Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Buzz Baker | Positioning | June 26th, 2008

When we last visited the Prussian military strategist, General Carl von Clausewitz, we noted that his tactical direction for armies attempting to cross wide rivers was not always appropriate for marketers attempting to aggressively reposition themselves.

But the good general also has other advice for aggressive marketers that may well be worth heeding. And while his language is not the language of today’s military or marketer, the message is clear:

“In general it is more advantageous to continue our blows in one and the same direction, because there is loss of time in striking in different directions; and at a point where the moral power is already shaken by considerable losses there is more reason to expect fresh successes, therefore in that way no part of the preponderance already gained is left idle.”

Said differently, though still somewhat militarily, when your brand has broken through the competitive barrier and established a salient (as represented by a positive, leveragable perception in the minds of customers), the correct strategy is to focus efforts and resources on expanding that salient by driving forward without diversion or distraction.**

Yet how many marketers have we see—not only in B2C categories but B2B as well—who’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by diverting critical resources from the products and services that defined and positioned the brand in order to follow the allure of potentially more rapid growth through line extensions.

That’s not to say embarking on a growth strategy (or even contemporarily repositioning the brand) through extending the line of products or services is wrong, or in some instances even risky. But if the driving objective is only rapid revenue growth, better be careful. In the short term the revenue may grow because there’s simply more to sell. But what is happening to marketplace perceptions of your commitment to the core offerings? What does distribution think? What do the customers think? What do your best and brightest think, those who had a passion for the pursuit and contributed greatly to your gaining competitive advantage? And if an outcome of the line extension approach is also a repositioning of the brand in the minds of those publics, is it really the position you want? And is it even as strong as the position you had?

Drive or disperse. Increase advantage or follow allure. Tough questions. Perhaps the right answer for most marketers is in thinking militarily.

** Of course, it could be noted that General George Armstrong Custer charged aggressively forward and suffered hair loss as a result. In our next look at the military and marketing we’ll discuss how another strategic error was more egregious than his aggression. It’s an error that marketers make every day.