Bypass attack is only for the fittest

When elephants fight the frogs get trampled so goes Eastern wisdom. What happens when the same elephants do not fight directly but adopt bypass business strategy and attack each other indirectly? Same thing the small businesses as frogs get crushed once again. By and large Bypass attack is reserved for the fittest only.

Big businesses continue their cold war this time attacking opponents indirectly to surpass him or overthrow him similar to regime change practised by America. The attacking firm goes to the jugular vein of the defender in such manner that not only he loses big chunk of the market share but piles up huge cost in terms of resources employed in every conceivable market for defence.

This happened in 1971 when Colgate abandoned domestic market and started adding new products to its line in Europe and elsewhere to compete with Proctor & Gamble globally. This is apt business strategy in skipping a potent enemy in his fortified terrace and focusing on the outlying areas where he is weak, under-represented or without any presence at all.

Basic approaches in executing bypass business strategy are three-fold:

Diversifying into new perhaps unrelated products before the competitor does is the primary bold move. Pepsi cola used bypass effectively when it unveiled mineral water “Aquafina” long before Coca Cola came with a competitor brand “Dasani” which later fell foul with EU authorities as it said to contain borate exceeding the maximum allowable limit with potential health hazard.

Shifting the battle ground to newer territories where the attacking firm has favourable terrain or has familiar backyard. Here the bold move must be humongous and implemented with such a speed and ruthlessness that defending firm needs lot of time to respond to the situation. The Colgate move mentioned above qualifies under this segment.

Leapfrogging on technology is the third and perhaps the mightiest of all the moves that can happen under bypass business strategy.  Employing highly improved R&D and new generation technology a firm can make clean sweep of competitor’s customer base. This is what iPod did to Sony Walkman. But there are two essential conditions that the attacking firm must have to follow through. One is that its techno ability must not only be superior to what exists in the particular market but also gets updated in game changing methods periodically. Secondly the firm lust be nimble enough to translate newly acquire customer base to brand acceptance & loyalty.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist