You’ve probably heard the saying before. If you can’t beat them, join them. If the rumors were to be believed, it seemed that was the approach that Verizon was trying to take after losing market share to AT&T since the latter has iPhone exclusivity in the United States. However, the strategy has taken an interesting twist in the last year or so.

Instead of adhering to the old saying above, it seems that Verizon may have taken a different one: if you can’t beat them, beat them. Verizon has yet to officially offer an Apple iPhone, but it has definitely carved out a nice little market for itself with the DROID line of smartphones.

Rather than staying down in the dumps and trying to iron out a deal to “join them” by selling an iPhone too, Verizon went ahead and tried to “beat them” by marketing a different line of devices. Yes, AT&T has Android phones too, but Verizon has really pushed the marketing effort in this area and it has paid off in spades. From the Motorola Droid X to the HTC Droid Incredible, these are some impressive devices.

When you find yourself in competition with another business, it might not be the best idea to simply “join them” and sell the same products or offer the same services. In the long run, especially from the perspective of brand differentiation, it is probably better to just “beat them” instead. The challenge is finding the right way to do that.