- Flanking marketing is a strategy where one company attacks the weak spot of a rival in terms of a geographic region, product or market segment where it is underperforming.
- There are four types of flanking marketing: low price flanking, high price flanking, flanking with size, and distribution flanking. Within these types, a company can exploit various weaknesses related to price, product, region, or customer experience.
- Real-world examples where flanking marketing has been used effectively include Volkswagen, LG, Apple, Premier Inn, and Mercedes-Benz.
Aspect | Explanation |
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Definition | Flanking marketing is a strategic approach used by businesses to gain a competitive edge by targeting niche or underserved market segments. This marketing strategy involves identifying gaps or opportunities within a market where competition is limited or non-existent and then tailoring products, services, or marketing efforts to address those specific needs. Flanking marketing aims to avoid direct competition with established players by focusing on areas where they are less dominant or where there is room for innovation and differentiation. It often involves a deep understanding of customer segments and a willingness to explore unconventional or less saturated markets. |
Key Concepts | – Niche Targeting: Flanking marketing involves identifying and targeting niche or specialized market segments that may have unique needs or preferences. – Market Gaps: It focuses on identifying gaps or unmet needs within a market, where established competitors may not be fully addressing customer requirements. – Differentiation: Flanking marketing relies on differentiation strategies to stand out in the chosen market segments. This may include offering unique features, benefits, or pricing models. – Innovation: Businesses employing flanking marketing often emphasize innovation to create products or services that disrupt existing market dynamics. – Risk Management: Flanking strategies can carry risks, but they are often seen as calculated risks that offer the potential for significant rewards. |
Characteristics | – Targeted Approach: Flanking marketing is highly targeted and focuses resources on specific market segments or niches. – Avoiding Direct Competition: It aims to avoid head-to-head competition with dominant players in the market. – Innovation-Driven: Flanking marketing often involves innovation and creative solutions to address market gaps. – Risk-Reward Balance: While it carries some risks, the potential rewards of successfully targeting untapped market segments can be substantial. |
Implications | – Market Diversification: Flanking marketing can lead to diversification by expanding a company’s product or service offerings into new areas. – Competitive Advantage: By avoiding direct competition, businesses can gain a competitive advantage in the chosen market segments. – Customer Loyalty: Serving underserved niches can lead to strong customer loyalty and advocacy. – Innovation Leadership: Successful flanking strategies can establish a business as an innovator in its industry. |
Advantages | – Reduced Competition: Flanking marketing allows businesses to operate in areas with reduced competition, potentially leading to higher profit margins. – Specialization: It enables businesses to specialize in addressing the unique needs of specific customer segments. – Innovation Opportunities: The pursuit of flanking opportunities can foster a culture of innovation within a company. – Stronger Customer Relationships: Meeting specific customer needs can lead to stronger customer relationships and brand loyalty. |
Drawbacks | – Market Uncertainty: Targeting underserved niches can be risky, as market demand and dynamics may not be well understood. – Resource Allocation: Flanking marketing requires careful allocation of resources, as the focus is on niche markets rather than broader audiences. – Limited Scale: Some flanking strategies may have limited scalability due to the niche nature of the chosen markets. – Competitive Response: Established competitors may recognize the success of flanking efforts and respond by entering the same niche markets. – Marketing Costs: Marketing to niche segments can sometimes be more costly on a per-customer basis. |
Applications | Flanking marketing can be applied in various industries and sectors, including technology, consumer goods, healthcare, and more. It is commonly used by startups and smaller businesses looking for opportunities to compete against larger, established competitors. |
Use Cases | – Tesla: Tesla, Inc. initially focused on producing high-end electric sports cars, targeting a niche market interested in sustainability and performance. Over time, it expanded its offerings to include more mainstream electric vehicles. – Dollar Shave Club: Dollar Shave Club disrupted the razor industry by offering a subscription-based service, targeting a specific market segment seeking affordable and convenient shaving solutions. – Warby Parker: Warby Parker entered the eyewear market by offering affordable, stylish prescription glasses online, targeting consumers looking for alternatives to traditional eyewear retailers. – Beyond Meat: Beyond Meat developed plant-based meat alternatives, targeting consumers seeking environmentally friendly and ethical protein sources. – Peloton: Peloton revolutionized home fitness by targeting consumers interested in interactive and convenient workout experiences. |
What is flanking marketing?
Flanking marketing is a strategy where one company attacks the weak spot of a rival in terms of a geographic region, product or market segment where it is underperforming.
Understanding flanking marketing
Flanking marketing, also known as the flanking attack strategy, involves one company going after its competition in an attempt to win market share from them. This is an effective strategy for the attacker that is also very hard to defend for the company in a weaker position.
Fundamental to this approach is the attacker zeroing in on a competitor’s weak points. This can include deficiencies in almost any aspect of a business such as price point, product features, customer availability, customer support, or underrepresentation in a specific geographic area.
For flanking marketing to succeed, the attacker needs to identify which of their strengths will exploit the weaknesses of a competitor. To do this, a combination of the Value Disciplines model and SWOT analysis can be effective. For competitors with a product or service portfolio, the BCG matrix is also used to identify products that have low growth potential and low market share. Whatever the method is chosen, however, it’s important to be as specific as possible when identifying weaknesses.
Flanking marketing types
There are generally accepted to be four different types of flanking marketing:
- Low price flanking – where a company lowers the price of its products or services below those offered by its competitor. When products are more or less identical between brands, the company with the more expensive prices tends to lose market share.
- High price flanking – where a company raises the price of its products or services with respect to a competitor. This is often done to alter the status quo, set a new standard, or redefine some characteristic of the market. See the Mercedes-Benz example below for more detail on this strategy.
- Flanking with size – Apple referenced the small size of the iPod when it was marketed to customers and won market share from cassette and CD player manufacturers. Volkswagen’s famous “Think Small” marketing campaign also positioned the Beetle as a smaller (and better) alternative to much larger sedans from American makers.
- Distribution flanking – new distribution channels can also be incorporated into flanking marketing attacks. American watch manufacturer Timex started selling watches in pharmacies while competitor watches were sold only in department stores.
Some more flanking marketing examples
There are numerous examples of flanking marketing in the real world. We hope that the following examples are of some interest:
- Mercedes-Benz – in an early form of flanking marketing in the 1950s, Mercedes-Benz orchestrated an attack against General Motors in the prestige car market. The German manufacturer priced its luxury sedans much higher than the incumbent GM Cadillac as part of a campaign to position it as the superior vehicle. Over 50 years later, Mercedes outsold Cadillac for the first time and the latter lost its reputation as a luxury brand.
- Premier Inn – British limited-service hotel chain Premier Inn flanked its competitors by attacking a weakness most of them shared: a lack of quality. While its rivals were focused on low prices, Premier Inn introduced the Good Night Guarantee to take market share from them. Here, the company referenced a quality stay as its strength to emphasize its competitors’ deficiency in this area.
- LG Corporation – South Korean multinational LG noticed that rural areas of India were underserved by its competitors in the television market. Other firms were focusing on city areas where consumers could afford to pay higher prices. In response, LG developed a cheaper alternative for rural markets known as the “Sampoorna”. To market the new television, LG sent promotional vehicles across the country covering some 5,000 kilometers each week to increase brand awareness and secure market share before a competitor could move in.
Related Frameworks | Description | When to Apply |
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Guerrilla Marketing | – A marketing strategy that utilizes unconventional, low-cost tactics to promote a product or service. Guerrilla Marketing often involves surprising and attention-grabbing campaigns executed in unexpected locations or mediums to generate buzz and brand awareness. | – When seeking to disrupt established markets or challenge dominant competitors with limited resources. – Deploying Guerrilla Marketing tactics to create buzz, increase visibility, and differentiate offerings effectively. |
Niche Marketing | – A marketing strategy that targets a specific segment of the market with specialized products, services, or messaging. Niche Marketing focuses on meeting the unique needs and preferences of a narrowly defined audience, allowing brands to establish themselves as experts and leaders within their chosen niche. | – When aiming to carve out a distinct market position and attract highly targeted customers with specific needs or interests. – Implementing Niche Marketing strategies to capitalize on untapped market segments, build brand loyalty, and drive customer engagement effectively. |
Blue Ocean Strategy | – A strategic approach that focuses on creating uncontested market space by offering innovative products or services that fulfill unmet customer needs. Blue Ocean Strategy involves shifting the focus from competing within existing market boundaries (red oceans) to exploring new market spaces (blue oceans) where competition is irrelevant or non-existent. | – When seeking to differentiate offerings and escape the competitive pressures of crowded markets. – Applying Blue Ocean Strategy principles to identify new market opportunities, innovate value propositions, and capture untapped demand effectively. |
Disruptive Innovation | – A type of innovation that creates new markets or fundamentally transforms existing markets by introducing simpler, more affordable, or more convenient products or services. Disruptive Innovation often starts at the low end of the market or serves underserved customer segments before eventually displacing established competitors. | – When aiming to challenge incumbent competitors and revolutionize industry dynamics with breakthrough innovations. – Pursuing Disruptive Innovation opportunities to create new market space, capture early adopters, and drive industry transformation effectively. |
Counter-Branding | – A marketing strategy that positions a brand in opposition to dominant market players or industry norms. Counter-Branding involves challenging conventional wisdom, questioning established practices, and offering alternative narratives or value propositions to attract dissatisfied customers or disrupt entrenched competitors. | – When seeking to challenge dominant market players, disrupt industry conventions, or appeal to contrarian consumers. – Embracing Counter-Branding to differentiate offerings, provoke conversations, and capture market share effectively. |
Reverse Innovation | – An innovation strategy that involves developing products or services in emerging markets and then scaling them for global markets. Reverse Innovation leverages insights and needs from developing countries to create cost-effective, scalable solutions that address unmet needs in both emerging and developed markets. | – When aiming to drive innovation by tapping into diverse market insights and adapting solutions for global scalability. – Embracing Reverse Innovation to develop breakthrough products or services, penetrate new markets, and drive sustainable growth effectively. |
Agile Marketing | – A marketing approach that emphasizes flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness to rapidly changing market conditions and customer needs. Agile Marketing involves iterative planning, execution, and optimization of marketing campaigns based on real-time feedback and data-driven insights. | – When operating in fast-paced environments or industries characterized by rapid technological advancements and shifting consumer preferences. – Adopting Agile Marketing methodologies to increase marketing agility, improve campaign performance, and enhance customer engagement effectively. |
Lean Startup Methodology | – A startup approach that focuses on minimizing waste, validating assumptions, and iteratively developing and testing product ideas through rapid experimentation and customer feedback. The Lean Startup Methodology aims to reduce risk, accelerate learning, and increase the likelihood of creating successful, market-driven solutions. | – When launching new products, services, or ventures with limited resources and uncertain market demand. – Applying Lean Startup Methodology principles to validate business ideas, iterate product development, and optimize resource allocation effectively. |
Pivot Strategy | – A strategic redirection or adjustment of a company’s business model, product strategy, or market focus in response to changing market conditions, customer feedback, or competitive pressures. Pivoting involves making significant changes to a company’s direction or operations to better align with market opportunities and customer needs. | – When facing challenges, setbacks, or shifting market dynamics that require a reassessment of business strategies or priorities. – Implementing Pivot Strategies to adapt to changing circumstances, explore new opportunities, and sustain long-term competitiveness effectively. |
Open Innovation | – A collaborative innovation approach that involves sourcing ideas, technologies, or expertise from external partners such as customers, suppliers, competitors, or research institutions. Open Innovation enables companies to tap into external knowledge networks, accelerate innovation cycles, and access resources beyond their organizational boundaries. | – When seeking to leverage external expertise, resources, or market insights to drive innovation and overcome internal constraints. – Embracing Open Innovation practices to foster collaboration, accelerate R&D, and bring innovative products or services to market effectively. |
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