This document outlines 14 strategic military tactics that can be applied to business, including attacking tactics like guerrilla attacks, flanking attacks, and frontal attacks as well as defending tactics like creating barriers to entry, signaling defenses, counter-attacks, and withdrawing. Each tactic is defined and examples are provided of when and how companies have used these strategies in competitive business environments.

1. STRATEGY MOVES
• Simulated from historic military tactics
• Strategic moves for managers, marketers and entrepreneurs, covering all
14 known attacking and defending strategies

2. 14 tactics
1. Guerrilla attack
2. Isolation attack
3. Flanking attack
4. Frontal attack
5. Undifferentiated circle
6. Differentiated circle
7. Signaling defense
8. Creating barriers to entry (fixed and mobile)
9. Global service
10.Pre-emptive strike
11.Counter-attack
12.Blocking entry
13.Holding the ground
14.Withdrawing

3. Tactic# 1: Guerrilla attack
Definition:
Guerrilla attacks are used against market leaders by challengers who are small and
have limited resources. Guerrilla strategy is less ambitious in scope than other
offensive marketing strategies and it often aims at harassing, demoralizing, and
weakening an opponent through random attacks intended to keep it off-balance and
continuously guessing about where the next attack will take place .
When to use:
Start to penetrate to the new market that dominant by one giant
Example:
Kinh Do against guerilla

4. Tactic#2: Isolation attack (By-pass)
Definition:
By diversifying into unrelated products or markets neglected by the leader
When to use:
Select a market segment whose margin per unit of sales is lower than that of the
market leader. Why? Because if the industry leader decides to block our entry by
launching a new model to compete head-on with us, it will be cannibalizing its own
sales in its higher margin segments. (And even more so if it decides to lower prices in
those segments to fight us in the bypass segment.)
Example:
Pepsi use a bypass attack strategy against Coke in China by locating its bottling plants
in the interior provinces

5. Tactic#3: Flanking attack
Definition:
A flanking attack is an offensive marketing strategy used to exploit an opponent’s
weaknesses. Flanked one has to fight on two strains at once, placing its disadvantage.
When to use:
Only when one controls a given segment, in terms of market share, should one move
into a new one.
Example:
In the 1990s, Yaohan attacked Mitsukoshi and Seibu’s flanks by opening numerous
stores in overseas markets
San Miguel introduce a flanking brand in Philippines, Gold Eagle, as defense against
APB’s Beerhausen

6. Tactic#4: Frontal Attack
Definition:
Offensive tactics. Target the competitor’s mainframe business
When to use:
When run out of tactical options. Seldom use unless the challenger has sufficient fire-
power and staying power and the challenger has clear distinctive advantage
Example
Unsuccessful example: RCA, GE, Xerox, and Univac tried to frontally attack IBM in the
past in its mainframe business and they failed because they lacked any competitive
advantages or clear superiority over IBM.
Successful one: Japanese and Korean firms launched frontal attacks in various ASPAC
countries through quality, price and low cost

7. Tactic#5: Undifferentiated circle
• Definition:
• When to use and example
• You enter a new industry and/or geographical area through more than one
segment.
• Those segments are similar to those that the leaders are in.
• Among the different segments one tries to obtain synergy.
• The first rule is to ensure you have synergy. Resource sharing must occur among
segments for example in the sales force, transport, warehousing, the plant
machinery, staff know-how, suppliers, quality control department, etc. It could be
images as Nestle managed with its focus on food, both for adults (ice cream,
chocolate) and babies (milk, food, and cereals).
• Or it can be the distribution channels, which are common across skis, ski wear,
tennis rackets, and casual sportive clothing for Head Ski Corporation.

8. Tactic#6: Global service
Definition:
Global service is a defense strategy, not an attack.
This is because we enter new segments in order to protect our position in the old
ones.
When to use:
When a company decide to enlarge its portfolio
Example:
1995, Hertz acquire its supplier in GPS and changef name to NeveLost

9. Tactic#7: Signaling
Definition:
The main objective of signaling is to warn the enemy not to enter our market and thus
to obtain the best of all victories: one without a fight
When to use:
Example:
First, make sure that your commitment is known. Texas Instruments used a press
conference; an interview in the press or on primetime television would also work. Or
you can make a statement in the annual report, a speech at an industry conference,
and so on. Basically, the idea is to publicize determination.

10. Tactic#8: Mobile barriers
Definition:
They are a new generation of products launched periodically, in the hope that their
innovative qualities will discourage potential entrants who are not sure to be able to
keep up the pace. They offer the defender a flexible response to attack and hence a
way of taking the initiative. Mobile defense is sometimes known as active defense, as
opposed to passive defense (fixed barriers).
When to use:
Example:
McDonald frequently introduces new products to spice up its business. These range
from sandwiches to desserts, drinks, and sauces. Casio emphasizes product
replacement, which is designed to shorten and accelerate product life cycles, in order
to protect its position as a leading manufacturer of pocket calculators.

11. Tactic#9: Fixed barriers to entry
Definition:
Fixed barriers are stable obstacles fortifications that the defender builds that the
aggressive entrant has to overcome if it is to join the market. These barriers can be
built in any business administration area: marketing, finance, accounting,
manufacturing…
When to use:
Example:

12. Tactic#10: Counter-attack
Definition:
Responding to competitor’s frontal attack by identifying the attacker’s weakness and
then launch a counter attack
When to use:
Example:
Toyota launched the Lexus to respond to Mercedes attack

13. Tactic#11: Pre-emptive strike
Definition:
There are two distinctive characteristics of pre-emptive strikes. First, there is
entry into new markets, which differentiates it from defenses where no
movement is involved. Second, the movement occurs before the competitor
move so it is distinct from blocking or counter-attacks.
When to use:
Example:
Mercedes position by introducing E-Series until Toyota launched a frontal
attack with its Lexus

14. Tactic#12: Blocking entry
Definition:
Blocking entry of new market player.
When to use:
when a competitor enters into a given segment, where we are not present,
we decide to respond by entering that segment too, in order to protect
ourselves.
Example:
Kinh Do

15. Tactic#13: Holding the ground
Definition:
Holding the ground represents engagement in our present segments
When to use:
Stay put our present segments, a competitor enters them, and we fight it put
out.
Example:
Kinh Do

16. Tactic#14: Withdrawing
Definition:
This is the last defensive tactic.
It is a defense with negative movement. It increases market distance from a
competitor, but is not the same as giving up. It is sacrifice rather than
surrender.
When to use:
Withdrawing to attack strongly in a different direction
Example:
KDC withdraw its share in Nutifood and Tribeco
India’s TATA Group sold its soap and detergents business units to Unilever in
1993