Change Their Position

Go out with a group of male friends, and you'll easily spot the Alpha within first 30 minutes. You can't help but notice the extroverted macho who displays a bit of aggression. He is confident, charming, and also desires to be the leader with little tolerance for those who show similar traits.

And then there's a Beta Male in the group: The 'nice guy' who is introverted and a lot less aggressive. He is also emotional, light hearted, and very much grounded.

Everything about Beta Males sounds good except one harsh truth: They are preferred more as friends than lovers.

This begs a question - what can the Beta Male do?

You see, if Alpha is already established in a group, the Beta cannot do much to convince the Alpha that he shouldn't be the Alpha. What Beta can do instead, is convince the group that Alpha has flaws that make him undeserving of the position that he holds.

In short, Beta can reposition the Alpha in others' minds, not by direct confrontation or a head-on battle, but through subtle messages and signals that point out latter's flaws and glorify the former's strengths.

The same is true for brands. There will be an Alpha brand in every category. Beta is generally the new entrant, and people are initially unaware of its strengths.

The best thing a Beta can do is reposition its competition.

Microsoft was much larger than Apple during the latter's turnaround years. This made Microsoft the Alpha, while Apple was the Beta. So Apple tried to reposition Windows as a tool for boring suit-wearing people, while the Mac was positioned as a machine for the 'cool' crowd who could challenge the status quo.

This was evident in their PC vs Mac advertisements.

Apple succeeded in repositioning not only its own brand, but also that of the competition.

Even Durex came up with an ad some years back where it wished 'Happy Father's Day' to those who used its competitors' products. It again repositioned the competition by insinuating a cautionary message in the minds of consumers.

If you know their weakness and know your strengths, play the game of repositioning. Glorify your strengths, and blow their flaws out of proportion.

In a witty and subtle way.