We Win and They Lose
The Challenge
A US-based consumer package Company sells a well-known and well-liked product which essentially defines the $1B category it dominates with over an 80% share. This category has long been coveted by a strong, Global Company who has over 20x the sales volume in related categories and commands vast development and marketing resources.
The Global Company decides to enter this market with a product which is directly competitive and in some ways better than what is offered by the smaller US Company. At first, the US Company is caught by surprise with the announcement and there is a bit of confusion over how to respond. The US Company turns to the OGSP® process as a way to organize its defense.
OGSP® as a Solution
In the OGSP® process, one of the first steps is to define ‘What is winning?’ and this is called the Objective Statement. The Objective Statement frames strategic choices which define how success will be achieved. And because it is written down, it is a commitment by the organization that direction will not change.
As the initial meeting wore on, the CEO was silent. Several possible Objective Statements were suggested, most revolving around the concepts of ‘defense’ and ‘protection’. Finally the CEO weighed in … ‘Winning is about moving forward. It’s simple. We win and they lose. We build share while we grow the category.’
The suggestion proved to be brilliant. The room filled with energy as all sorts of ideas tumbled out around ways to grow the category and win new users faster than the new competitor could attract attention. Goals were quickly established and the many new ideas eventually coalesced into a handful of Strategies covering new product development, public relations, marketing, professional relations, distribution channels and organizational capability. Work groups were established around these Strategies to develop and execute Plans with weekly progress tracking.
Results
In the year following the Global Competitor’s introduction, the US Company had record revenue and profit. The focus on category growth and new users, combined with a new attention on execution lead to a +20% category growth and a 6% increase in share for the US Company. The Global Company recent fired the top-management of the competing division and announced they were ‘pursuing a new direction’.