Market Consolidation
Market consolidation is not a passive phase you undergo. It's the window where your GTM positioning decides whether you're among those consolidating or those being consolidated.
“In a consolidating market, the unhappy customers of a struggling competitor are worth more than any lead generation campaign.”
Otto GTM ObservatoryHow to move during a consolidation
When a B2B market consolidates, typically through acquisitions of smaller players by emerging leaders, a temporary window opens where customers of acquired or struggling players become dissatisfied and contestable, even before post-M&A integration completes.
A company with a GTM ready to intercept these customers (clear positioning message, facilitated migration program) can capture market share at a much lower acquisition cost than usual, precisely in the window of uncertainty generated by others' consolidation.
Anti-patterns
Common mistake: reacting to a market consolidation only after it's over, when the window of contestable customers has already closed and the new dominant players have consolidated their positions.
Second mistake: building a generic 'switch from competitor' offer without a dedicated migration program that reduces the friction perceived by the dissatisfied customer, letting inertia prevail over dissatisfaction.
Practical Application
During a mid-sized competitor's acquisition by the market leader, a third-party company launches a dedicated migration program in 6 weeks for the acquired competitor's customers, with free data transition support. In 4 months it acquires 47 customers from that base, with a CAC equal to a third of its standard acquisition channels' average.