In marketing

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 and strategic management

Strategic management

Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization of resources, to enhance the performance of firms in their external environments...

, marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing strategy that uses military metaphor to craft a businesses strategy. See marketing warfare strategies

Marketing warfare strategies

Marketing warfare strategies are a type of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to business situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict,...

 for background and an overview. Defensive marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing warfare strategy designed to protect a company's market share

Market share

Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...

, profitability

Profit (economics)

In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...

, product positioning

Positioning (marketing)

In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization....

, or mind share

Mind share

Mind share, or the development of consumer awareness or popularity, is one of the main objectives of advertising and promotion. When people think of examples of a product type or category, they usually think of a limited number of brand names. For example, a prospective buyer of a college education...

.

Fundamental principles

There are five fundamental principles involved:

1. Always counter an attack with equal or greater force.
2. Defend every important market.
3. Be forever vigilant in scanning for potential attackers. Assess the strength of the competitor. Consider the amount of support that the attacker might muster from allies.
4. The best defense is to attack yourself. Attack your weak spots and rebuild yourself anew.
5. Defensive strategies should be the exclusive domain of the market leader.

Types of defensive strategies

The main types of defensive marketing warfare strategies are:

• Position defense - This involves the defense of a fortified position. This tends to be a weak defense because you become a “sitting duck”. It can lead to a siege
  Siege
  A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
  
   situation in which time is on the side of the attacker, that is, as time goes by the defender gets weaker, while the attacker gets stronger. In a business context, this involves setting up fortifications such as barriers to market entry around a product
  Product (business)
  In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
  
  , brand
  Brand
  The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
  
  , product line, market, or market segment
  Market segment
  Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function...
  
  . This could include increasing brand equity
  Brand equity
  Brand equity is the marketing effects and outcomes that accrue to a product with its brand name compared with those that would accrue if the same product did not have the brand name. Fact of the well-known brand name is that, the company can sometimes charge premium prices from the consumer . And,...
  
  , customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, or repeat purchase rate. It could also include exclusive distribution contracts, patent protection, market monopoly
  Monopoly
  A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
  
  , or government protected monopoly status. It is best used in homogeneous markets where the defender has dominant market position and potential attackers have very limited resources.
• Mobile defense - This involves constantly shifting resources and developing new strategies and tactics. A mobile defense is intended to create a moving target that is hard to successfully attack, while simultaneously, equipping the defender with a flexible response mechanism should an attack occur. In business this would entail introducing new products, introducing replacement products, modifying existing products, changing market segments, changing target markets, repositioning
  Positioning (marketing)
  In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization....
  
   products, or changing promotion
  Promotion (marketing)
  Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
  
  al focus. This defense requires a very flexible organization with strong marketing, entrepreneurial, product development
  New product development
  In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
  
  , and marketing research
  Marketing research
  Marketing research is "the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve...
  
   skills.
• Flank position - This involves the re-deployment of your resources to deter a flanking attack. You protect against potential loss of market share in a segment, by strengthening your competitive position in this segment with new products and other tactics. (see flanking marketing warfare strategies
  Flanking marketing warfare strategies
  In marketing and strategic management, marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing strategy that uses military metaphor to craft a businesses strategy. See marketing warfare strategies for background and an overview...
  
  )
• Counter offensive - This involves countering an attack with an offense of your own. If you are attacked, retaliate with an attack on the aggressor’s weakest point.

Lists of related topics

• Strategic management
  Strategic management
  Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization of resources, to enhance the performance of firms in their external environments...
  
  
• Marketing strategies
• Strategic planning
  Strategic planning
  Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues...
  
  
• Marketing warfare strategies
  Marketing warfare strategies
  Marketing warfare strategies are a type of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to business situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict,...
  
  
• Offensive marketing warfare strategies
  Offensive marketing warfare strategies
  In marketing and strategic management, marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing strategy that uses military metaphor to craft a businesses strategy. See marketing warfare strategies for background and an overview. Offensive marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing warfare...
  
  
• Flanking marketing warfare strategies
  Flanking marketing warfare strategies
  In marketing and strategic management, marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing strategy that uses military metaphor to craft a businesses strategy. See marketing warfare strategies for background and an overview...
  
  
• Guerrilla marketing warfare strategies
  Guerrilla marketing warfare strategies
  In marketing and strategic management, marketing warfare strategies are a type of marketing strategy that uses military strategy to form a marketing and advertising campaign...
  
  
• List of marketing topics
• List of management topics
• List of economics topics
• List of finance topics
• List of accounting topics