58 innovative plans for marketing

Chapter 5 Market Competition Planning (1)
Shopping malls are like battlefields, and a business war is like a general fighting a war. You must be resourceful, courageous and strategic.Every battle must be properly planned, and it must be invincible and invincible.Moreover, it cannot rely solely on the input of a large amount of manpower and material resources.In fact, as long as the strategy is used cleverly and the formation is skillfully arranged, why not use one as ten?It is also reasonable for the weak to defeat the strong.

In market competition, the conditions of weather, location, and harmony are different, and the competitive strategies adopted are also different.Market competition is a long-lasting systematic project. To achieve good results, it needs to be implemented after all-round planning of strategies and tactics.

Market competition, in the final analysis, is the competition of strength.This does not mean opening up the market with strong financial and material resources, but the product must stand the test of the market.Now there is a popular saying in the business world called "hard training internal skills".Indeed, in market competition, improving product quality is a strategic consideration, not a short-term strategy.This is something that manufacturers must keep in mind at all times.

In the history of China's reform and opening up for more than [-] years, how many former powerhouses sacrificed their righteousness for small profits and made rough products to expand their production and marketing capabilities. Although they achieved temporary success, they were finally abandoned in the end. destiny.And those juniors in the past are steadily moving forward step by step, from small to large, from weak to strong, and become today's industry giants, such as "Haier" in Qingdao, "Huawei" in Shenzhen, etc.

Classic look back
As we all know, Huawei and ZTE are competitors in the field of IT communication, because this is a life-and-death competition in the same area and field, and the two companies located in Shenzhen are eyeing each other with ulterior motives.

Before 1998, in the access network market, ZTE was once far ahead, while Huawei was far behind.However, in just one year, Huawei's share in the access network market surpassed that of ZTE. In the first half of 1999, Huawei's HONET won a decisive victory with sales of 2.2 million yuan, far exceeding ZTE ZXA10's 1.2 million yuan.Since then, ZTE has never turned around again.Obviously, in the fierce and brutal competition, Huawei wins more than loses, and is destined to be the final winner.

In the program-controlled switch market, as Huawei changes from a market follower to a market challenger, Huawei is eyeing another competitor, that is Shanghai Bell.

In 1995, when Huawei first entered the program-controlled switch market, it was very weak.At that time, Huawei was just a negligible market follower.However, when the C&C08 machine began to forcefully drive away NEC and Fujitsu, Huawei had positioned itself as a market challenger, and its main competitor was Shanghai Bell.Once it clearly identified its opponent, Huawei immediately launched a fierce attack.

However, due to the defects of the C&C08 machine itself and the unbreakable market advantage established by the S1240, Huawei has not been able to directly defeat Shanghai Bell in the program-controlled switchboard market.Huawei has adopted a strategy of avoiding the real and focusing on the false - to capture the rural market and the backward provinces and cities in the northeast, northwest, and southwest.

In these markets, Huawei has made a big publicity campaign of the V5 interface, using the HONET access network to counter Shanghai Bell's remote access module.At the same time, use the huge profits from the sales of communication power supplies to subsidize the sales of C&C08 machines, and use the low-price strategy to provoke vicious price-cutting competition in the program-controlled switchboard market.Huawei's intention is very clear: on the one hand, restrict Shanghai Bell's entry into the rural dialect market, and on the other hand, squeeze the profit margin of Shanghai Bell, whose main products are program-controlled switches.

In fact, as early as 1998, Huawei privately declared that it would no longer regard Shanghai Bell as its main competitor. In 1998, Huawei ranked 71.8th in the Top 10 Electronics with sales of 1999 billion yuan, surpassing Shanghai Bell for the first time, which greatly expanded Huawei's confidence and ambition. In 102, Huawei ranked 10th again with sales of [-] billion yuan, consolidating its leading position relative to Shanghai Bell.

In different development stages and in different product markets, Huawei will first clearly identify its competitors, and formulate corresponding competitive strategies based on a clear understanding of its competitive position.

Skillful touch
An enterprise has a wide range of competitors, and if it cannot correctly identify competitors, it will suffer from "competitor myopia".In a dynamic competitive environment, an inconspicuous competitor or a large company that intends to enter the industry may be a strong competitor in the future.

Therefore, the possibility of a company being defeated by potential competitors is often greater than that of actual competitors. Companies should identify competitors from the perspective of industry structure and business scope.

According to the relative strength in the market, the competitive position of enterprises can be divided into market leader, challenger, follower and filler.The main contents of identifying opponent analysis are: who are our competitors?What are their strategies and goals?What are their strengths and weaknesses?What is their response pattern?Who should we attack and whom should we avoid?

thinking innovation
Under normal circumstances, identifying competitors seems easy for a company, but at the narrowest level, a company can state that its competitors are offering similar products and services at similar prices to the same customers or other companies.

According to the concept of product substitution, four levels of competitors can be distinguished; those who provide similar products and services to the same customers at similar prices are brand competitors; companies that manufacture the same or similar products are regarded as industry competitors in a broad sense; all Companies that manufacture products that provide the same service are considered formal competitors; all those competing for the same customer are considered general competitors.

Practical points
When identifying opponents, you need to pay attention to the following:
1. Competitor analysis should follow extensive to specific procedures, and gradually clarify the competitive relationship. The most important thing is to determine the competitors that affect the survival of the enterprise.

2. Investigate strategic points such as strategic goals, strategic approaches, strategic means, and sources of strategic advantages of these competitors, and outline the differences of strategic groups.

Scene reconstruction
1. Scenarios
Internet room reservation companies initially appeared as a "crutch" for room sales, and Ctrip is no exception. For hotels, who would refuse such a cheap and easy-to-use "crutch"?For hotel operators, due to the unavoidable fixed costs of operation, tourism websites provide a brand new sales channel for hotels with their wide coverage and convenient booking methods.So when a website asks to sell rooms on behalf of a lower price, hoteliers always happily agree.

In the beginning, room bookings from travel websites accounted for only 1% of hotel room sales, and gradually this ratio rose to 5%, 10%, and even 20%.When the hotel fed the website with a steady stream of guest rooms, the hotel itself began to face an embarrassing situation: the website reservation center impacted the hotel's own sales system, and the hotel's own sales decreased significantly.

According to relevant information disclosure, Ctrip.com has jointly launched room and ticket booking services with 10 platforms in more than 114 domestic cities, and its competitor elong.com has also "married" with 50 platforms in 114 major business tourism cities across the country. .

As a unique resource integrator, Ctrip.com controls nearly hundreds of thousands of member customers across the country with one hand, and thousands of hotels across the country with the other hand, gradually forming a "low-price sales-expand market size- —Lower agency price——lower price sales” cycle mode, earning monopoly profits in the form of commissions.

The Internet room reservation company represented by Ctrip.com appeared as a "crutch" at the beginning. Before the hotel reacted and guarded against this potential competitor, it was about to control the entire Chinese hotel industry.

As for the hotel operators, they did not recognize this potential and inconspicuous competitor at the beginning, and fed him to grow fat, and finally the potential competitor controlled the hotel industry with a new model.

Question: As a powerful hotel company that has already occupied the market, why was it defeated by a weak new entrant?
2. Role simulation
If you are the manager of a traditional travel agency, how do you identify and guard against potential competitors from different directions?
3. Thinking Enlightenment
A company's most direct competitors are those companies that are part of a unified strategic group in the same industry.Companies in the same strategic group have almost no difference in target market, product type, quality, function, price, distribution channel and promotion strategy. The competitive strategy of any company will be highly concerned by other companies and strongly reacted when necessary. Therefore, the competition within the same strategic group is the most intense.But customers of different strategic groups will overlap, and each strategic group is trying to expand its market and set foot in the territory of other strategic groups, especially when the strength of the enterprise is comparable and the flow barrier is small.Therefore, there are actual or potential competitions between different strategic groups.

Faced with this situation, how should enterprises consider their own strategies?

4. Physical training games
Props: some paper, some pens.

Number of participants: more than 4 people.

Method: Take 4 people as an example, divide them into two groups, the two groups are marketing planners of two companies in the same industry, analyze and investigate from the macro to micro of the industry, and find out all competitors.

Rule: First investigate, then analyze, then identify.The time is 30 minutes, whichever group makes the most comprehensive analysis within the specified time will be the winner.

Purpose: Through the game, cultivate the ability of game participants to identify potential competitors.

5. Improve plan
Reference answer

1. Scenario case: new entrants win by business model.

2. Role simulation answer ideas: constantly improve their own competitive advantages, while paying close attention to every move of potential opponents.

3. Thinking enlightenment: the answer is omitted.

Classic look back
Gillette's steady hold on the razor market is the ever-celebrated example of market defense, initially dominating the razor market with the "Blue Gillette" razor and later with the "Super Blue Gillette." In the early 20s, competitor Wilkinson Knife Company launched a stainless steel razor and began to seize the market. In 60, Wilkinson introduced the bonded blade, a metal blade bonded to plastic at an "optimal shaving angle."At this time, Gillette began to concentrate its strength and fight a beautiful defensive battle.

Gillette introduces the "Traco II" razor, the world's first double-edged razor."Two blades are better than one," the company advertised. Gillette customers soon began buying the new product, thinking it was "better than a single Super Blue Gillette" (taking the business out of their hands overall). much better than letting someone else take it away).

Six years later, Gillette introduced the "Atwa" razor, the first adjustable double-edged razor, and it said the new product was better than the non-adjustable double-edged razor "Trake II" Even better.After that, Gillette didn't hesitate to introduce the "Good News" razor, an inexpensive disposable double-edged razor.That's a blow to Geely's other competitor, Bic, which is also looking to launch disposable razors.

"Good news" isn't good news for Gillette shareholders.Disposable razors are more expensive to produce and sell for less than razors with replaceable blades, anyone who buys "good news" and not an "Atwa" or "Traco II" is actually It's making Gillette lose money.However, the "good news" was an excellent business strategy, which prevented Bick from becoming a big success in the disposable razor market, and cost Bick dearly for it.In the first three years, Bic lost $3 million in the disposable razor market, according to industry sources.

Gillette continues its relentless strategy of self-attack.It introduced the Peawater razor, the first disposable adjustable razor, and the company's "good news" was targeted.Its new product is the "Front Speed ​​65", which is the first three-blade razor.Gillette has finally gradually expanded its share of the razor market, which it already owns [-]%.

Self-attack may sacrifice immediate interests, but it has a fundamental benefit, which is to defend market share, and this is the super weapon in the business war.The reverse is also true, when a company hesitates to attack itself, it usually loses market share and ultimately its position as a market leader.

Skillful touch
A company that occupies a market leader position must always protect its existing business from the invasion of competitors. The best defense method is to launch the most effective attack, innovate constantly, never be satisfied, take the initiative, and become a pioneer in the industry.Even if you take the initiative to attack, you must at least strengthen your defense, so as not to give the challenger an opportunity.

thinking innovation
The best defense is to dare to attack yourself.Because the defender is in a leadership position, it occupies a strong position in the customer's mind, and the best way for the defender to improve its position is to constantly attack itself.In other words, strengthen leadership by continually introducing new products and services that render existing ones obsolete.

Enterprises should block competitors' attacks in time.Most businesses have only one chance to win, while market leaders have two chances.If leaders miss opportunities to attack themselves, they can often counterattack by copying the behavior of their competitors.However, leaders must move quickly before attackers can gain a foothold.

Practical points
Enterprises must pay attention to the following two points when conducting market defense:

1. Only market leaders should consider being on the defensive.But in real life, there is no company that does not see itself as a leader, but most companies do so based on their creative interpretation rather than on the actual situation in the market.

Self-deception has no place in the business strategy process. It is one thing to exaggerate to boost morale, but quite another to make strategic mistakes because of self-deception.A good business leader must know what's really going on in order to lead his people on the facts.You can fool the enemy, but don't fool yourself!
2. Many leaders are unwilling to block their competitors because of ego.To make matters worse, by the time they blocked it, it was too late and the situation was irreversible.Blocking will be very effective for leaders, which is determined by the nature of the "battlefield", and the "war" is actually waged in the hearts of customers.It takes time for the attacker to make an impression on the customer, and this time is enough time for the leader to replicate the attacker's actions.

Scene reconstruction
1. Scenarios
Triano, a painkiller made and marketed by Johnson Brothers' Micrel Laboratories, costs 50 percent more than aspirin and is sold primarily to doctors and other health professionals. Nursing specialist, Teleno dominates the movement of this market.

Seeing this situation, Bristol-Meyer thought they had spotted an opportunity.Therefore, in June 1975, Burrist-Meyer launched its product "Datley", which also has the pain relief effect of Trianol and is also safe and harmless.The difference, of course, is price.It costs $6 to buy 100 Triano tablets, while the same amount of Dartley costs $2.85.

Less than two weeks after the Dartley ad aired, Johnson Brothers notified Burrist-Meyer that it was lowering Trino's price to compete with Dartley.And Johnson Brothers also issued a notice to reduce the price of stock in all drugstores.The stubborn Bristol-Meyer launched an attack in various ways. After they were notified that Trienor was going to drop the price, they even prepaid for the breaks of the TV commercials in order to fight for time, because it was obvious that it would take It takes time to get the news of the price change to the 165000 retailers and wholesalers across the country.

However, for Johnson Brothers, the dilemma was easily broken, and it issued complaints to the broadcast network, magazines, homeowners unions and other organizations.Soon, broadcast television communication networks were required to adapt to the changes. "Lowest American price" was changed to "Dartley can cost much less, much less," and when Johnson & Co protested again, "much less" was dropped, and eventually, CBS and the national Broadcasters refused to advertise Dartley, so Burrist-Meyer had to swallow a bitter pill.

Johnson Brothers hit back so well that Dartley never captured more than 1 percent of the market again.But on the other hand, Triano has grown by leaps and bounds.The impetus generated by this counterattack brought the brand to the top.Due to factors such as lower price publicity reports, Triano took the first place in the painkiller market, with a market share as high as 37%.Not only did Johnson Bros. smash a competitive campaign perfectly, it catapulted Trinol into the best-selling drug in the United States.

Question: In defensive competition, which is more decisive, a well-thought-out strategy or an active and timely counterattack?
2. Role simulation
Suppose you are a well-known local notebook computer manufacturer and have absolute control in the local market, but competitors from other places start to invade your market and unite with local counterparts.In this case, how should you adopt an effective defense strategy?
3. Thinking Enlightenment
Market defense is another strategy that is very applicable to leaders, that is, to maintain a certain reserve force.Why do you say that?

4. Physical training games
Props: some paper, some pens
Number of participants: more than 6 people.

(End of this chapter)