Market-Challenger Strategies

Many market challengers have gained ground or even overtaken the leader. A challenger must first determine a strategic objective (such as to increase market share) and then decide whom to attack.

Attacking the market leader is a high-risk but potentially high-payoff strategy if the leader is not serving the market well. The challenger can attack firms its own size that are underperforming and under-financed, have aging products, are charging excessive prices, or are not satisfying customers in other ways. Another option is to attack small local and regional firms. Or a challenger might attack an industry as a whole or a pervasive way of thinking that doesn’t adequately address customer needs.