Organizations need to adopt competitive strategies for their existence and for maintaining their position in the market. When it comes to adopting a competitive strategy, organizations need to consider what factors separate them from their competitors. Research firm Dun & Bradstreet suggests evaluating the competitive advantages in business process, expertise, uniqueness or relationships an organization enjoys with its suppliers, customers and marketing channels before adopting any strategy.

Competitive strategies can be divided into offensive and defensive strategies. Companies pursuing offensive strategies directly target competitors from whom they want to capture marketshare. In contrast, defensive strategies are used to discourage or turn back an offensive strategy on the part of the competitor.

Offensive strategy: An offensive competitive strategy is a type of corporate strategy that consists of actively trying to pursue changes within the industry. Companies that go on the offensive generally invest heavily in research and development (R&D) and technology in an effort to stay ahead of the competition. Offensive strategies directly target competitors from whom they want to capture marketshare. Some of the offensive strategies are as follows:

Frontal attack: A frontal attack is attacking a competitor head-on by producing similar products with similar quality and price; it is highly risky unless the attacker has a clear advantage. The most prominent example is the war between Pepsi & Coca Cola. Both are cash-rich. Since ages they have use a frontal attack strategy against each other. Both are market leaders in the beverage market. When Pepsi introduced Diet Pepsi, Coke introduced Diet Coke.

In a cut-throat business world, there is a whole range of competitive strategies that companies need to employ to keep their heads above water. Among offensive strategies are frontal attack, flank attack, encirclement attack, bypass attack and guerilla marketing, each of which is tailored for specific rivals, markets and situations. As for defensive strategies, they consist of retrenchment, divestment and liquidation, the first two being used to tighten corporate belts and the third a recourse of the last resort. As Dr. Vidya Hattangadi notes, perhaps he most creative strategy is the bypass attack, as in the case of the game-changing Sony Walkman which created an entire segment for itself during its heyday.

Flank attack: The flank attack is the marketing strategy adopted by the challenger firm and is intended to attack the weak points or blind spots of the competitor, especially when the competitor enjoys a leadership position in the market. LG outflanked the other coloured TV producers in India by launching a rural-specific colour TV ‘Sampoorna’, thereby becoming the first one to tap the rural areas. LG demonstrated that rural customers are not just price-conscious but are actually value-conscious and are ready to pay a reasonable premium for such a product.

Encirclement attack: This form of market challenger strategy is used when the competitor attacks another on the basis of strengths as well as weaknesses and does not leave any stone unturned to overthrow the competition. The current ecommerce scenario is the best example of the encirclement attack wherein e-commerce companies are ready to go negative in their margins to beat a competitor on a turnover basis. They want to come out on top and gain the maximum number of customers by hook or crook.

Guerrilla marketing: Making small but useful changes, which repeatedly puts a brand in the forefront, and slowly but surely makes it a huge name in the market, is the crux of guerrilla marketing. A small brand, which wants to take on huge competitors, first becomes famous in a local market and then introduces price discounts and trade discounts. Guerrilla marketing campaigns are highly targeted in terms of the location where they are launched.

Guerilla marketing is a way of marketing which allows brand differentiation concerning the competition. In fact, right guerrilla marketing actions are usually activities remembered by the people who have witnessed it. One of the usual places to create guerrilla marketing actions is the zebra crossings. The lines painted on the ground give you a lot to play with if you have the necessary creativity. For example, McDonald's simulates the lines on the French fries in the typical package of the hamburger brand. What is interesting about this action is that, besides being part of a real zebra crossing, which still has the same function, it has made it an image of one of the company's products.