Ways to discredit a competitor. The meaning of discrediting a competitor in a large legal dictionary. Stages of the PR campaign

If in the "dashing nineties" in competitive battles, like in war, all means were good, but today more sophisticated methods are used. The best way to win in this kind of confrontation is to prepare for it in advance. We propose to consider five typical situations of competitive wars and five non-standard methods of counteraction.

Elena Lukina,

creative director, General Line!

You will learn:

How to win a competitive war.
How to beat competitors in the battle for the client.
What to do if competitors are dumping.
How a competitor can become a client.

A competitor of the Ukrainian company Galacton launched an advertising video discrediting its products, increasing its sales by 43%, while Galacton lost 40%. Sales of beer "Tolstyak" in Smolensk for 10 days decreased by 4 times: rivals with the goal eliminating competitors spread the information that Escherichia coli was found in the drink. Not a single company is immune from a competitive war in business. How to defeat competitors in the battle for a place in the market, save face and turn the situation in your favor?

If in the "dashing nineties" in competitive wars, as they say, all means were good, today more sophisticated methods of eliminating competitors are used. The best way in the question of how to defeat competitors in such a confrontation is to prepare for it in advance. I propose to consider five typical situations of competitive wars and five non-standard methods of eliminating competitors and countering their actions.

How to beat competitors in trading if you don't know them

What happened. At first glance, the situation may seem absurd. However, unfortunately, it is quite real. Suppose your company has been operating for several years, there are not so many players on the local market, the development strategy is well thought out, and the promotion is in full swing. However, sales are falling.

Recommendation. There is such an example in our portfolio. The freight service is two years old. The company is actively advertised and in its marketing policy focuses on the safety of delivery, that is, the integrity and safety of the cargo for the client. The market is really difficult to call highly competitive, nevertheless, customers began to leave. To the question "Who are your competitors?" the commercial director listed the companies with the leaders of which he knew personally, those who were humanly unsympathetic to him. However, he did not have complete information, and as a result, the strategy built taking into account this vision of the market turned out to be ineffective.

The solution was a simple and quick way of research - a survey. We have developed options for communicating with clients by correspondence, telephone conversations or in the mode of personal meetings ( picture 2). All consumers were divided into groups: regular customers, failed customers and potential customers of a random choice who are not partners of the company.

Thus, the company received first-hand information about real competitors, about its advantages and weaknesses, and about what to bet on so that potential customers move to the rank of permanent ones. Most of the respondents mentioned firms that the sales director did not even consider as competitors. The survey also showed that it is not the safety of goods that is important for the consumer (all players guarantee it by default), but how the manager talks to him on the phone. Many failed customers noted that they were answered dryly, sometimes even rudely. Action was taken immediately and the situation improved.

I want to emphasize that when conducting surveys and local studies, it is important to thank the respondent for participating. A nice addition will be a small gift: chocolate in branded packaging delivered by courier, a discount or an interesting article written by your marketer.

Conclusion. If there is no market research for the industry, when developing strategic campaigns, use the rule: it does not matter who you consider a competitor, it is important between which companies the consumer chooses. To find out this, sometimes it is enough to ask clients - your own and others.

To find out what about your competitors firsthand, interview customers - download the list of questions that will help you learn about your advantages and disadvantages over competitors.

How to conduct a competitive analysis: a ready-made algorithm

In order for the consumer to choose your product, show them how you differ from the competition. The Commercial Director's editors have found a simple but effective algorithm for you that will help you monitor your competitors and fight them.

What to do if a competitor intercepts your idea

What happened... Your company is introducing a unique product or service: conducting a marketing campaign, accustoming people to the product. You are already anticipating an increase in sales, but suddenly a new player appears on the market who has come up with exactly the same solution, or perhaps simply borrowed your idea. A newly made competitor may turn out to be stronger, for example, instead of one store, open five at once. You will not only lose the planned profit, but, what is worse, at your own expense "educate" the consumer for the competitor.

Recommendation. Before you write: "This has never happened in our city!", Think about the fact that your idea can be picked up by a competitor. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously prepare for the attack. If the proposal is really new (for example, a massage technique or spa treatment using certain herbs or therapeutic mud), file a patent so that a competitor cannot take advantage of your idea. But this option is also unreliable: it is enough to make a minor change to the product or service, and officially it will be a different product. Therefore, you need to build your promotion in such a way that your unique offer is associated only with your company. So, no one is looking for duct tape in the store - everyone just asks for scotch tape. In the minds of the consumer, innovation should be firmly associated with the name of your company.

If during your time in the market you have not become a leader, it is really difficult to save the situation. For example, a small company opened the first crossbow shooting range in the city. The idea is unique - there were no competitors at the time of opening. Three or four months later, a major player came to the market and launched a whole network of shooting galleries, including crossbow ones. There was an outflow of visitors to the network, in which prices were lower due to large turnover, and the pioneer company began to lose profits. However, its leaders were not at a loss: together with sponsors on the basis of the club, they organized a city tournament, after which they began to position the shooting range as an elite club - a place where not amateurs gather, but professional shooters, where crossbow shooting was raised to the rank of philosophy. Now the competitor's shooting galleries were perceived as ordinary establishments in which teenagers from a neighboring yard, drinking beer, indiscriminately fired at targets. A serious and solvent public increasingly began to turn to a reputable professional club.

Conclusion... If a competitor intercepts your idea, you are left with two paths of development: either try to retain loyal customers and work for your audience (like convenience stores or beauty salons serving a limited number of customers), or modify the product or service, creating a unique advantage. Find the weak points of the "follower" and offer the market what other players in your sector are not capable of.

A competitor sabotages your goods, how can you protect yourself?

What happened. The market in which you work is highly competitive, and all players are approximately equal in terms of product and service levels.

Recommendation. As an example, I will cite one more situation from our practice. In 2011, a law was passed that legalizes the activities of microfinance organizations, after which the number of companies issuing small loans for short periods (Pay Day Loans format) began to grow exponentially: Bystrodengi, Migcredit, Home Money, Express loan ". We received an order to create a new federal brand in this market. It should be noted that the mechanism for the provision of such services is the same for all market participants, so it is not easy to find rational advantages that would allow the consumer to make a specific choice. Then we began to study not the market, but the consumer: who is this person who urgently needed money, why did he turn to a microfinance organization, what emotions does he feel at the same time?

In the course of psychological research, we found out that the speed of obtaining a loan is not so important for the consumer. It is not even a unique advantage, as all market players presented it. This is only a characteristic of the service. Some force majeure situation usually leads to the need to take a microcredit (an accident, dismissal, an appointment with a doctor, a date for which there is no money), therefore, sympathy is important for the consumer. If a manager dryly offers to fill out a questionnaire and looks suspiciously ("will he give the money or not?"), Then the whole procedure is more like begging for alms than service. Based on this, we proposed building development on a friendly attitude towards the consumer: we called the company Miladenezhka, and the managers were recommended to meet customers with a polite question: “What happened to you?”. Thanks to these actions, the new brand succeeded, the network of offices is actively developing, and the franchise is successfully sold in different regions of the country.

Conclusion. The key to success in a highly competitive market is a clear and precise positioning of the company: how you differ from others and how you attract customers. When you study the market and understand how the offerings of competitors meet the expectations of consumers, develop an interesting and effective development strategy. Focus on your features, be it an unusual service or memorable packaging.

Competitive Advantages: An Overview of Crisis Strategies

Killing Tricks to Eliminate Competitors

Black PR. Any company in the market can be destroyed, and unscrupulous competitors take advantage of this, reasonably assuming that it is much easier to denigrate a competitor than to convey its advantages to the consumer. Black PR can be considered the leader of an unfair competitive attack. Some companies pay the media for ordered materials or they themselves spread rumors in the media environment.

Often, a media campaign is aimed at discrediting business owners and top managers. Also, publications may relate to poor management at the enterprise, ineffective use of property, non-fulfillment of contractual obligations, violation of workers' rights, alleged bankruptcy. In order to discredit the company in the eyes of partners, unscrupulous competitors can inject truthful but defamatory information into the media.

Loan redemption. This is a scheme that has already become a classic of the genre, when overdue and poorly managed accounts payable of a company are bought out by an unscrupulous competitor from creditors (usually the consent of the debtor is not required). The enterprising rival then goes to court and, based on the writ of execution received, seizes the company or initiates bankruptcy proceedings.

Psychoadministrative attack... Some companies actively write applications to the relevant law enforcement agencies with a request to check the activities of a competitor, as well as initiate various lawsuits (for example, on the collection of receivables, although earlier these issues were resolved in the course of negotiations), and then actively cover them in the media in order to discredit the enemy ... Tellingly, such actions are massive in order to psychologically weaken the opponent.

Competitors can go further. For example, initiate an on-site extraordinary inspection of control and supervisory services, accompanied by a large-scale seizure of documents or the demand for copies of corporate and financial and business documents, which subsequently end up in the hands of the instigator of the inspection. Such actions are aimed at disrupting the current financial activities of the company.

"KD" based on materials from open sources

Competitive Wars: Capturing Advertising Channels

What happened. Until recently, your company bought ad units in specialized publications for a year in advance. Today they were bought by a competitor. Moreover, your structures are dismantled, and advertising posters are covered with advertising of a rival or simply painted over.

Be sure to diagnose the boiler twice a year. " Then came information about the boiler center: address, phone number. The three thousandth edition cost about 70 thousand rubles. - the same amount would have to be spent on advertising on three banners within a month. But banner advertising would not have given such an influx of customers: the number of hits after the promotion compared to last year increased by 48%, which is more than three times higher than expected. Note that the action did not cause any negative feedback. We placed the announcements of the same boiler center in the city newspaper, but not in advertising blocks, but first on the sports page and then in the "Crime" heading.

Conclusion. One of the most common mistakes is to use the same advertising channels that the competitor chooses (magazines, distribution areas). In advancement, it is always necessary to look for new ways. Even if you use the same channels as your competitors, look for bright, non-standard solutions.

What to do if competitors are dumping

What happened. Competitors spontaneously reduce prices, forcing them to follow their example.

It is necessary to find an advantage that will compensate the consumer for the difference in price. For example, the supply of dry building mixes can be accompanied by the departure of a consultant. In an ad, a higher price must be argued in such a way that cheapness will seem a dubious advantage: “We care about your health,” “You deserve it,” and the like, depending on your target audience.

Another option is to create a duplicate brand in a lower price segment in response to price reductions. He will take the brunt of it, and you will keep your profit. Thus, large advertising agencies open subsidiaries whose services are significantly cheaper. This creates a launching pad for young designers: they can learn from inexpensive orders.

Conclusion. If a competitor breaks the bar, take the time to follow suit. The consumer gets used to the reduced price, and it will be difficult to raise it again without compromising demand. Create added value for your product or service. Or look for other moves, take risks and make a profit.

How a competitor can turn into a customer

Vitaly Katranzhi, Sales Consultant Trainer, Oy-li

Once, while working with a small company specializing in the organization of communication networks, in the fight for a large and promising client, we faced the market leader and former monopolist, which is now part of Rostelecom. Our offer was very profitable, but the competitor promised the best conditions, technology and connection price. We realized that we were not able to complete this project in such a timeframe and with such a budget, and we gave in.

Thus, we not only completed the project on time, but also made a good profit. The most important acquisition was a loyal client who implemented all subsequent projects through our company. In addition, the competitor was convinced that our connection technology was able to save the situation at many other facilities, where deadlines were delayed.

Elena Lukina graduated from the Samara State University of Economics. Joined the company in 2008. Author of master classes in marketing and advertising.

Creative agency General Line!(Samara) provides services for the development and implementation of advertising campaigns, branding, copywriting, as well as the production of graphic products and websites. On the market since 1997. In 2011 the company opened a representative office in London. Official site - www.linia.biz

"Contact-Expert" provides consulting services in the field of marketing. On the market since 2003. Clients - more than 100 Russian and international organizations. Official site - www.expertkey.com

Oy-li renders services in the field of sales development, selection and training of specialists of the commercial department, website promotion and development of advertising materials. On the market since 2011. Official site - www.oy-li.ru

18.12.2013 04:05

If in the "dashing nineties" in competitive wars, as they say, all means were good, today more sophisticated methods of eliminating competitors are used (Figure 1). The best way in the question of how to defeat competitors in such a confrontation is to prepare for it in advance. I propose to consider five typical situations of competitive wars and five non-standard methods of eliminating competitors and countering their actions.

How to beat competitors in trading if you don't know them

Conclusion. If there is no market research for the industry, when developing strategic campaigns, use the rule: it does not matter who you consider a competitor, it is important which companies the consumer chooses between. To find out this, sometimes it is enough to ask clients - your own and others.

What to do if a competitor intercepts your idea

If during your time in the market you have not become a leader, it is really difficult to save the situation. For example, a small company opened the first crossbow shooting range in the city. The idea is unique - there were no competitors at the time of opening. Three or four months later, a major player came to the market and launched a whole network of shooting galleries, including crossbow ones. There was an outflow of visitors to the network, in which prices were lower due to large turnover, and the pioneer company began to lose profits. However, its leaders were not at a loss: together with sponsors on the basis of the club, they organized a city tournament, after which they began to position the shooting gallery as an elite club - a place where not amateurs gather, but professional shooters, where crossbow shooting was raised to the rank of philosophy. Now the competitor's shooting galleries were perceived as ordinary establishments in which teenagers from a neighboring yard, drinking beer, indiscriminately fired at targets. A serious and solvent public increasingly began to turn to a reputable professional club.

1 Reverse osmosis water - water filtered by reverse osmosis technology. In this example, the aggressor wanted to emphasize the unnaturalness of the competitor's water, which had undergone a special purification procedure.

A competitor sabotages your products

What happened. The market in which you operate is highly competitive, and all players are approximately equal in terms of product and service levels.

In the course of psychological research, we found out that the speed of obtaining a loan is not so important for the consumer. It is not even a unique advantage, as all market players presented it. This is only a characteristic of the service. Some force majeure situation usually leads to the need to take a microcredit (an accident, dismissal, an appointment with a doctor, a date for which there is no money), therefore, sympathy is important for the consumer. If a manager dryly offers to fill out a questionnaire and looks suspiciously ("will he give the money or not?"), Then the whole procedure is more like begging for alms than service. Based on this, we proposed building development on a friendly attitude towards the consumer: we called the company Miladenezhka, and the managers were recommended to meet customers with a polite question: “What happened to you?”. Thanks to these actions, the new brand stood out from its competitors, the network of offices is actively developing, and the franchise is successfully sold in different regions of the country.

Killing Tricks to Eliminate Competitors

Competitive Wars: Capturing Advertising Channels

Recommendation. When we were developing an advertising campaign for a service center for boiler equipment, we traveled around many cottage villages in which the target audience lives. All direct competitors were placing advertisements on billboards along highways, so we decided to use a different advertising move. They made a batch of booklets stylized as "bombs" on a magnetic base and attached them to the gates of the cottage areas. The pamphlets contained the following information: “Are you sure there is no bomb in your house? It's big enough to be found in your basement. Boiler equipment without maintenance is a ticking time bomb. Do not risk the health and life of loved ones. Be sure to diagnose the boiler twice a year. " Then came information about the boiler center: address, phone number. The three thousandth edition cost about 70 thousand rubles. - the same amount would have to be spent on advertising on three banners within a month. But banner advertising would not have given such an influx of customers: the number of hits after the promotion compared to last year increased by 48%, which is more than three times higher than expected. Note that the action did not cause any negative feedback. We placed announcements of the same boiler center in the city newspaper, but not in advertising blocks, but first on the sports page (Figure 3) and then in the "Crime" heading ( picture 4).

What to do if competitors are dumping

What happened. Competitors spontaneously reduce prices, forcing them to follow their example.

How a competitor can turn into a customer

Vitaly Katranzhi, Sales Consultant Trainer, Oy-li

However, the relationship with the customer did not interrupt and constantly conducted a third-party audit of the competitor's actions. In personal communication with the customer, they gently and accurately predicted possible problems for a competitor during the implementation of the project. And when it became clear to everyone that a major player could not cope with the task at hand, we prepared an agreement in which we acted as a subcontractor for this project. For a competitor, this project was not very profitable anyway. And to avoid legal costs and blacklisting of unreliable suppliers, he signed a contract on our terms. Thus, we not only completed the project on time, but also made a good profit. The most important acquisition was a loyal client who implemented all subsequent projects through our company. In addition, the competitor was convinced that our connection technology was able to save the situation at many other facilities, where deadlines were delayed.

DISCREDITATION OF THE COMPETITOR

Dissemination of knowingly false, inaccurate or distorted information in printed or otherwise reproduced text or in the media in order to harm the business reputation of an economic entity. One of the techniques of unfair competition. In Uzbekistan and a number of other countries, it is an independent corpus delicti.

A large legal dictionary. 2012

Stages of the PR campaign

A campaign to discredit a competitor is usually carried out in several stages:

At the initial stage, information about the enemy is collected, while the information is selected quite varied and in a large volume. After that, the information received is analyzed and the part that may be "of interest" to society is identified, i.e. those data that are usually hidden from outsiders and represent “vulnerabilities” for the company's reputation.
The next step is to define the target audience, i.e. that group of people who are most susceptible to the disseminated negative information. It is this group of people that the campaign will target.
Correct goal setting, which determines the further strategy of the campaign. At this stage, it is necessary to clearly understand the final result of the work done.
After setting a goal, it is rational to start building an appropriate strategy for achieving it, which is subdivided into several stages.
The final stage of planning is the direct implementation of the black PR campaign.

Methods of conducting a campaign to discredit a competitor

There are a lot of methods of using black PR and waging information wars. Sometimes, for each individual case, unique strategies and tactics are developed, but the most common black PR techniques are the following:

the use of manipulative media strategies that are able to form a certain assessment of events in the reader and, accordingly, an attitude towards him;
distribution of frankly false materials about a competitor: the quality of its products, personal characteristics of the leader, his actions, etc .;
changing the semantic load of already existing information messages (shifting emphasis, changing the context, etc.);
calling associations with any negative fact or phenomenon in the public consciousness (for example, associations with a swastika or fascism cannot have a positive effect on the company's image).

Such actions can cause irreparable damage to the reputation of a company or an individual, therefore, each executive who cares about the image of the enterprise should develop his own effective strategy to protect against this type of information attacks.

Defense strategy

Among the main methods of countering information wars, the method of disorganizing an attack stands out, which consists in the fact that you, as it were, join the enemy's actions by discrediting yourself, but you do it deliberately and deliberately exaggerating and distorting the facts. For example, if a competitor managed to find and disclose information discrediting your reputation, you should in the near future disclose (be sure to use the same source!) Other data that also carry a negative semantic load. In this case, the information made public by you should be unlikely, i.e. one that the public is unlikely to believe. In this context, the information that appeared earlier will not be taken seriously.

Another quite effective method of neutralizing the action of black PR is the so-called flash method, which is based on artificial creation of an additional bright event associated with the discredited company. In this case, the resonance created around this event should be several times higher than the resonance from the earlier information attack. The information that has appeared should become a real sensation, as if "overshadowing" the already outdated negativity and create a new context for the development of events in the company. It should also be noted that the disseminated sensational information should lie in a completely different information plane and in no way relate to negative information that appeared earlier.

The following information attack protection technology is based on the principle "the best defense is an attack". The counterattack method is to use black PR techniques against a group of people trying to discredit your company. The result of such actions can be the destruction of the positive image of your envious people and a decrease in their rating in the market.

In some cases, going to court will also be effective. If reputable PR agencies and structures are not behind the information attack against you, you can safely file a claim against your offender and prove your case in the courtroom, thereby refuting the negative information that was disseminated earlier.

If we talk about the so-called spontaneous information attack (that is, one that was not planned in advance and was caused by any “wrong” actions on your part that cause public disapproval), then it can be neutralized in the following ways:

prevention of a possible conflict;
achieving a mutually beneficial compromise for both parties;
distracting attention from events;
increased white PR;
disguise of what happened.

As we have already said, protection against information attacks should be built individually in each individual case. In this case, it will be useful for you to consult a public relations specialist or a professional PR manager.

(Information prepared on the basis of electronic media)

DISCREDITATION OF A COMPETITOR DISCREDITATION OF A COMPETITOR is the dissemination of knowingly false, inaccurate or distorted information in printed or otherwise reproduced text or in the media in order to harm the business reputation of an economic entity. One of the techniques of unfair competition. In Uzbekistan and a number of other countries, it is an independent corpus delicti.

A large legal dictionary. - M .: Infra-M. A. Ya. Sukharev, V. E. Krutskikh, A. Ya. Sukhareva. 2003 .

See what "COMPETITOR DISCREDITATION" is in other dictionaries:

discrediting a competitor- dissemination of knowingly false, inaccurate or distorted information in printed or otherwise reproduced text or in the media in order to harm the business reputation of an economic entity. One of the tricks ... ... Big Law Dictionary

- (fr. Discrediter undermine trust) deliberate actions aimed at undermining authority, image and trust. One of the techniques of unfair competition. Political defamation refers to personal attacks on ... ... Wikipedia

Business elite- (The business elite) Business elite influential elite Business elite of modern Russian society Contents >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ... Investor encyclopedia

COMPETITION UNFAIR- (unfair competition) any act of competition contrary to fair practice in industrial and commercial affairs (Art. 10 bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property). Subject to prohibition: all actions capable of whatever ... ... Foreign economic explanatory dictionary

MARKETING, GUARANTEE- [eng. guerilla marketing] unconventional ways of communication and promotion, going beyond the generally accepted framework and aiming to achieve noticeable marketing results with little money. It is a tactical survival tool for small firms in ... ... Marketing. Large explanatory dictionary

Books

Direct discrediting of a competitor as a type of unfair competition, O. A. Gorodov. The article presents a detailed description and considers the signs of direct discrediting of a competitor, which is one of the types of acts of unfair competition prohibited by the Federal ...

Ways to discredit a competitor. The meaning of discrediting a competitor in a large legal dictionary. Stages of the PR campaign

You will learn:

How to beat competitors in trading if you don't know them

How to conduct a competitive analysis: a ready-made algorithm

What to do if a competitor intercepts your idea

A competitor sabotages your goods, how can you protect yourself?

Killing Tricks to Eliminate Competitors

Competitive Wars: Capturing Advertising Channels

What to do if competitors are dumping

How a competitor can turn into a customer

How to beat competitors in trading if you don't know them

What to do if a competitor intercepts your idea

1 Reverse osmosis water - water filtered by reverse osmosis technology. In this example, the aggressor wanted to emphasize the unnaturalness of the competitor's water, which had undergone a special purification procedure.

A competitor sabotages your products

Killing Tricks to Eliminate Competitors

Competitive Wars: Capturing Advertising Channels

What to do if competitors are dumping

How a competitor can turn into a customer

See also the interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is DISCREDITATION OF A COMPETITOR in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

Stages of the PR campaign

Methods of conducting a campaign to discredit a competitor

Defense strategy

See what "COMPETITOR DISCREDITATION" is in other dictionaries:

Books