Exam 4: Marketing Strategies for Competitive Advantage

Most companies are started by individuals who live by their wits, and work hard to develop value for customers and suppliers, while spending very little on advertising or formal strategy development.

In today's hyper competitive market- place, a company can never spend too much time tracking competitors.

Which of the following strategies or tactics would NOT normally be used by a firm that is trying to expand the total market?

According to a study cited in the text, Treacy and Wiersema found that leading companies focus on and excel at a _________ value discipline.

Many market nichers practise multiple niching as a hedge against the dangers of the market drying up or becoming attractive to larger competitors.

The process of identifying and assessing key competitors is known as a:

The competitive positioning strategy whereby the company concentrates on creating a highly differentiated product line and marketing programme is known as differentiation.

A particular danger for the market nicher is that the market may dry up as a result of environmental or technological changes.

Approaches to marketing strategy and practice often pass through stages. Which of the following is NOT one of the stages?

Basic competitive positioning strategies include all of the following EXCEPT:

The competitive positioning strategy whereby the company works hard to achieve the lowest costs of production and distribution so that it can price lower than its competitors is known as overall cost leadership.

Romany Woman is a retail store operating in the Victorian beachside suburb of Williamstown, offering a rare specialisation. Among its eclectic range of merchandise is a large collection of hand- made bridal outfits, designed and made by local designers and featuring a distinctive Gothic style. The typical Gothic bridal outfit features bell shaped sleeves, intricate corsetry, dark coloured fabrics, lace- up boots and a variety of accessories. This store has developed such a strong reputation for its hand- made Gothic designs that "Goth" girls are willing to travel from Queensland, NSW and South Australia for fittings. Romany Woman's specialisation is an example of:

For a market leader, the best defence is a good offence. An effective market leader refuses to be content with the way things are and leads the industry in new products, customer services, distribution effectiveness, promotion and cost cutting in a process known as continuous:

A __________ is a group of firms in an industry following the same or similar strategy.

As smaller companies achieve success, they inevitably move towards more- formulated marketing in which they develop formal marketing strategies and adhere to them closely.

The competitive position known as market follower is characterised as the firm that:

One of the dangers for a competitor- centred company is that it can tend to become overly reactive.

Defensive strategies for a marketer follower are likely to include full frontal attack and indirect attack.

The competitive positioning strategy whereby the company works hard to achieve the lowest costs of production and distribution so that it can price lower than its competitors is known as:

When conducting a competitor analysis, marketers use a variety of information sources. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be a useful source of information for the competitor analysis?