---
title: "How to Execute a Large-Scale Offensive in Regional Markets"
description: "Marketing sets the standards for sales in terms of strategic direction and tactical methods, but the planning and execution of sales campaigns still have a decisive impact on achieving strategic goals. It's not just marketing that needs strategic thinking; sales also requires a strategic perspective. The famous Menglianggu Campaign annihilated the Nationalist's top ace division, the 74th Division. The East China Field Army had long wanted to settle scores with the 74th Division, but the campaign was not the result of a strategic plan; rather, it was because the 74th Division carelessly separated from the battle formation, allowing Su Yu to seize the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. This bold campaign, which Mao Zedong called \"unexpected,\" became the watershed that broke the Nationalist's key offensive in Shandong."
author: "史贤龙"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-06-03"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-to-execute-a-large-scale-offensive-in-regional-markets-f335f79d/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-to-execute-a-large-scale-offensive-in-regional-markets-f335f79d.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FTMF4Zqf3TF1rLGD0PQQLg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E5%AE%9E%E6%96%BD%E5%8C%BA%E5%9F%9F%E5%B8%82%E5%9C%BA%E5%A4%A7%E8%A7%84%E6%A8%A1%E6%94%BB%E5%87%BB%E6%88%98-f335f79d.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-to-execute-a-large-scale-offensive-in-regional-markets-f335f79d/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# How to Execute a Large-Scale Offensive in Regional Markets

> Marketing sets the standards for sales in terms of strategic direction and tactical methods, but the planning and execution of sales campaigns still have a decisive impact on achieving strategic goals. It's not just marketing that needs strategic thinking; sales also requires a strategic perspective. The famous Menglianggu Campaign annihilated the Nationalist's top ace division, the 74th Division. The East China Field Army had long wanted to settle scores with the 74th Division, but the campaign was not the result of a strategic plan; rather, it was because the 74th Division carelessly separated from the battle formation, allowing Su Yu to seize the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. This bold campaign, which Mao Zedong called "unexpected," became the watershed that broke the Nationalist's key offensive in Shandong.

Marketing sets the standards for sales in terms of strategic direction and tactical methods, but the planning and execution of sales campaigns still have a decisive impact on achieving strategic goals. It's not just marketing that needs strategic thinking; sales also requires a strategic perspective!

The famous Menglianggu Campaign annihilated the Nationalist's top ace division, the 74th Division. The East China Field Army had long wanted to settle scores with the 74th Division, but the campaign was not the result of a strategic plan; rather, it was because the 74th Division carelessly separated from the battle formation, allowing Su Yu to seize the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. This bold campaign, which Mao Zedong called "unexpected," became the watershed that broke the Nationalist's key offensive in Shandong.

During World War II, the Allied strategy to liberate the European continent began with the Normandy landings. The success of the Normandy campaign laid the foundation for the Allies' maneuvers and deployments in Europe. We can say that without the Normandy campaign, or if the landings had encountered setbacks, the liberation of Europe would have been delayed, the Soviet Red Army would have entered the heart of Europe earlier, and the post-war international landscape would have been different.

Key campaigns are the decisive factor in achieving strategic goals. Just as without sales strategy and execution, any excellent marketing creativity is nothing but a fantasy!

Some people simply view sales execution as developing new customers, developing blank markets, managing distributors, driving distribution, planning promotional activities, and providing after-sales service. In reality, being able to do the above tasks well can qualify someone as a competent salesperson. But for a regional manager, if they only focus on these items, they are not only incompetent but also unqualified!

The market undergoes imperceptible changes every day. The accumulation of these changes either strengthens the existing competitive balance, creating a "Matthew effect," or changes the status quo, breaking the competitive landscape, allowing the fast fish to eat the slow fish.

Regardless of your brand's competitive position in the market, you must stand at the height of the evolution trend of the competitive landscape, evaluate your own and competitors' market actions, and accurately judge the direction of future changes. Therefore, for a regional manager, not planning for the long term means not planning for the short term; not planning for the whole means not planning for a part.

Guiding sales with strategic thinking enables sales execution to leverage marketing momentum and have a clear strategic direction. Then, every sales action you take, every day, will be "adding up" until a breakthrough occurs at your predetermined time and region.

This article explores how to implement large-scale offensive campaigns in regional markets. It is applicable to both market leaders and challengers. The region referred to here includes at least one province or more. Regardless of the size of the region, or even the national market, the process and methods are universal. A large-scale offensive refers to a campaign aimed at rapidly increasing coverage, sales volume, and market share in multiple regions and key channels, and this increase can change the overall competitive landscape within the regional market, enhancing the brand's market position.

Step 1: Competitive Hostility Assessment

Competitive hostility assessment differs from general market situation assessment. Its focus is on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of major competing brands and their strategic moves in the region where the offensive is planned, to identify the attack areas and channels.

Competitive assessment mainly involves the following aspects:

Brand power: Top-of-mind awareness, brand awareness;
Advertising: Media forms, creative level, spending;
Main product quality: Product line portfolio, new product launch trends;
Price: Which tier in the category market it occupies;
Promotion: Promotion channel selection, methods, intensity, frequency;
Channel distribution: Understand distribution rates and visibility in key channel levels;
Market share: Sales volume and turnover speed, logistics cycle, market position;
Strategy level: Response methods to competitors, innovation, speed of adaptation;
Cooperation status: Number and distribution of customer groups, relationship with manufacturers, cooperation level, strength;
Salespeople: Number and distribution, quality;
Consumer evaluation: Consumer satisfaction levels.

Through the assessment of the above aspects, the strategic direction of the offensive can be clarified. As Sun Tzu said: Knowing the enemy and knowing yourself, calculating dangers and distances, is the way of the superior general!

Step 2: Develop the Sales Campaign Plan

The campaign plan here refers to clarifying the four key points of the overall sales offensive: objectives, scope, timing, and phases.

Objectives: Channel distribution growth rate, sales growth rate, sales revenue. Placing the sales revenue target last is to ensure that frontline executors, including salespeople, distributors, and their sales staff, first understand the content of the work and the direction of effort, rather than focusing on sales revenue. Because only two people need to focus on sales revenue: the campaign planner and the implementing partner (distributor). Everyone else just needs to complete their daily task targets as specified, and sales revenue can be achieved as planned.

Scope: In regional selection, pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and the main competitor. Also, choose markets where there are inter-regional relationships. You must accurately anticipate how much of a blow in the competitor's strong market or channel will trigger their follow-up response.

Timing: The time frame of the campaign must be defined in advance. Usually, the optimal time for a sales campaign is 45-60 days, with a maximum of 90 days. That is, campaign objectives must be achieved within two months. If it exceeds two months, the initial sales campaign objectives generally change, and a change in objectives means the start of another sales campaign!

Phases: When planning the campaign, "critical moments" must be set, dividing the entire period into several phases, and setting audit standards for evaluating the achievement of phase objectives. If two consecutive phase objectives are not met, the likelihood of achieving the campaign objectives will be greatly reduced.

In summary, during the planning phase, the regional manager must complete the overall concept of the sales campaign, achieving what Sun Tzu said: Knowing the place and time of battle, you can fight a thousand miles away!

Step 3: Plan the Battlefield Layout

The battlefield layout combines the space and time involved in the offensive to achieve the campaign process effects: mobilizing competitors, disrupting their advantageous layout, and creating a favorable situation for the general attack.

The design of the battlefield layout is a planning process from "points" to "momentum," related to the distribution of your own resources and is the most important condition for completing the decisive battle:

Points: Based on administrative divisions such as cities, counties, and towns, as well as segmented channels in the market;
Lines: Integrate the implementation steps of attack points into a time sequence, forming a clear attack route;
Areas: It's not that a wide attack range constitutes an "area." The area formed must consist of interconnected points, as Sun Tzu said: If you prepare for the front, the rear will be weak; if you prepare for the rear, the front will be weak; if you prepare for the left, the right will be weak; if you prepare for the right, the left will be weak; if you prepare everywhere, you will be weak everywhere! When the arrangement of points and lines forms the situation of an area, the foundation for the success of the offensive is laid.

Momentum: An offensive must have a final moment of intense breakthrough, generally between 25-35 days after the campaign begins, rapidly erupting from the most important "points," achieving rapid, geometric growth in sales. Creating this "momentum" requires not only that internal personnel, resources, and support reach a level ready to unleash, but also that partners, stakeholders, and even consumers are willing to accept it.

Sun Tzu said: The momentum of a skilled warrior is like rolling a round stone down a thousand-ren mountain—this is momentum!

Step 4: Integrate Internal Resources

War is about logistics, and sales is also about logistics!

In addition to resources (personnel, vehicles, promotions, advertising), non-resource factors affecting sales are equally important: strategy, systems, leadership, communication, processes, cross-departmental collaboration such as order processing, production, logistics, finance, administration, human resources, and most critically: morale!

Morale cannot be built through rewards or authority; it can only be an inner passion that erupts when everyone identifies with the value of their work! Morale is everyone's heartfelt dedication. Without morale, no amount of resources can be used to maximum, most economical effect; you'll spend 10 yuan to do what others can do for 5 yuan!

Integrating internal resources is about building a "runway" or "launch platform" for sales growth. Strictly speaking, it involves two aspects: support and motivation. Support factors such as production, logistics, and systems are absolutely necessary conditions; motivation factors such as strategic wisdom, communication, and leadership are sufficient conditions for victory.

Sun Tzu said: In war, follow the enemy's intentions in detail, unite your forces in one direction, and kill the general a thousand miles away—this is called skill achieving success!

Step 5: Determine Tactical Measures

The tactical measures most effective in driving sales growth are:

Price reduction: Divided into direct and indirect price reductions. Durable consumer goods typically use direct price reductions, while FMCG uses indirect price reductions: buy-one-get-one, joint promotions, purchase discounts, tiered rebates, etc.;
Consumer promotions: Such as lucky draws, prize sales, gift sales, added benefits, etc.;
Personnel: Market突击 teams, merchandisers, guides/promoters;
Advertising: Multi-media, high frequency, concentrated placement;
Hot events: Use event marketing to increase attention, topicality, and even occupy public discourse space.

In addition, when selecting tactical measures, the "three points" of the attack must be clarified:

Focal point: Before officially starting the large-scale attack, a rehearsal or test of market responsiveness is usually needed. This is the focal point, a probing action to ensure the real attack is effective;
Diffusion point: Whether between markets or channels, there is mutual correlation and interaction. It must be ensured that the focal point has a diffusion effect to surrounding markets or channels. The formation of the diffusion point means the preparation for the decisive battle is complete;
Explosion point: A regional campaign does not require parallel sales growth in all regions or channels, but explosive growth in key regions and channels, thereby changing the competitive situation in the battle zone.

Sun Tzu said: Battle tactics are nothing more than the orthodox and the unorthodox, but their variations are endless. The orthodox and unorthodox give rise to each other, like a cycle without beginning—who can exhaust it!

Step 6: Strategic Concealment and Smoke Screens

In war, what truly needs to be concealed is not the strategic objective, but the specific campaign route, methods, and timing. For regional market offensives, due to the short time interval and high speed, concealing the campaign intent, main attack areas, channels, and timing is crucial.

There are two methods to achieve strategic concealment: secrecy and smoke screens.

Secrecy: Whether internally or externally, strictly control the number of people who know relevant information. From the regional attack plan and promotion methods to inventory status, material preparation, and document control, attention must be paid to secrecy. It must be achieved that "the ultimate in troop deployment is to be formless. If formless, even deep spies cannot spy, and the wise cannot plan!"

Smoke screens: British strategist Liddell Hart, through studying war history, concluded that the "indirect approach" is more effective than direct attack. In regional offensives, "feint" tactics must be used to divert the opponent's attention, and before completing the layout of explosion points, attract competitors to conduct promotional activities in the wrong regions and channels, at least preventing them from using higher-than-normal promotion intensity and speed to intercept.

Do not make secrecy and smoke screen measures overly complex or subtle. The best secrecy is to make people unaware that there is a secret!

The intent of strategic concealment and smoke screens is nothing more than to ensure rapid strikes. From a certain perspective, there is no absolute secret; rapid victory is the key!

Sun Tzu said: The essence of war is speed, taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, attacking where they are not on guard!

Step 7: Execution Mobilization

An offensive is not run on the daily track; it is a "state of war." Whether for employees or partners, their daily routines must be changed from the start. For example, if the usual work hours are 8:00-18:00, they must now change to 7:30-19:30. If you usually visit 10 customers and close 100 yuan in sales, now you must visit more than 15 customers and close 200 yuan, and so on. Therefore, before making changes, pre-battle mobilization must be conducted.

Key points of execution mobilization:

Objectives: Clarify the phased improvement targets and explain the reasons and means for increasing sales, making everyone believe firmly;
Division of labor: Clearly define each person's role, daily tasks, and indicators;
Value: Let participants appreciate the value and benefits of special efforts;
Example: Managers must lead by example, and administrative staff must also change their work hours accordingly to create an overall atmosphere;
Rewards: Temporary awards such as highest sales award, highest outlet award, best service award, and best dedication award can be set, aligned with the phased objectives of the offensive. An offensive is a pursuit of an ideal state; incentive measures should be used to inspire employees' sense of honor. There is no need to set temporary punishment measures, but verbally announce that those who do not execute or are idle will face "extreme punishment"!

The core of pre-battle mobilization is to stimulate employees' work enthusiasm. In specific operations, the commander's authority to make on-the-spot decisions must be clarified. Beyond existing rules and regulations, "unprecedented rewards and extraordinary orders" can be granted, because for an offensive, to ensure speed and execution, the commander must be given decision-making power!

Sun Tzu said: The general who knows war is the master of the people's fate, the guardian of the nation's security!

A regional market offensive is a targeted, clearly objective, fast-moving sales blitz. It requires the launching brand to have a certain market foundation, especially when major competing brands are in a stalemate; it is most suitable for an offensive. However, if the market foundation is weak or the ability to operate the market is poor, it is not suitable.

Detailing the specifics aims to train regional managers' professional habits. At the beginning, it is necessary to learn step by step, but rigid thinking like the man from Handan learning to walk must be opposed. Therefore, remember the 1-2-3 rule of execution: Plan, Prepare, Mobilize!

Sun Tzu said: The victorious army wins first and then seeks battle; the defeated army seeks battle first and then seeks victory!

I hope more sales managers and sales directors will fight a strategic, planned sales campaign!

Reply with the following keywords to categorize and read related professional articles: Sales Supervisor, Second-Tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Slow Sales, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Improvement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Trade Promotion, Sales Misconceptions, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Closing Deals, Market Visit Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agency Products, Cross-Region Sales, KA, Terminal Visibility, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, New Salespeople, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Investment Attraction, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Inventory Pressure, Festivals, Distributor Cost Control Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Meeting, Team Management, Training, Work Report, Work Report.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671