It's Friday, the sun is actually out in Seattle, and I thought I would do a post that combines marketing strategy and a NASCAR reference.  What the heck am I talking about?  Drafting.

For those of you that don't know, drafting is used in auto racing to make two cars go faster than one with the second car expending less energy by getting as close as possible to the car in front.  Here's a nice tutorial video on it:

How does this apply to a go to market strategy?  Identify the lead company in your space or the one that is gaining fast on the leaders and draft off of them.  You both will go faster but you expend less energy (ie, money) and can position yourself for the lead with a "slingshot pass" defined by our friends at Wikipedia as:

"The 'slingshot pass' is the most dramatic and widely noted maneuver
associated with drafting. A trailing car (perhaps pushed by a line of
drafting cars) uses the lead car's wake to pull up with maximum
momentum at the end of a straightaway, enters a turn high, and turns
down across the lead car's wake. The combination of running downhill
and running across the zone of lowest aerodynamic drag allows the
trailing car to carry extra speed and pass on the inside of leader."

No, just because I am from the South I am not a racing fan.  I did, however, attend a race many years ago and suggest everybody put it on their list as it is a uniquely American experience. 

This just seemed to fit with my thinking today.