End-run offensives seek to avoid head-on challenges tied to aggressive pricecutting,
escalated advertising, or costly efforts to outdifferentiate rivals.
Instead the idea is to maneuver around competitors and lead the way into unoccupied
market territory. Examples of end-run offensives include moving
aggressively into geographic areas where close rivals have no market pres-
.. ence, trying to create new segments by introducing products with different
· attributes and performance features to better meet the needs of selected buyers,
and leapfrogging into next-generation technologies to supplant existing
products and/or production processes. With an end-run offensive, a firm can
gain a significant first-mover advantage in a new arena and force competitors
to play catch-up. The most successful erid-runs change the rules of the competitive
game in the aggressor's favor.