Guerrilla Warfare And Pre-Emptive Strike Offensive Strategies

Businesses usually operate in competitive environments. Hence, it is imperative for business owners and managers to develop marketing strategies to improve and protect their business position. Competitive approaches can either be offensive or defensive. Offensive strategies help companies improve their competitive position by taking away competitors’ market share (Porter, 1998). Meanwhile, defensive strategies help firms protect and retain their competitive advantage. Examples of offensive competitive approaches include guerilla warfare and preemptive strike methods.

First, guerilla warfare or hit-and-run strategy entails trivial and surprise attacks on recognized market leaders (Išoraitė, 2018). Under this approach, the attacking firm focuses on the competitors’ weaknesses, such as underserved segments. Additionally, the company conducts the attacks quickly within a small geographical area and then retreats. The quick attacks instil an element of surprise, denying the market leader adequate time to respond (Išoraitė, 2018). Therefore, the hit-and-run approach is less risky than other approaches, like a frontal attack. The strategy is also ideal for small firms that seek to steal market share from established market leaders (Išoraitė, 2018). Small firms and startups use the guerilla warfare technique because they have limited resources and cannot match the aggression of established competitors.

Emerald City can use the hit-and-run approach to obtain market share during its infancy stage. As a startup, Emerald City may not have adequate resources to match established canine day-and-long-term care and veterinary services. Hence, the firm can obtain market share by conducting trivial and surprise attacks on recognized market leaders. For instance, Emerald City can attack established veterinary services through temporary price cuts, coupons, and rebates on specific. The approach will weaken the market leaders by keeping them off-balance. The approach will also help Emerald City obtain market share without spending heavily on marketing and the risks associated with other offensive strategies.

On the other hand, the preemptive strike strategy entails identifying market trends and rivals’ potential moves and executing steps to block others and get there first (Porter, 1998). Under this approach, businesses identify competitors' prospective activities through competitive signals, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis, and competitive analysis. The firms then attack or block their competitors to deter them from implementing the identified moves. Preemptive strikes can take various forms, such as acquisition and acquiring patents and trademarks. Subsequently, the preemptive strike strategy helps businesses gain a first-mover advantage by assisting them to beat competitors to market (Porter, 1998). First-mover advantage gives organizations enhanced brand recognition and customer loyalty, increasing sales.

However, the preemptive strike strategy is complicated since predicting the moves of the rivals and the markets is challenging. The approach can lead to the wastage of resources, especially if the actions are not feasible (Porter, 1998). Besides, the preemptive strike strategy can distract companies from achieving their strategic goals. Therefore, firms should evaluate preemptive strike strategies to ensure they are feasible and consistent with their strategic goals. The preemptive strike strategy is most effective when a market or rivals’ moves can be predicted accurately (Porter, 1998). Therefore, Emerald City can apply the preemptive strike approach when rivals signal their intentions or market trends are known. The strategy will help Emerald City beat its rivals to market and gain a first-mover advantage.

Generally, guerilla warfare and preemptive strike strategies help business improve their competitive position by enhancing and protecting their market share. The hit-and-run approach is ideal for small companies and startups trying to obtain market share from their recognized competitors during its infancy stage. On the other hand, the preemptive strike approach is most effective when the market or rivals' moves can be predicted with certainty.

References

Išoraitė, M. (2018). Guerilla marketing features. Ecoforum, 7(1), 1-6.

Porter, M. E., (1998). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. The Free Press.