This week, we explore when a smaller advertiser attacks the weak spot in a bigger advertiser’s marketing. It’s a strategy of brinksmanship, because it means a smaller company not only chooses to attack a larger company, but it attacks the weakness in a bigger company’s strength. It takes surgical precision, but when done well, the smaller advertiser gains market share, while diminishing the bigger company’s reputation at the same time.

We’ll talk about how Avis aimed an arrow at Hertz, how Tylenol overtook the much larger Bayer Aspirin, how Scope used a slingshot to battle the Goliath in the mouthwash category, and the amusing story of how a potato chip company battled a competitor by finding the soft spot in its ingredient list.

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