The first six strategies are called Advantageous Strategies. They are used when time and resources are to one's advantage. There is no need to rush and detailed planning can be done.
1) Deceiving the Heaven to cross the sea ( Man Tian Guo Hai ); 瞒天过海
It means to create a false impression to distract the target. It works because people are more careful when in unfamiliar surroundings but tend to be careless in familiar situations.
Example:-
1) Free trial period with money back guarantee
2) Free or low cost lessons on usage of product / service
3) Allowing products to be bought piecemeal eg. Ikea
4) Selling a basic unit with options for upgrading or add-ons
5) Selling Game Consoles (Nintendo - GameBoy, Wii ; Microsoft - XBOX360 ; Sony - PlayStation, PSP) at an affordable price (Microsoft makes a loss for every console they sells) and making the profits from the Games (Very High Profit Margins), where the consumer will likely continue to buy once they are hooked to gaming ( from tankie )
6) HP Printers. The printers are cheap but the ink refills are expensive.
7) Razors - they can give u the set for free but u got to buy their razors for refill ( from HengHeng )
Historical Background of Strategy # 1 ( Deceiving the heaven to cross the sea ):-
"Heaven" here means emperor. So this strategy meant deceiving the emperor to cross the sea. Supposedly, during the Tang dynasty, an emperor wanted to lead his troops to battle. However, he had to cross the sea first and he did not like the vast water.
However, one of his Generals, tricked the emperor into having a feast in a big tent. The feasts went on for a few days inside the tent. However, the tent was actually a ship. When the king found out about the trick, he was almost on the other side.
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I would recommend anyone to read the book:- The 36 Strategies of the Chinese by Wee Chow Hou & Lan Luh Luh. My copy was bought in 1998.