Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, Third Edition

Strategy formulation 165

Attacker Defender

(1) Position

defence

(5) Mobile

defence

(6) Contraction

defence

(3) Pre-emptive

defence

(2) Flank defence

(4) Counter

defence

Figure 8.9

Defensive strategies

(Source: Kotler

et al., 1999)

Illustrative Example 8.3

Chelsea versus Manchester United, the global game

Chelsea FC have recently launched a Mandarin language version of the football club’s website,
Working in partnership with Sina, China’s largest Internet portal provider, the club aims to access
a market in excess of 100 million. Sina will convert Chelsea’s Internet content into Mandarin and
will examine football from a local viewpoint. Given the growth potential of the Chinese market,
it is not surprising to find other ‘giants’ of European football – Manchester United, Real Madrid,
etc. – actively targeting the South East Asian market. Chelsea view the web development, cou-
pled with support for football at a local level, as a key element in gaining market share. The strat-
egy differs from Manchester United, who have endeavoured to open themed outlets.
Chelsea team manager, Jose Mourinho, welcomed Chinese fans to the new website in the
following statement:

‘Hello to all our fans in China. I know that you pay close attention to our performances and

today on behalf of everyone at Chelsea I want to thank you for your support, we do appreciate it

very much. The new Chinese Chelsea official website will build a bridge between us.’

(www.chelsea.fc.com, Accessed 30/01/07)

must identify weak areas and the potential impact of an ‘attack’ on the

core business. Secondly, they need to be sure that the flank defence is

sustainable. For example, a food retailer may see its flank as frozen

products. Here it competes with specialist frozen food retailers. The