1. Brand Creation
Offensive & Defensive
Competitive Advantage
By: Mohamed Mousa

2. Brand &Competitive Advantage Definition
• A Brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly
distinguished from other products, services, or concepts
so that it can be easily communicated and usually
marketed. A brand name is the name of the distinctive
product, service, or concept. Branding is the process of
creating and disseminating the brand name. Branding
can be applied to the entire corporate identity as well as
to individual product and service names.
• A competitive advantage is an advantage over
competitors gained by offering consumers greater
value, either by means of lower prices or by providing
greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices.

3. Brand Equity
• Brand equity is the brand assets which are linked to a
brand’s name & symbol that add to particular product or
service
There are four dimensions of brand equity:
•
•
•
•
Brand Awareness
– Do consumers know the brand
– How does awareness affect their perception about the
brand
Perceived Quality
– What do consumers think of quality
Brand Associations
– What are consumers associations with the brand
– Imagery, product attributes, brand personality, symbols
Brand Loyalty
– The heart of any brand!!

4. Brand Identity
• Identifying brand identity elements that differentiate and
create customer-brand relationships is one of the first
steps towards establishing a set of brand equity
measures.
• Brand Identity: a vision of how that brand should be
perceived by its target audience. Brand Identity
represents what the organization wants the brand to
stand for.
• Brand Identity Value Proposition Relationship

5. Brand is a Competitive Advantage
• Branding is not just advertising, nor is it simply a catchy
name for a company or product. The most important
value in a brand is the value that it holds for actual
customers, This value is very difficult and expensive to
build - and fragile and easy to destroy.
• Brands are valuable simply because they cause
customers to be inclined to purchase your product rather
than someone else's.
• Consumer Perceptions of brands and slogans.

6. Brand is a Competitive Advantage
• A strong brand will project an image of a large and
established business to your potential customers. People
usually associate branding with larger businesses that
have the money to spend on advertising and promotion.
If you can create effective branding, then it can make
your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.
• A strong brand projects an image of quality in your
business, many people see the brand as a part of a
product or service that helps to show its quality and
value

7. Brand is a Competitive Advantage
• A strong brand creates an image of an established
business that has been around for long enough to
become well known. A branded business is more likely
to be seen as experienced in their products or services,
and will generally be seen as more reliable and
trustworthy than an unbranded business..
• The main benefit of branding is that customers are much
more likely to remember your business. A strong brand
name and logo/image helps to keep your company
image in the mind of your potential customers.

8. The Road to Branding Success
•
Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core
of any branding strategy. If they’re not clear, get a good grip on
them first. Is the brand about honesty or integrity? Quality?
How about excellent communication and customer
satisfaction?
•
With values set, a brand proposition is ready to be
established. Objective and comprehensive branding research
are the keys here. At a minimum, both must be done to
establish clarity on the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, the
target audience and the competition. If possible, branding
research should also be done on the brand’s industry, its
history, the status of the market and possibilities for future
expansion.
•
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure
the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your
brand.
Brand Sales = (Cost + Margin) * Volume

9. Offensive and Defensive Strategies
Offensive Strategies
Used to build new or
stronger market position
and/or create competitive
advantage
Defensive Strategies
Used to protect
competitive advantage
(rarely used to create
advantage)

10. Types of Offensive Strategies
1. Initiatives to match or exceed competitor strengths
2. Initiatives to capitalize on competitor weaknesses
3. Simultaneous initiatives on many fronts
4. End-run offensives
5. Guerrilla offensives
6. Preemptive strikes

11. Attacking Competitor Strengths
o
Whittle away at a rival’s competitive advantage
o
Gain market share by out-matching strengths of
weaker rivals
Guerrilla Offenses
Use principles of surprise and hit-and-run to attack in
locations and at times where conditions are most favorable to
initiator
Preemptive Strikes
Involves moving first to secure an advantageous position
that rivals are foreclosed or discouraged from duplicating!

12. Attacking Competitor Weaknesses
Utilize company strengths to exploit a rival’s weaknesses
Weaknesses to Attack
o
Customers that a rival is least equipped to serve
o
Rivals providing sub-par customer service
o
Rivals with weaker marketing skills
o
Geographic regions where rival is weak
o
Market segments a rival is neglecting

13. Launching Simultaneous
Offensives on Many Fronts
Launch several major initiatives :
- Throw rivals off-balance
- Splinter their attention
- Force them to use substantial resources to defend
their position.
A challenger with superior resources can overpower
weaker rivals by out-competing them across-the-board
long enough to become a market leader!

14. End-Run Offensives
 Maneuver around strong competitors

Capture unoccupied or less contested markets

Change rules of competition in aggressor’s favor
Choosing Rivals to Attack
•
Four types of firms can be the target of a fresh
offensive
– Vulnerable market leaders
– Runner-up firms with weaknesses
where challenger is strong
– Struggling rivals on verge
of going under
– Small local or regional
firms with limited capabilities

15. Using Offensive Strategy to Achieve
Competitive Advantage
• Strategic offensives offering strongest basis for
competitive advantage entail
o An important core competence
o A unique competitive capability
o Much-improved performance features
o An innovative new product
o Technological superiority
o A cost advantage in manufacturing or distribution
o Some type of differentiation advantage

16. Defensive Strategy
o
Lessen risk of being attacked
o
Blunt impact of any attack that occurs
o
Influence challengers to aim attacks at other rivals
Approaches
o
Block avenues open to challengers
o
Signal challengers vigorous retaliation is likely
Conclusion : Creating A brand is always offensive
competitive advantage when all brand and offensive
strategy characteristics are found and matched on the
brand .

17. DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND
Dockers is a brand of khaki garments from Levi Strauss &
Co. Levi Strauss & Co., then specialized in denim,
introduced the Dockers brand in 1986. Dockers became a
leading brand of business casual clothing for men led by
Bob Siegel. In 1987, Dockers introduced a women's line.
In 1993 the Dockers brand was introduced into Europe
under the leadership of Joe Middleton.
Dockers makes khaki pants and leather wallets

18. DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions
• Dockers had the characteristics of a brand :
- Brand equity dimension were found on Dockers , form
my point of view Dockers got this from levis sub-branding.
• Brand Awareness: People already now levis well.
• Perceived Quality: Made from Cotton Concept of levis
made strong position for Dockers.
- Brand identity was target casual clothes for American
male teenager—was now 25-49 .
- Brand is valuable
- Levi's Dockers casual pants was a Consumers respond
to the product design, which utilized the comfort and casual
feel of cotton.
- Dockers to made it a billion-dollar brand by 1993.
- The Dockers brand achieved record sales growth in 1998
and Fortune magazine estimated in 1999 that 75 percent of
American men owned a pair of Dockers

19. DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions
- Creating Dockers brand was offensive Strategy to Achieve
Competitive Advantage.
- Levi’s is a brand recognizable in the whole wide world. There
is no person who wouldn’t be able to associate correctly the
Name with the product. LS&Co has managed to create
something timeless, just like their classical 501 blue jeans.
- New brand strategy to ―offer products for every life style‖,
which turned to be a fiasco. Not only it didn’t bring expected
results, what is more, this to big diversification caused drops
in sales.
- It was so decided to come back to the core product and it’s
image. To strengthen the Levi’s position on a market, their
launched a new campaign which emphasizes emotional
connection between jeans and theirs owner. To wear 501 it is
to be yourself – they said.
- Company also took the advantage of changes that started to
appear according to the dress code at work place.

20. DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions
• From my point of view creating Dockers brand was ―EndRun Offensives‖ strategy Which Captured unoccupied or
less contested markets on casual pants, And matched
the Change rules of competition which resulted from
generation old change and Changed circumstances .