Marketing Management, 15e (Kotler)
Chapter 12 Addressing Competition and Driving Growth
1) WD40 offers a Smart Straw version of its popular multipurpose lubricant with a built-in straw
that pops up for use. This is an example of which of the following main strategies for growing
the core of the business?
A) Make the core of the brand as distinctive as possible.
B) Drive distribution through both existing and new channels.
C) Offer the core product in new formats or versions.
D) Increase costs and revenue.
E) Expand to another geographic region.
2) Galaxy chocolate has successfully competed with Cadbury by positioning itself as “your
partner in chocolate indulgence” and featuring smoother product shapes, more refined taste, and
sleeker packaging, which represents which of the following main strategies for growing the core
of the business?
A) Make the core of the brand as distinctive as possible.
B) Drive distribution through both existing and new channels.
C) Offer the core product in new formats or versions.
D) Increase costs and revenue.
E) Expand to another geographic region.
3) Which of the following brands generates only 6 percent outside North America, with very
little of that in fast-growing emerging markets like India, China, and Brazil, which may represent
opportunities for its growth?
A) UPS
B) Under Armour
C) FedEx
D) Nike
E) Adidas
4) Growing the core can be a less risky alternative than expansion into new product categories.
5) Growth strategies are “either/or” propositions; a focus on core businesses means foregoing
new market opportunities.
6) Vancouver, Canada’s Fortuna Silver Mines has focused on its two fully owned, fully
integrated silver mines in Peru and Mexico to spur organic growth while looking for a third mine
to drive further growth because the existing mines are not expandable.
7) Identify five general strategies for growth.
8) Identify the three main strategies for growing a company’s core, as noted by UK marketing
guru David Taylor, and provide an example for each.
9) The market ________ has the largest market share and usually shows the way to other firms in
price changes, new-product introductions, distribution coverage, and promotional intensity.
A) challenger
B) entrant
C) follower
D) nicher
E) leader
10) When the total market expands, the market ________ usually gains the most.
A) challenger
B) leader
C) follower
D) nicher
E) entrant
11) When a firm looks for new users in groups that might use a product but do not already use
the product, the firm is using the ________ strategy.
A) new-market segment
B) market-penetration
C) geographical-expansion
D) product development
E) diversification
12) As the marketing manager for a floor tile manufacturer, Evans Smith is given a target to
achieve 500 new customers by the end of summer. He decides to search the market for probable
customers who might use the product but currently do not. Which of the following strategies is
Evans pursuing to increase the market demand for his product?
A) market-penetration strategy
B) new-market segment strategy
C) geographical-expansion strategy
D) needs-assessment strategy
E) consolidation strategy
13) When firms look for new users in groups that have never used the product before, the firm is
using the ________ strategy.
A) new-market segment
B) market-penetration
C) geographical-expansion
D) product development
E) diversification
14) When Starbucks introduced its Tazo Tea line to bring in new customers who had never gone
to Starbucks because they don’t drink coffee, Starbucks was employing a ________ strategy.
A) market-penetration
B) new-market segment
C) geographical-expansion
D) niche identification
E) blue-ocean
15) Trendz Inc. is a leading brand of fashion clothing and accessories based in Houston. After
gaining a strong foothold in the US, the company wants to foray into foreign markets. The
management at Trendz knows that people residing in other countries are likely to have different
tastes and preferences, so they may have to redesign some of their offerings. Which of the
following strategies is Trendz using?
A) market-penetration strategy
B) outsourcing strategy
C) geographic-expansion strategy
D) product differentiation strategy
E) ethnocentric strategy
16) A market leader on the look out for more usage from existing customers should focus on
increasing the frequency of consumption and ________.
A) decreasing the product price
B) the product line
C) the amount of consumption
D) decreasing production turnover time
E) diversifying into unrelated markets
17) Which of the following marketing strategies requires either identifying additional
opportunities to use the brand in the same basic way or identifying completely new and different
ways to use the brand?
A) increasing the amount of consumption
B) decreasing the level of consumption
C) increasing dedication to consumption
D) increasing product innovation
E) increasing frequency of consumption
18) When food product companies advertise recipes that use their branded products in entirely
different ways, they are increasing the ________ consumption of the brand.
A) amount of
B) level of
C) dedication to
D) frequency of
E) awareness of
19) Oliver, a company that produces different types of olive oil, launched a promotional
campaign focusing on the alternative uses of olive oil. What strategy is the company
implementing to expand its total market demand?
A) using the new-market segment strategy to attract new customers
B) improving the current level of product performance
C) advertising new and different applications of the brand
D) protecting its market share
E) using the market-penetration strategy to attract new customers
20) Clorox runs ads stressing the many benefits of its bleach, such as how it eliminates kitchen
odors, in order to generate additional opportunities to use the brand in the same basic way. This
is an attempt to ________ of consumption.
A) increase the amount
B) increase the level
C) increase the perception
D) increase the frequency
E) increase the emotional implications
21) Which of the following is the most constructive response a market leader can make when
defending its market share?
A) maintain basic cost control
B) innovate continuously
C) provide desired benefits
D) meet challengers with a swift response
E) provide expected benefits
22) To satisfy customers, a(n) ________ marketer finds a stated need and fills it.
A) creative
B) responsive
C) anticipative
D) laidback
E) inexperienced
23) A(n) ________ marketer looks ahead to needs customers may have in the near future.
A) laidback
B) creative
C) inexperienced
D) responsive
E) anticipative
24) A(n) ________ marketer discovers solutions customers did not ask for but to which they
enthusiastically respond.
A) laidback
B) responsive
C) inexperienced
D) creative
E) anticipative
25) ________ marketers are not just market-driven, they are proactive market-driving firms.
A) Creative
B) Responsive
C) Inexperienced
D) Laidback
E) Anticipative
26) Sony is an unusual market leader. It gives its customers new products that they have never
asked for (e.g., Walkmans, VCRs, video cameras, CDs). This makes Sony a(n) ________ firm.
A) market-driven
B) market-driving
C) operations-driven
D) vision-driven
E) virtually-driven
27) Which of the following is true about proactive marketing?
A) A company needs creative anticipation to see the writing on the wall.
B) Proactive companies create new offers to serve unmet and unknown consumer needs.
C) Proactive companies refrain from practicing uncertainty management.
D) A company needs responsive anticipation to devise innovative solutions.
E) Companies are winners when they are extremely risk-averse.
28) ________ defense involves occupying the most desirable market space in the minds of the
consumers and making the brand almost impregnable.
A) Position
B) Flank
C) Preemptive
D) Mobile
E) Contraction
29) A marketing manager has planned a strategy that will require the organization to erect
outposts to protect its weak front-running brands. In this ________ defense, the outposts will be
central to the organization’s new competitive strategy.
A) position
B) flank
C) preemptive
D) counteroffensive
E) mobile
30) ________ defense is an aggressive maneuver where the firm attacks first, perhaps with
guerrilla action across the market and keeps everyone off balance.
A) Position
B) Flank
C) Contraction
D) Preemptive
E) Lateral
31) The defensive marketing strategy wherein a stream of new products are introduced by a firm
and are announced in advance are referred to as ________ defense.
A) mobile
B) counteroffensive
C) preemptive
D) contraction
E) flank
32) If Microsoft announces plans for a new-product development, smaller firms may choose to
concentrate their development efforts in other directions to avoid head-to-head competition. In
this example, Microsoft is employing a ________ defense strategy.
A) preemptive
B) counteroffensive
C) mobile
D) flank
E) contraction
33) In a ________ defense strategy, the market leader can meet the attacker frontally and hit its
flank or launch a pincer movement so that the attacker is forced to pull back to defend itself.
A) position
B) counteroffensive
C) preemptive
D) contraction
E) flank
34) After Olay entered and took over the Indian market with its anti-aging lotion, Ponds invested
heavily in a similar product which used only natural ingredients. This is an example of a
________ defense.
A) position
B) flank
C) counteroffensive
D) contraction
E) mobile
35) In a ________ defense, the market leader stretches its domain over new territories that can
serve as future centers for defense and offense.
A) counteroffensive e
B) flank
C) contraction
D) mobile
E) position
36) Market broadening and market diversification are likely tactics employed in ________
defense strategies.
A) position
B) flank
C) preemptive
D) counteroffensive
E) mobile
37) When “petroleum” companies such as BP sought to recast themselves as “energy”
companies, increasing their research into the oil, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, and chemical
industries, these companies were employing a ________ defense strategy.
A) preemptive
B) counteroffensive
C) mobile
D) flank
E) contraction
38) When large companies can no longer defend their full territory, they can launch a ________
defense where they give up weaker markets and reassign resources to stronger ones.
A) contraction
B) preemptive
C) flank
D) mobile
E) position
39) In 2006, Sara Lee spun off products that accounted for a large percentage of the company’s
revenues, including its strong Hanes hosiery brand, so it could concentrate on its well-known
food brands. In this example, Sara Lee is employing a ________ defense strategy.
A) preemptive
B) counteroffensive
C) mobile
D) flank
E) contraction
40) Market ________ generally have a smaller market share than other players and they are
willing to maintain their share and not rock the boat.
A) challengers
B) leaders
C) nichers
D) rivals
E) followers
41) When Starbucks extended its brand into coffee drinks and ice creams to reach customers who
did not use its brand, it was using a(n) ________ strategy.
A) geographical-expansion
B) new-market segment
C) market-penetration
D) larger package size
E) increased frequency
42) When Procter & Gamble used Gain and Cheer laundry detergents as outposts to protect a
weak front or support a possible counterattack, they were using a ________ defense.
A) flank
B) position
C) preemptive
D) counteroffensive
E) mobile
43) When the total market expands, the dominant firm usually gains the most.
44) The market leader should look for new customers or more usage from existing customers.
45) A market-penetration strategy is one where a company searches for new customers in a
group that has never used a product before.
46) One way to increase the frequency of consumption of a product by consumers is by
introducing it in larger package sizes.
47) The most constructive response to protecting market share is continuous innovation.
48) A responsive marketer looks ahead to needs customers may have in the near future.
49) An anticipative marketer finds a stated need and fills it.
50) A creative marketer discovers solutions customers did not ask for but to which they
enthusiastically respond.
51) Position defense means occupying the most desirable market space in consumers’ minds,
making the brand almost impregnable.
52) In counteroffensive marketing, the market leader can meet the attacker frontally and hit its
flank, or launch a pincer movement so that it is forced to pull back to defend itself.
53) In contraction defense, the leader stretches its domain over new territories through market
broadening and market diversification.
54) Market diversification shifts the company’s focus to unrelated industries.
55) Which three groups of customers can help expand a firm’s market demand?
56) Which three groups of marketers help satisfy a customer’s needs?
57) What is counteroffensive defense? Explain with an example.
58) Describe the three strategies that are necessary for a market leader to accomplish to stay on
top.
59) Your marketing manager has asked you to develop a new customer strategy for your
company. Additionally, you have been asked to develop, specifically, a market-penetration
strategy to assist in gaining new customers. Describe a market-penetration strategy in this
context.
60) Assume that your firm is a market leader in manufacturing detergent. How would the firm
use position defense as a defensive marketing strategy to maintain its share?
61) If you were asked to develop a mobile defense for your products that are likely to come
under attack from a market challenger, what would you suggest?
62) As a brand manager of a firm that manufactures denim jeans, how will you implement a
preemptive defense marketing strategy to meet an anticipated competitive challenge?
63) The cost of buying higher market share through acquisition may far exceed its revenue value.
Which are the four factors a company should consider before doing so?
64) A firm that is willing to maintain its market share, and not attack the leader and other
competitors in an aggressive bid for further market share, is known as a market ________.
A) challenger
B) leader
C) follower
D) nicher
E) entrant
65) For a market challenger, attacking ________ is a high risk but potentially high payoff
strategy, which also allows it to distance itself from other challengers.
A) a firm of its own size
B) the market leader
C) a regional firm
D) an underfinanced firm
E) a poorly performing firm
66) In a pure ________ attack, the attacker matches its opponent’s product, advertising, price,
and distribution.
A) guerilla
B) bypass
C) encirclement
D) frontal
E) flank
67) Epic Inc., a firm that produces chairs for offices, uses comparative advertising to inform
consumers that its products offer the same features and quality as the competitor’s. This is an
example of a(n) ________ attack.
A) guerilla
B) frontal
C) encirclement
D) bypass
E) flank
68) The ________ attack can be used when the challenger spots areas where the opponent is
underperforming.
A) encirclement
B) frontal
C) flank-geographic
D) backwards-flank
E) guerilla
69) Pepsodent launched a new product that could whiten teeth, fight decay, and maintain fresh
breath. Observing that Pepsodent did not focus on the dental sensitivity aspect, Colgate
introduced a toothpaste which did all of the above and also protected sensitive teeth. This is an
example of a(n) ________ attack.
A) frontal
B) flank
C) guerrilla
D) encirclement
E) bypass
70) A(n) ________ strategy is another name for identifying shifts in market segments that are
causing gaps to develop, then rushing in to fill the gaps and developing them into strong
segments.
A) frontal attack
B) flanking
C) encircling
D) counteroffensive
E) bypass
71) The ________ attack attempts to capture a significant share of the consumer market by
launching a grand offensive on several fronts.
A) frontal
B) bypass
C) flank
D) encirclement
E) guerrilla
72) Sally Seabrook is an up-and-coming marketing manager for a large department store chain.
Ms. Seabrook has distinguished herself with bold strategies such as launching attacks on her
primary competitor from several fronts, including advertising, new store openings, and new
distributor alliances. Which of the following market challenger attack strategies is Ms. Seabrook
using to attack her competition?
A) frontal attack
B) bypass attack
C) guerrilla attack
D) flank attack
E) encirclement attack
73) The ________ attack offers the firm an opportunity to diversify into unrelated products, into
new geographical markets, and leapfrogging into new technologies.
A) bypass
B) flank
C) frontal
D) guerrilla
E) encirclement