Applying John Boyd's Interaction and Isolation Forces To Marketing Campaigning


SUMMARY vSente is a marketing consultancy. We help challenger enterprises wage and win battles for market shares. Disciplines - Advertising \| Marketing \| Sales Competency - Challenge \| Defend Deliverable - Profitable Market Share Audience - CEO's \| Marketing \| Sales Scale - Small \| Medium-sized Enterprise Services - Campaigns \| Workshops Location - San Francisco \| London SIGN-UP FOR VSENTE'S CAMPAIGNER LIST Join vSente's Campaigner list and get a free download of vSente's Campaign Planner. This is the generic version of the planner we use for our workshops and campaigns. The planner is in Excel format and includes the campaign worksheet and one-page plan of campaign. Enter your name and email address to join and receive your planner. If you're responsible for sales or marketing in a small or medium-sized enterprise, then I'd like to invite you to join vSente's Campaigner list. 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If you're looking for basic marketing techniques, like trade show tips, writing press releases, designing a flyer, optimizing landing pages, etc. this is not the list for you. On the other hand if you're interested in exploring the underlying dynamics of competitive advantage, then the topics discussed on this list will be of help. Submit your name and email address above and the link for the planner will be sent immediately to the email address you used to sign up. Then look for a plain text email from vSente weekly.			Applying John Boyd's Interaction and Isolation Forces To Marketing Campaigning A competitive marketing campaigner will shape the terrain to his advantage and the disadvantage of his competition. There are two primary shaping forces described by John Boyd - interaction and isolation. The skilled marketer orchestrates these forces in order to generate competitive advantage. INTERACTION Interaction within the business environment are tactics we willingly, offensively or pro actively execute designed to open up opportunities of our choosing consistent with our core competencies and supportive of the campaign mission and strategy. The higher the degree of interaction we have the greater we control our own destiny - or the less control our adversaries are able to exert over our destiny. EXAMPLES OF INTERACTION a. Robust intelligence competencies. b. Disciplined multiple channels of communication. c. Strong visualization and calibration disciplines. d. Fluid organizational formations. e. Rapid development cycles. f. Rapid execution teams. INDICATIONS OF INTERACTION a. Pricing Power b. Employee Loyalty c. Product Differentiation e. Market Leader f. Customer Satisfaction g. Proactive ISOLATION Isolation within the business environment are tactics we undertake in order to pro actively deny our competitive adversaries access to our customers, markets, products, technologies, employees, practices, partnerships and other proprietary or critical business functions. Additionally, isolation means undertaking activities designed to shape and influence the perception of our adversaries within all relevant constituencies and frames of reference. EXAMPLES OF ISOLATION a. Operating at a faster O-O-D-A cycle. b. Attacking competitor Center of Gravity. c. Shaping customer, industry perceptions. d. Recruiting key employees/managers. e. Comprehensive competitive monitoring. f. Utilization of exclusive relationships. g. Utilization of proprietary defensive mechanisms. h. Control of industry influencers. i. Pricing, feature, service raids. INDICATIONS OF ISOLATION a. Commodity positioning. b. High employee turnover. c. Executive defections. d. Reactive internally focused. e. Declining margins An effective marketing campaign must have a robust isolation component in order to increase the chances for success. Interaction without isolation is like cheng without ch’i. The smart marketer works with a palette of interaction and isolation tactics designed to maximize competitive advantage. See this case study for more details. Enterprises have varying appetites for engaging in isolation tactics. For some there is a reluctance to talk about the competition or to aggressively engage the competition with negative tactics. There is continuum of isolation tactics from simple comparisons and legitimate debates to outright smear campaigns and dirty tricks. I do not endorse illegal activities or dirty tricks. I do endorse aggressive pursuits especially when an enterprise is confronted with bankruptcy or extinction. Return to The Commentaries Index