become a direct competitor of the company is a "potential entrant".When a certain industry, especially an emerging industry, obtains high profits, a large amount of capital will flow in, not only existing enterprises in the industry will increase investment to improve production capacity, but also enterprises outside the industry will be attracted to invest in this industry . A company needs to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor.According to Arthur D. Little Consulting, a company occupies one of six competitive positions in its target market.The six competitive positions are: Dominant, Strong, Dominant, Defensive, Weak, and Difficult to Survive. In order to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, an enterprise must pay special attention to the strengths and weaknesses of its competitors.The company needs to compare the planned target market, the advantages and disadvantages of the marketing mix and the competitors' response to this strategy.Procter & Gamble has analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of Colgate and Unilever in the toothpaste market in Germany, as shown in the table below. Analysis of Procter & Gamble's competitors in the toothpaste market in Germany Project Procter & Gamble Colgate Unilever Procter The target market is middle and high-income families, parents and students who are willing to spend on cleaning products Advantages Crest toothpaste has a complete range and guaranteed quality Disadvantages Weak brand image in Germany Price advantage The retail price is the highest among similar products Disadvantages The price of buying in bulk is cheaper Competitive barrier advantage patent maintenance, professional institutions and expert recommendations Disadvantage Price too high limits market coverage Advantages of Promotions Numerous TV commercials and promotions Disadvantages: High cost of promotion and insignificant results of personnel promotion Channel advantage has a close relationship with retailers, and large supermarkets are willing to purchase Grocery stores with average disadvantages have fewer operations, and the sales volume of supermarkets is not comparable to that of Crest Suggested Strategies Increase profit share for wholesalers and retailers; expand lower-tier sales channels; build brand loyalty Colgate Target market is the same as Procter & Gamble Advantages Colgate toothpaste has always emphasized the health function of teeth Inferior category is not as good as crest Price advantage Wholesalers and retailers can get considerable profits Disadvantage Although there are lower-priced products, the overall price is still high Competitive barrier advantage Excellent after-sales support system Disadvantage Difficult to satisfy various consumers with different needs Promotional advantage Strong and effective sales force Disadvantage Ads are updated slowly The channel advantage has a close relationship with the middleman who only sells Colgate, and the cooperation between the two parties is satisfactory The disadvantage is that supermarkets cannot match the sales volume of Crest Suggested Strategies Increase retailers’ in-store promotions; update ads in a timely manner; introduce more toothpastes that cater to consumers’ specific needs Unilever Target market is the same as P&G, but also includes more price-sensitive groups Advantages High brand awareness Inferior toothpaste is not Unilever's strong suit Price advantage The price is relatively cheap Low margins for disadvantaged retailers Competitive Barriers Advantages Economies of Scale and Lower Costs Disadvantage Customer loyalty is low Advantages of promotions Larger advertising expenditures and certain cultural resonance The market response to the promotion of inferior relations is relatively slow Channel advantage Unilever toothpaste can be found in various markets Disadvantages are less closely related to dealerships at all levels Suggested Strategies Increase short-term promotions; cultivate regular middle sellers; increase research costs for toothpaste Procter & Gamble has formulated effective countermeasures for itself through a clear analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of its competitors, so it can naturally be more strategic in dealing with competition.In general, when each company analyzes its competitors, it mainly analyzes from the following three variables: 1.Market Share: The share of sales held by a competitor in the market concerned. 2.Mind share: This refers to the percentage of customers who nominate a competitor out of all customers when answering the question "Name the first company in this industry that comes to your mind." 3.Sentiment Share: This is the percentage of customers who nominate a competitor out of all customers in response to the question "Name a company whose products you like to buy from." We classify companies into leaders, challengers, followers, and fillers based on their position in the target market.Market leaders control 40% of the market.Another 30% of the market is in the hands of market challengers.Another 20% of the market is held by market followers, and this company only wants to maintain its market share and does not want to disrupt the market situation.The remaining 10% is in the hands of market nichers, companies that serve small market segments that are not of interest to larger companies. Most industries have a recognized market leader company.The company holds the largest market share in the related product market.It often leads other companies in terms of price changes, new product introductions, distribution coverage, and promotional intensity.This is the "market leader" in the market competition. Toyota is arguably the market leader in the automotive industry.As the dominant player, Toyota implements a relaxed and tolerant policy towards other automobile manufacturers in terms of product varieties, sales regions, and sales channels, in order to seek stability and expansion of the entire market.Toyota adopts different strategies for companies with different ranks.Maintaining a gap with the second-placed Nissan is Toyota's main means of stabilizing the market. For the third-ranked Mitsubishi and Toyo Corporation, Toyota adopted a compatible line in product series, centering on Toyota to stabilize the market, so as to contain the second-ranked Nissan. Toyota's attitude towards the fourth place Honda is to clearly adopt the strategy of product differentiation, market differentiation and outstanding features.Using these strategies, Toyota was able to address Honda's lack of production capacity without having to update its products.To this end, Toyota has adopted a unique strategy of anticipating the needs of cyclical markets.In addition, Toyota must prevent an alliance between No. 4 Honda and No. 2 Nissan. For Suzuki, which ranks fifth, Toyota's strategy is to promote alliances and let it undertake the task of decoration and other special processing of Toyota light vehicles, women's special vehicles, electric vehicles and other products, and supplement Toyota's product line with Suzuki .At the same time, use it as a vanguard that can quickly and flexibly adapt to new market changes. Similar to Toyota, which dominates the automotive market, every other industry has its own market leader.Some notable market leaders include: Kodak (photography), Microsoft (computer software), Intel (microprocessors), Procter & Gamble (consumer packaged goods), McDonald's (fast food), and Coca-Cola (soft drinks). Market leaders usually occupy a dominant position in the target market in which the company operates.In general, market leaders have the following characteristics: It is in a leading position in new product development, price changes, distribution channel width and promotion force, and its leading position is recognized by other companies in the same industry. It is not only the leader of market competition, but also the object of challenge, emulation or avoidance by other enterprises. Its status is naturally formed in the competition, but it is not fixed. Of course, being a dominant player doesn't have it easy.Generally speaking, unless the dominant firm enjoys a legal monopoly, its business is constantly threatened.Companies that are market leaders must be vigilant at all times because: Others will continually challenge its strengths or try to exploit its weaknesses. Product innovation in the market will first endanger the position of the market leader. Market leaders are likely to become bloated, dull, and inflexible due to the expansion of organizational structure. Marketing experts pointed out that in the competition, the basic strategy of the market leader is to stabilize the entire market, so that the entire industry does not have fierce competition in terms of price, market share, technology, and sales.At the same time, the key to the market leader's survival is to maintain a gap with the second-ranked company. A market leader is like the largest elephant in the herd. It is constantly harassed by bees. One of the largest and dirtiest bees surrounds it tightly and buzzes continuously. Coca-Cola must always beware of Pepsi. Sony must beware of Samsung; Toyota must beware of Honda; Kodak must beware of Fuji. Enterprises in the market leader position often have a relatively large market share in the industry, and play a relatively dominant or leading role in many aspects such as product price changes, new product development, changes in market coverage, and selection of sales methods. effect.At the same time, the leader company is also facing the competitive threat from many other companies.Therefore, market leaders must maintain a high degree of vigilance and adopt appropriate competitive positioning strategies to maintain their competitive advantages. Kodak is the largest manufacturer of cameras, photographic equipment and equipment in the United States, and film sales account for 65% of the company's sales.Fuji is Japan's largest manufacturer of photosensitive materials and photographic equipment.In the past twenty or thirty years, Kodak and Fuji have never stopped competing. Kodak's film had been sold well in the Japanese market in 1899, and until 1946, it still had an absolute monopoly in the Japanese market.However, with the gradual development of Japanese industry after the Second World War and the rise of the Japanese Fuji Photographic Equipment Company, by the 1970s, Kodak's products only accounted for 15% of the Japanese market, while Fuji occupied nearly 80% of the market. . In order to maintain Kodak's market leadership in the photographic industry, Kodak formulated a series of strategic plans and began to fight in earnest. First, Kodak fought back aggressively in the U.S. market to protect its share of the domestic film market.It has carried out a series of product improvements for Fuji's low price.Kodak's advertising and promotion expenses greatly exceed Fuji's by a ratio of 20:1.In the 1988 Summer Olympics, Kodak spent 10 million US dollars in sponsorship fees and received special discounts for the designated film for the Seoul Olympics in South Korea. After that, in 1992, it received the designated film for the Barcelona Summer Olympics.Through a series of advertising and promotional activities, Kodak's market share in the United States stabilized at a very high 80% in the early 1990s. In January 1977, Kodak decided to improve the sales method of film in Japan and increase its market share.There are two main strategies adopted: First, from March 1, 1977, a large-scale price reduction. Second, during the period from March to May 1977, a large-scale advertising campaign with the theme of "posting kittens" was launched, that is, a set of 5 kitten pictures was given away for every color film purchased.Kittens were chosen because kittens are always associated with good luck in the Japanese concept. In addition, Kodak also spent millions of dollars to erect neon billboards in major and medium-sized cities in Japan, advertised on TV and newspapers, and also carried out sponsorship activities for popular Japanese sports such as sumo wrestling, judo, and tennis. . Kodak launched an attack on Fuji by reducing product prices and large-scale advertising campaigns. In the end, Fuji's market share was eroded and its competitive advantage was weakened. In 1990, Kodak's sales in Japan reached 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 6 times compared with 5 years ago. Kodak's attack on the Japanese market can be said to kill two birds with one stone. Not only has it gained huge sales and profit opportunities in Japan, but at the same time it has gained another most important benefit. Fuji must invest huge resources in Japan to defend against Kodak's attack. The resources to attack Kodak in the United States were reduced. As a market leader, Kodak adopted various strategies to protect its own territory.Generally speaking, market leaders mainly maintain their leading positions in the following aspects: (1) Expand the total market demand.When the total market demand for a product expands, it is often the leading companies that benefit the most. Therefore, promoting the continuous growth of total product demand and expanding the entire market capacity is a positive measure for leading companies to maintain their competitive advantages.Generally speaking, leading companies can achieve this by seeking new consumers, opening up new uses for products, or stimulating existing consumer groups to increase their usage. (2) Maintain market share.Among the competitors faced by market leaders, there will always be one or several powerful players.To prevent and resist the strong attack of other companies and maintain their existing market share, market leaders generally maintain the market in two ways: one is offensive measures, that is, to take the initiative to reduce costs, innovate products, and strengthen weak links.The second is defensive measures, that is, according to the actual situation of competition, different lines of defense are established around the existing positions of the enterprise, such as building a line of defense for the current market and products of the enterprise, which can not only defend the current position of the enterprise, but also expand to new markets. Positions, as the new defense and offensive center of the enterprise in the future, the line of defense, etc. (3) Expand market share.Market share is closely related to return on investment.Generally speaking, the higher the market share of an enterprise, the greater its return on investment.Leader companies can reduce costs and expand market share based on the advantages of economic scale.When adopting this kind of competition strategy, we should pay attention to three issues: the possibility of causing anti-monopoly, the cost to increase market share, and what kind of marketing mix strategy to adopt. Companies that occupy the second, third and subsequent positions in the industry can be called second-place or follower companies.Certain companies can be quite large in their own right.Examples include companies such as Nissan, Samsung, and PepsiCo.These second-tier firms can adopt one of two postures; they can attack market leaders and other competitors in order to capture more market share (market challengers); or, they can compete without disrupting the market (market follower). There are a number of market challengers who have taken turf from market leaders or surpassed them: Toyota makes more cars than General Motors; Canon, which was one-tenth the size of Xerox in the mid-1970s, And today more copiers are produced than Xerox.While those market leaders have done business the way they used to, challengers have turned around with greater ambition and fewer resources, becoming increasingly difficult opponents for market leaders to ignore. Coca-Cola, which was born in the United States in 1886, has always been the "king of beverages in the world" and has been praised as "the empire that never sets on beverages".However, when Coca-Cola was in full swing, another company that also held high the banner of "Coke" and dared to challenge it - PepsiCo, also became stronger and stronger in the confrontation with Coca-Cola, and finally formed a rivalry. PepsiCo's competitor, Coca-Cola, has always been in the industry's "leader" position, while PepsiCo can only be a "follower".For PepsiCo to be No. 1 and overturn PepsiCo's image as a "cheap knockoff," PepsiCo must compete with Coca-Cola with a top-notch soft drink. After a rigorous market survey, PepsiCo found that after World War II, a large number of young people were born in the United States. They have not experienced major crises and wars, and they are confident and optimistic. They are very different from their predecessors. The appetite for business is both large and new, and they are growing to become major American forces.These people become the target consumer group of Pepsi. After 4 years of brewing, the slogan of "Pepsi-Cola New Generation" was officially launched.Pepsi-Cola clearly stood on the standpoint of "a new generation of Americans" and launched "Now, for young consumers, Pepsi-Cola is your best choice" and "Rise up, you are a lively part of Pepsi-Cola's new era." Members" theme advertisement, and sang repeatedly through radio and television stations in the form of songs: "People who are alive and well today agree that they think they are young as 'Pepsi'. They choose the correct, modern, and light Coke, and think they are young. people drink Pepsi now." Later, the advertising slogan "Now, Pepsi is a drink for young people" was further launched, and the more attractive and inspiring "Get up, you are the young generation of Pepsi" shocked The slogan of the heart.These advertisements cater to the desire of the young generation to fully display their vigor, youthful vitality, and pioneering the times, thus establishing Pepsi as a symbol of the trend and youthful vitality of the times, and contrasting its competitor Coca-Cola as a representative of conservative, outdated, and old-fashioned . Ten years later, when Coca-Cola tried to respond to Pepsi's ads to capture the next generation, its advantage over Pepsi had been reduced from 5:1 to 2:1.At this time, Pepsi developed a further strategy and launched a full-scale attack on Coca-Cola, which was called "Pepsi's challenge" by the world. PepsiCo's challenge is an example of a market challenger succeeding. In general, the role of a market challenger is to push out competitors and replace them.In order to expand their market scope, some second-ranked but powerful large enterprises usually adopt this challenging strategy. To implement the positioning strategy of a market challenger, an enterprise must have a clear advantage over its competitors, provide more advantageous and distinctive products than its competitors, and do a lot of promotion and publicity work to improve the image and popularity of its products. Dilute the customer's impression and favor of competitors' products. Attacking market leadership is a highly risky but potentially highly rewarding strategy.If the market leader is not a true leader and is not serving the market well, attacking it makes a lot of sense.An alternative strategy is to out-innovate the leaders across the segment. The strategic goal of most market challengers is to increase their market share.Market challengers typically take market share by attacking market leaders or companies of a similar size.The basic strategy of an enterprise positioned as a market challenger is to make a truce with the market leader when its strength is exhausted; on the other hand, to seize the market change, first become the market leader in a new market field, and then seize the opportunity to become the market leader to launch an attack. Harrell is a small player in the US cleaners market.It was very successful retailing a cleaning spray called "Recipe 409" in the 1960s.By 1967, this product accounted for half of the cleaning spray market. When Harrell opened up the cleaning spray market and made a splash, the extent of its success was enviable. "Procter & Gamble" -- the king of household products -- defended its advantage with a cleaning spray called Novelty, attacking Harrell's "Formula 409." Procter & Gamble's offensive is fierce.They've invested heavily in branding, packaging and promoting the "novelty" product, conducting costly market research and will be testing it in Denver.Procter & Gamble's sales approach was so loud that Harrell felt the crisis was coming. Facing the huge and powerful Procter & Gamble, Harrell saw the shortcomings of large companies that were slow to respond to large-scale operations.Harrell decided to take advantage of the fast-moving characteristics of small businesses and drag P&G into the quagmire of guerrilla warfare. Harrell quietly withdrew from the area after hearing that P&G would test-market new products in Denver—they didn't just take their products off the shelves, because it would easily reveal their strategic intentions.Harrell stopped all advertising and promotions, allowing "Recipe 409" to "disappear" from the shelves of its own accord.This is guerrilla warfare: quietly and quickly moving to disrupt the enemy.As a result, the "novelty" cleaning spray encountered no resistance in the test sale in Denver, and Procter & Gamble reveled in the atmosphere of "big win." Soon, Procter & Gamble, which was "invincible" in Denver, launched a sweeping offensive state by state across the United States, but fell into Harrell's scheme. The sales of "Novelty" in other regions are not as good as expected.Harrell had built P&G high expectations by manipulating Novelty's Denver test-launch, and now it's making things far worse than it thought.哈勒尔把它的16盎司与半磅两种包装的产品，一并以一块四毛八的优特价零售，比一般价格降低很多，并用大量广告促销这种优惠产品。在这场游击战中，哈勒尔精心策划的价格战把宝洁拖入难以自拔的境地，他们通过大幅度降低价格，使“配方409”的消费者一次性购买半年的用量。等到“新奇”出现在市场上时，早已不见了“配方409”的消费者，留在这一市场上的只是新的使用者，可这些人的需求量极其有限。最后，宝洁公司只好狼狈地撤军，尽管“新奇”在试销中曾“大获全胜”。 商场如战场。哈勒尔对付宝洁的策略，采取的是灵活的游击策略，如军事中的“游击战”，虽然人数和装备远不如敌手，但却最终获得了成功。一般来说，市场挑战者有五种可能的进攻方式：正面、侧翼、包围、迂回和游击战。 1.正面进攻。市场挑战者集中优势兵力向竞争对手的主要市场阵地正面发动进攻，进攻对手的强项而不是它的弱点。采用此战略需要进攻者必须在提供的商品、广告、价格等主要方面大大超过竞争对手，才有可能成功。 2.侧翼进攻。市场挑战者可采取“声东击西”的做法，佯攻正面，实际攻击侧面或背面，使竞争对手措手不及。具体而言，可采取两种策略：地理性侧翼进攻，在某一地理范围内针对竞争者力量薄弱的地区市场发动进攻；还有细分性侧翼进攻，寻找还未被领先者企业覆盖的商品和服务的细分市场迅速填空补缺。 3.围堵进攻。市场挑战者开展全方位、大规模的围堵进攻策略。此战略要求挑战者必须拥有优于竞争对手的资源，能向市场提供比竞争对手更多的质量更优、价格更廉的产品，并确信围堵计划的完成足以能成功。 4.迂回进攻。市场挑战者完全避开竞争对手现有的市场阵地而迂回进攻。具体做法一般有三种： 实行产品多角化经营，发展某些与现有产品具有不同关联度的产品； 实行市场多角化经营，把现有产品打入新市场： 发展新技术产品、取代技术落后的产品。 5.游击进攻。哈勒尔对付宝洁便是采取的此招。游击进攻方式以小型的、间断性的进攻干扰对方，使竞争对手的士气衰落，不断削弱其力量。向较大竞争对手市场的某些角落发动游击式的促销或价格攻势，逐渐削弱对手的实力。游击进攻战略的特点是不能依仗每一个别战役的结果决出战局的最终胜负。 并不是说市场追随者是没有战略的。一个市场追随者必须知道如何保持现有的顾客和如何争取有新顾客参加的一个令人满意的市场份额。追随者也是挑战者攻击的主要目标，因此，市场追随者必须保持它的制造成本和产品质量及服务。 大多数公司喜欢追随市场领导者而不是向市场领导者挑战。这些被定位为“市场追随者”的公司并不打算与竞争对手互相拉走顾客。他们常常效仿市场领导者，为购买者提供相似的供应品。市场份额显示着一个高度的稳定性。 德国著名的制鞋商阿迪达斯公司一直是跑鞋制造业的佼佼者，在该行业遥遥领先了好多年。 耐克公司的创始人菲尔·耐克也看到了运动鞋的广阔前景，1000美元起家成立了制鞋公司。开始仅仅是别人的一个加工车间，替日本的泰格尔跑鞋生产鞋底，同时，也进口该鞋在美国销售。 为赶超阿迪达斯，耐克历经艰辛发明了自己的新式运动鞋，取名“耐克”。1972年，耐克鞋首次在竞赛中亮相就让运动员取得了第四名的好成绩，但第一至第三名，依然由穿着阿迪达斯产品的运动员包揽。耐克决心追随阿迪达斯，向其学习。 耐克向阿迪达斯看齐的第一步就是学习对手的看家本领——瞄准运动员，努力同那些前途无量的运动员建立长期而密切的关系；每设计出一款新的运动鞋都要耐心地征求他们的意见，然后免费送给他们试穿；在广告支出上，耐克也学着阿迪达斯进行大规模的投入。耐克还看准奥运会这块金字招牌，它承诺并兑现：凡是在奥运会上穿着耐克鞋取得金牌者，耐克将提供3万美元奖金。 耐克制造体育英雄神话的战略终于取得了成功。最有说服力的例证是迈克尔·乔丹，尽管乔丹20世纪80年代中期依然钟情于阿迪达斯，但为了拥有自己的乔丹产品并能够在产品设计中施加自身影响，乔丹毅然地改弦易辙投入了耐克的怀抱。而耐克也彻底地挖掘出乔丹的无穷潜力——乔丹象征着清澈与坚定，他以一种近乎于神佛般的地位成为运动场上受人崇拜的核心偶像，购买他所代表的品牌和产品是对他最好的支持和拥戴。 在对阿迪达斯的追随过程中，耐克可谓学有所成。市场对耐克鞋的需求与日俱增，它的8000家百货商店、体育用品商店和鞋店经销人中的一半以上都要提前订货才能得到满足。耐克的销售增长势头迅猛，如1976年其销售额为1400万美元，1977年就已上升到2900万美元，而其市场占有率也节节攀升。短短几年，耐克就跑在了对手的前面，并把对手甩出了老远。 1982年1月的《福布斯》杂志中，“美国产业年度报告”把耐克公司评为过去5年中赢利最多的公司，并且位居全行业之首。1997年，耐克销售额达到91.87亿美元，居“世界企业排行榜”第490位。 耐克公司最初以市场追随者的角色定位自己，以虚心的态度向行业老大阿迪达斯学习其经营之道，同时又有很大创新，从而超越了曾经的霸主而使自己成为新的霸主。 当今的激烈市场上，企业的产品差异化及形象差异化很低，价格敏感性也高。此时价格战可能随时爆发，在这些产业中，持有短期夺取市场占有率的心态只会激怒同业的报复。因此，明智的策略是跟随市场的领导者，以相同的产品(通常是模仿领先者的产品)给客户，从而获得较稳定的市场占有率。 跟随者并不是毫无策略可言，每一个跟随者都试图将独特的利益带给其目标市场，保持其现有的顾客并赢得适当的新客户占有率。跟随者常是领导者和挑战者攻击的目标。因此，市场跟随者必须维持低制造成本及高产品品质与服务。跟随并不等于被动或仅模仿领先者，它也应在新市场打开时立即进入，并抓住机会超越对手。 要超越能者，必须以能者为师，这在商场上是司空见惯的事情。在学习过程中，你不仅可以看到超越对象的优点，更能看到超越对象的缺点，充分学习强大竞争对手的优点，并有意避免了对手的缺点，自然能够战胜对手成为新的霸主。 追随者虽然未必能超过领导者，但它获得的利润较高，因为它不承担创新和教育市场的费用。 一个创新者要承担开发新产品、进行分销、向市场提供信息和教育市场等巨大的开支，作为对所有这些工作和风险的报酬通常是争得市场领导地位。但是，有些公司会紧紧跟上，模仿或改进创新者推出的产品，这就是市场的追随者。 市场领导者常常忽视追随者的存在，殊不知，追随者们却常常通过低制造成本和高产品质量与领导者瓜分利润。 20世纪60年代，名不见经传的英国威尔金森刀具公司发明了气味清新、美观耐用而不生锈的不锈钢刀片。1961年，威尔金森公司说服了美国的一些零售商和经销商以寄信方式销售它的“超级刀刃”牌刀片。到1962年春，这种刀片以不可阻挡之势进入美国市场，人们对它交口称赞，零售存货很快告罄。到1962年底，威尔金森公司在英国刀片市场上占有率达15%，而在这同一市场上，吉列公司曾拥有过75%的占有率。 势单力薄的威尔金森公司并未引起“刀片巨人”吉列公司的重视。事实上，1962年它向美国出口的700万刀片，还不及吉列公司一天的产量。威尔金森公司刀片的生产能力有限，也没有必不可少的大规模经销渠道。尽管威尔金森公司打算增加产量，但它还无力和庞大的吉列公司竞争，因此吉列对它不感兴趣。 但是那些吉列的对手们却从中看到了希望。他们尽管规模较小，但他们对威尔金森刀片所引起的公众关注却没有掉以轻心，因此他们加班加点地要赶在吉列之前推出不锈钢刀片，这其中就有美国的安全剃刀公司和永利有限公司，而永利公司打出的价格非常有吸引力：每5片79美分。 面对情势变化，吉列还是不为所动。吉列公司总裁坚定地宣布：“我们不打算采取应急措施。”而且认为这样做有三大理由：第一，加工不锈钢刀片的刀刃比加工目前的碳钢刀片难度要大，会导致不合格率的上升；第二，加工不锈钢刀片既会增加成本，又会降低总利润，因为不锈钢刀片的剃须效果太好，刀片又耐用，导致消费者最终花在刀片上的费用大大减少；第三，也是最重要的原因，吉列怕新产品推出后，与它的利润武器——超级蓝光牌刀片自相残杀，造成两败俱伤。 鉴于以上原因，吉列在竞争对手推出不锈钢产品半年之后才最后一个很不情愿地进入不锈钢刀片市场，为此，吉列付出了沉重的代价：1962年，吉列公司创下了美国企业赢利最高的纪录——40％的投资收益率，可1963～1964年却急剧下降至30％以下，其市场占有率也从原来的75％下降到55％。 在市场竞争中，类似于吉列的例子不胜枚举。市场的追随者在最初或许并不妄图完全战胜市场领先者，但作为市场追随者，他们致力于保持现有顾客，并最大限度地争取新顾客参加。每一个追随者要努力给它的目标市场(地点、服务和融资)带来有特色的优势。同时，追随者必须确定一条不会引起竞争性报复的成长路线。因此，市场追随者一般采用以下四类战略中的一种，来瓜分市场中的利润： 1.仿制者：仿制者复制领导者的产品和包装，在黑市上销售或卖给名誉不佳的经销商。许多唱片公司、苹果电脑和劳力士手表被仿造成灾。 2.紧跟者：紧跟者模仿领导者的产品、名字和包装，但稍有区别。例如，“青一岛”和“青岛山”啤酒很像青岛啤酒。在电脑业的紧跟者也很多。 3.模仿者：模仿者在某些事情上仿效领导者，但在包装、广告、价格等上又有所不同。领导者并不注意模仿者，而模仿者也不进攻领导者。 4.改变者：改变者接受领先的产品，并改变或改进它们。改变者可以选择销售给其他不同市场。然后，许多改变者将成长为将来的市场调整者，日本的许多公司在改进领导者的产品并在别处发展。 战略计划研究所发现，小市场的投资报酬率为27%，而大市场只有11%。为什么补缺能赢利？其主要原因是营销补缺者比其他随便销售该产品的公司更清楚地了解这些顾客的需要。因此，补缺者因为添加了附加值而使其产品价格超过了十几成本。 公司经常避免与大公司竞争，它们的目标是小市场或大公司不感兴趣的市场。事实上，不少在市场上拥有低份额的公司也能够通过出色的补缺战略来获取高额利润。甚至不少的大公司也日益在建立业务单位或公司，以服务于补缺市场。 小公司挑战大公司，并且和大公司大打价格战，这通常会被认为是蚍蜉撼大树，但美国西南航空公司的实例却明确地向人们展示了什么是四两拨千斤。 西南航空公司实力并不强，无法与处于市场领导地位的大公司展开正面较量。于是，该公司不断寻找被大公司忽视的市场。西南航空公司找到的自己的补缺市场是大航空公司不屑一顾的短途航班。西南航空公司提供的航班不仅价格低廉，而且班次频繁。 20世纪70年代开始，西南航空就靠价格战取得胜利，从得克萨斯州向外扩张，到1991年，几乎在全美国的短途航班上再也找不到对手了，该公司总裁克莱尔说：“我们已经不再与航空公司竞争，我们的新对手是公路交通，我们要与行驶在公路上的福特、克莱斯勒、田和尼桑车展开价格战。我们要把高速公路上的客流搬到天上来。” 在价格战中，通常都是大公司吃掉小公司，因为大公司能扛得起。可为什么西南航空这样的小公司却能在价格战中打败大公司呢？答案很简单，那就是低成本运营。西南航空的运营成本是美国航空界最低的。 首先，西南航空的机型全部都是波音737，这样不仅节省燃油，而且使公司在培训、维修和零部件购买等方面也节省了不少费用。其次，飞机只有飞起来才能赚钱，西南航空的飞机创下了美国航空界最短的航班轮转时间，一般的公司需要1小时的登机时间，而西南航空却只需15分钟，个别航班甚至只需10分钟。最后，在顾客服务方面也省下了一大笔钱。他们不提供用餐服务，座位是随意坐的，节省了登机时间。这样为顾客提供了更多的自由空间，登上西南航空的飞机，使每一位顾客都能有到自己领地的感觉，他们可以自由安排用餐时间，可以选择自己理想的座位，更重要的是登机时间的缩短使他们免去了很多等待的麻烦。 西南航空“偷工减料”的做法，对大航空公司来说是不可想象的。但正是这种做法大大地节省了成本，从而使低价格扩张得以成功。在争夺洛杉矶至旧金山航线时，西南航空的单程票价只需59美元，而其他公司的票价却高达180美元，结果可想而知。 有关西南航空公司的案例一度引起众多营销专家的关注，人们一致认为西南航空公司成功的关键在于找到并且抓住了一个“空当市场”。确实，空当市场是客观存在的，由于市场需求千差万别，新的需求不断产生，生产可能落后于需求，由于企业竞争能力有限，未被人发现或占领的空当市场不断产生，经常出现。西南航空公司意识到了一个空当市场的存在，并且实实在在地抓住了它，所以获得了成功。 市场补缺者策略是将企业产品的位置定位在目标市场的空缺处，它不仅避开了市场竞争，不与目标市场上的竞争对手直接对抗，而且在目标市场的空隙和空缺领域开拓新的市场，生产销售目标市场上尚没有的某种特色产品，以更好地发挥企业的竞争优势，获取较好的经济效益。 市场补缺者往往是弱小者，他们瞄准的或许不是整个市场，但却是独树一帜的空挡市场。不仅仅西南航空公司，采用补缺战略取得成功的其实大有人在，如牛仔裤最初是男人穿的，后来却有人将之在女性市场撑起了另一半天地；化妆品原来是女人用的，但偏偏男用化妆品市场日见兴旺；尿布向来以婴幼儿为目标消费者，后来有公司生产“成人尿布”。 事实证明，每一个市场都可以被多样化地进行细分——当然，其前提条件是企业的营销观念本身是可以细分的。企业经营者、决策者在营销观念上不能有先入为主的偏见，不能认为某一种产品只能提供给某一消费者群。当你把视野拓展至全体消费者时，你就能进行市场细分并且有可能找到“空当市场”。 竞争优势是一个相对概念，当一个通过提供较低的价格或者较高的利益使消费者获得更大的价值，它就具备了竞争优势。某产品（品牌）的“位置”取决于与竞争者产品（品牌）相比较后消费者的认知、印象和情感等复杂因素。因此，企业要辨别目标市场上现存竞争对手及其产品的特色和地位，并决定自己产品的发展方向。 在市场中，企业为获得竞争优势，需要进行目标市场定位，这包括以下主要任务：首先要确定企业可以从哪些方面寻求差异化；其次是找到企业产品独特的卖点；然后是开发总体定位战略，即明确产品的价值方案。 实际上，为了向消费者提供更多的价值，企业产品定位一开始往往都是从差异化做起。然而并非所有商品的差异化策略都能有意义或有价值，即差异化不一定能有市场。有效的差异化策略，应该能够为产品创造出一个独特的“卖点”，消费者会根据自身的价值取向，来做出是否购买的决策。因此，确定价值方案就成为总体定位战略的核心内容，即如何创造出自己的竞争优势。 20世纪60年代初开始进入海外市场的日本机械手表，无论是在其质量上，还是在其价格及品种类型上，都难以与历史悠久的瑞士手表相抗衡。瑞士手表制造业拥有高度的企业间垂直分工零部件生产，最终组装的生产系统以及丰富的优秀熟练工人等资源，使其最大限度地享受着分工协作带来的低成本、大量生产的好处。 为了与瑞士表制造业竞争，精工公司通过实行大规模的生产工艺创新，在产品制造成本上，逐渐取得了匹敌于瑞士厂家的竞争力。但就技术含量而言，与瑞士表相比，精工表的自动上弦机械表要滞后15年，高振动机械表要落后2、3年，而在运用石英电子技术开发高精度手表上却领先了一大步。因此，石英电子表是精工赖以超越瑞士手表制造业的关键产品。 瑞士厂家虽于1967年与精工同时开发出石英手表的展示品，但价格过高，把它定位成一种市场有限的高档产品，而且把主要精力放在提高机械式手表性能上面。1969年年底精工在世界上首次开发出模拟式石英手表。其后，该公司充分利用半导体等周边技术的进步，改良原有的机械手表自动组装生产线，进一步实现了模拟式石英手表的小型化和低成本化，确立了大量生产低价石英表的体制。接着，1973年该公司运用美国科学家的成果开发出液晶显示的数码式手表，完全掌握了有关石英电子表的制造技术。其后，该公司大规模地把产品从机械式转换为石英式，到了1982年时已有大约80％的产品实现了石英化，但瑞士厂家石英化的步子却迟缓了许多。 精工公司在机械手表市场上毫无优势，面对威胁，明智地选择率先进入石英表市场，进行成功的市场定位，实施小型化、低成本的发展战略，并最终将自己的核心业务转移到已具有绝对竞争优势的电子石英表上来，利用自己所创造出的竞争优势，在手表市场上牢牢地占据着一席之地。在市场中，总会存在一些未被满足的部分，也总可以通过现有需求来引导出一些新的市场需求，而这些往往都是可以通过差异化或成本战略去占领的。 未满足的部分或者新的需求，这些都意味着商业机会，当然，市场上的机会不是等来的，而是自己主动创造的。创造出了机会，还得努力把握，这就需要对自己有充分且客观的认识，利用自己现有的资源，打造出他人难以逾越的竞争优势，这就是企业在行业中的生存之道。