The German invasion of Poland in September 1, 1939 was so fast that the latter couldn’t respond as an effective fighting force. It only took 35 days for Poland to capitulate, which was expedited by the Soviet invasion from the east. By annexing the country, Germany didn’t have to worry about its eastern flank while it prepared to conquer France next. However, there’s a limit to what a general can do when all he does is attack.
The same applies to marketing; success is not so much about the nature of aggressive marketing strategies as the way marketers use them. In his paper on defensive and offensive marketing, Peter Yannopoulos, an associate professor at Brock University in Ontario, says rival companies often switch between sword and shield. When an aggressive strategy fails, the company on the defense can mount an effective counterattack. In this case, improving a product that’s already a major hit.
Say you developed a new genre for a TV show, which the rival company attempts to emulate due to the former’s success. Your best defensive strategy is to further capitalize on the gains the show has earned over time, writing better skits and the like. When your rival’s show doesn’t gain much appeal as yours, you can keep the initiative by using the improvements as a counterattack. In the end, there’s truly not much of a difference between marketing and war strategies.
Digital Synergy 