This is the final post in the Predatory Inspiration's series by Ashton Bishop, Head of Strategy at Step Change Marketing.

The theme of this series is Predatory Marketing.

Predatory Marketing is defined as: strike at the weaknesses that arise out of your competitor's greatest strength. If that sounds familiar, then read it again. It's not 'strike at your competitor's weakness' and it's not 'talk about what's different'. This is more powerful.

See, when you strike at the weaknesses that arise out of your competitor's greatest strength you strike at the part of your competitor that they are least willing to change. It also changes the conversation from the same marketing words that every other company in your category uses, to a conversation that leverages your relative advantages.

These case studies demonstrate how Predatory Marketing has been applied.

We created an ad that, during testing, was loved by 50% of women and hated by the other 50%. When you only need 20% to join you to double your share, the odds are suddenly looking favourable. And that’s exactly what happened.

Target

Established Play-it-Safe Tampon Brands like Libra

Greatest strength

They play it safe and conservative by not talking about “down there”

The weaknesses that arise from their strength

Some women do want to talk about “down there”. They are sick of whispers and quietly just using the product that mum suggested.

Relative advantages

By giving permission to be not so private about your privates, UbyKotex gave young women the freedom of expression that they were after. ‘The Beaver’ was the most complained about ad of 2010 - it was also one of the most successful.

Predatory recap

Strike at the weakness that arises out of your competitor’s greatest strength. This achieves greatest impact and makes response more difficult.