Preparing for Competitive Market Entry through Strategic Wargaming

Background

A leading medical aesthetics company sought to prepare for a significant competitive disruption: the anticipated entry of a rival global manufacturer into the U.S. market. The client understood that this competitor’s entry would be accompanied by assertive marketing, differentiated product claims, and a well-funded commercial strategy, threatening to erode its market share and customer loyalty.

To defend its position and refine its commercial response, the client needed to:

• Gather current, validated intelligence on the competitor’s business model, product positioning, and likely messaging.
• Anticipate strategic moves and tactical approaches the competitor might deploy upon market entry.
• Align internal teams around a unified competitive strategy and clear response tactics.

Solution

Sedulo Group designed and executed a competitive strategy workshop program tailored to the client’s needs. The program combined rigorous research, strategic planning, and immersive simulation to develop a unified and proactive response strategy.

Key Components of the Solution:

• Pre-Workshop Intelligence Gathering
  Sedulo conducted targeted primary and secondary research on the competitor to fill intelligence gaps and validate key assumptions. This included insights into the competitor’s market strategy, promotional messaging, pricing, and regulatory activities.
• Briefing Deck Development
  A strategic briefing deck was created to serve as a baseline for the simulation. It included:
  • Market landscape analysis
  • Competitor profiles and side-by-side comparisons
  • Summary of threats, claims, and differentiators
  • Visualized data for digestibility by cross-functional teams
• Workshop Design & Facilitation
  Using Sedulo’s proprietary “Think, Act, Beat” workshop methodology, a two-day competitive simulation workshop was conducted:
  • Day 1: Teams role-played the competitor, developing likely tactics, messaging, and responses to market scenarios.
  • Day 2: Teams returned to their internal roles to develop counterstrategies, value messaging, and resource deployment plans.
• Interactive Exercises Included:
  • SWOT development for each competitor
  • Trigger-based scenario planning
  • Messaging strategy under simulated market pressure
  • Threat Matrix mapping competitor actions by impact and likelihood
• Final Strategic Playbook
  Sedulo synthesized outputs into a Playbook Report containing:
  • Summary of competitor threats and positioning
  • Recommended counter-messaging and tactical playbooks
  • Strategic recommendations for marketing, sales, and product development alignment

Outcomes

The wargame engagement empowered the client to:

• Unify Cross-Functional Teams
  Align commercial, marketing, and executive stakeholders on a shared understanding of the competitor’s potential impact and the company’s core value differentiators.
• Develop Tactical Readiness
  Create detailed and actionable response strategies, including competitor rebuttals, differentiated messaging, and commercial tactics deployable across channels.
• Enhance Strategic Confidence
  Pressure-test internal assumptions and prepare for multiple competitor scenarios with rehearsed, validated response frameworks.
• Strengthen Competitive Positioning
  Enter the competitive showdown with not just data, but a battle-tested plan to protect market share and reinforce brand loyalty.