Camping strategy is the practice of a using a geographical location as a competitive advantage. It has several common applications:
Game Strategy
The term camping strategy originates with video games that have locations of advantage such as the top of hills or a hidden spot. Some players will stick to these spots for a long period of time as an advantage. This is somewhat boring for the other players and is considered poor etiquette according to video game culture.
Marketing
It is common for brands to make heavy use of location advantages for branding and promotion. For example, a cookie company with a flagship store in Ginza, a luxury shopping area of Tokyo, may print “Ginza” after its brand name. The location imparts brand prestige that can’t be duplicated by cookie companies located in less glamorous locations.
Sales
It is common for sales offices to be located in close proximity to major customers, making it easy for customers to visit. In many cases, sales people who go to the same restaurants at lunch and socialize at the same bars in the evening are more successful securing clients that a competitor stuck out in the suburbs. For example, if you sell a trading platform it may be a significant advantage to be located close to Wall Street.
Technology
For applications such as high speed trading it can be an advantage to have your computing and communications infrastructure located close to critical infrastructure such as a stock market.
