Marketing

Management
Aasim Abbas Jafary
Assignment # 6
MBA 1
09753

Marketing Management
Question # 1
What is counteroffensive defense? Explain with an example
A counter-offensive defense is a strategy used by the market leaders to quash
competition by attacking them bluntly and taking them heads-on. The market leaders
force the competition to pull back and defend by attacking them in their own territory
while they attempt to reclaim it.
Example:
When Zong was launched in Pakistan, it made advertisements in which people that had
used Mobile Number Portability (MNP) to switch their network to Zong were shown.
Ufone came up with counter-offensive strategy and called those people who switched to
Zong Mad. That led to a series of commercials being made in response to each others
advertisement but eventually Zong stopped to make more ads when there was a
hullabaloo in the industry about it.

Question # 2
What must the firm do to sustain rapid market share growth? Can you think
of an example where this was successfully done?
To sustain rapid market share growth now, the firm must:

Improve the product in terms of quality, features and styling

Introduce new models and add flanker products of different sizes to maintain the
product
Enter new market segments
Build its distribution network by increasing the distribution coverage and
entering new channels
Introduce preference and loyalty concepts to the market as regards to the product
rather than just awareness and trial
Lower its prices so that new layer of price-sensitive consumers could be attracted
Work on product improvement, promotion and distribution continuously so that
the dominant position is maintained

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Marketing Management
Example:
In order to sustain rapid market share growth, Nestle introduces product innovations
time and again in the Juices category. The initial Nestle Juice was positioned now as
Nestle Fruita Vitals which had a superior quality, real fruits juice, providing health
benefits. They then added flanker brand Nesfruita which is a fruit drink rather than a
juice. Both brands adhere to different target segment, based on Socio economic class,
price, consumer behavior and perceptions.

Question # 3
The cost of buying higher market share through acquisition may far exceed
its revenue value.
Which are the four factors a company should consider before doing so?
The four factors to be considered before buying higher market share are:
1. The possibility of provoking anti-trust action:
The firm must make sure that it is not abusing its market power to make inappropriate
policies or applying illegal business practices. Otherwise the competition may cry
monopoly and seek legal action if the dominant firm makes further inroads
2. Economic Cost:
After some level the profitability might fall with gains in the market share and its
economic costs might exceed the economic benefits
3. The danger of pursuing wrong marketing activities:
Some companies might reduce their prices to gain a higher market share but if the
competition they wanted to outperform also reduces the price or offer other values
which the customers value than the strategy will not work

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Marketing Management
4. The effect of increased market share on actual and perceived quality:
When a company gains a huge portion of the market share, it must make sure that it can
service the requirements of its customers with limited resources. If it fails to do so,
questions will be asked about quality and ability of the company
Question # 4
Assume that your firm is a market leader in manufacturing detergent. How
would the firm use position defense as a defensive marketing strategy to
maintain its share?
In a position defense strategy, a brand tries to take up the most prominent position in
the minds of the consumer with the highest awareness and recall. The brand becomes
generic with the category. For example, consumers perceive Pampers as a category
rather than Diapers being the category. The name Pampers has become generic with the
diaper category.

Question # 5
If you were asked to develop a mobile defense for your products that are
likely to come under attack from a market challenger, what would you
suggest?
In a mobile defense strategy to defend the products from a market challenger, the
market leader must increase its market share by expansion of the market and entering
into new markets. The new territories will save the challenged products from the
challenger and will also let the market leader maintain their lead over the challenger.

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Marketing Management
Example:
The market leader in cold beverages category in Pakistan is Pepsi. When Pepsi Co. was
facing tough challenges from Coca Cola in the cold beverage category, it launched
Aquafina. Through Aquafina, Pepsi Co. entered into the bottled water category, thus
maintaining its lead over Coca Cola which later came up with Kinley water.

Question # 6
As a brand manager of a firm that manufactures denim jeans, how will you
implement a preemptive defense marketing strategy to meet an anticipated
competitive challenge?
When a brand preempts that that a competitive brand is coming up with an offensive
strategy against it, rather than waiting for the offensive it launches an aggressive scheme
to attack it heads-on. This scheme of strategy is known as preemptive defense marketing
strategy. By doing so, the brand calls for a guerilla action across the market and keeps
everyone off balance. Another option for the brand is that rather than aggressively
pursuing the offensive brand, it could introduce a new stream of products so that the
offensive brand does not launch the offensive.
The brand that produces denim jeans could also launch new variants of denim jeans as
well as introducing new products like denim jackets and skirts in various colors.

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Marketing Management
Question # 7
Assume that you are the marketing manager of a firm that manufactures
athletic shoes. How will you launch an encirclement attack on your
competitor?
An encirclement attack would be one where the athletic shoes manufacturer would
launch a grand offensive against its competitor from all sides and encircle it in an
attempt to choke it for breath and confine it to just some territory. By doing so, it would
gain a large portion of its market share as well.
For example, the athletic shoes manufacturer could introduce its new range just around
the FIFA World Cup and also become the official sponsor of the world cup making it
very hard for the challengers to make room for themselves in such competitive
environment. After this, the manufacturer could also launch stealth marketing
campaign and choking the challengers even further. Then it could also own the social
media by launching proper social media campaigns across the internet.

Question # 8
As the marketing manager of a firm that manufactures cotton cloth, you
have chosen the bypass attack as a means of responding to the industry
leader. How will you as the manager, go about launching this type of attack?
Describe your strategy.
When a firm launches a bypass attack, it bypasses its enemy altogether and attacks
easier markets by three approaches: diversifying into unrelated products, diversifying
into new geographical markets, and leapfrogging into new technologies. The bypass
attack is an indirect assault.

The marketing manager could diversify into unrelated products for example ready-made
garments. The manager can also diversify into new geographical markets for example
those areas in the country where it does not have presence or adopt new technologies to
manufacture its product.

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