“Don’t think I’m stupid, but I’m writing that down,” said my client….
Stupid? I should think not, dear client! I wish this light bulb would go on more often. This is particularly true for early-stage firms where every day is a cacophony of tactics. The objectives and strategies are usually implied, yet rarely formalized, presented and digested by the team.
In the worst-case scenario, I have seen tactics become a mantra, as if they themselves were the strategy, or …. gasp! …. the objective. And of course, there is the danger of being so caught up in tactics that the original objective is completely forgotten.
While I am not quite sure why marketing planning is so very complicated for many, I do know that is an age-old problem. SunTzu said it best around 500 B.C., and many a marketing strategist agree:
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Sara,
I could not agree more. In my experience much of the problem lies in the fact that most don’t seem to know the differences between goal, objective, strategy and tactic. As for me, 8 years in the military ensured that I not only learned the differences, I lived them.
Lewis
sara, i do not know if sun tzu is a text book at university, but it should. not only because it teaches about major principles such as strategy, tacticts, etc. but because it teaches a rare good in the market today: not to be selfish.
Actually you’re correct, many don’t know the difference…and in an age where everything “strategic” is hip & cool, the word strategy is bounced around too much. Everything is a darn strategic initiative
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Another 3 areas where there’s confusion: segmentation, targeting and positioning. Too many want to position from inside the boardroom bubble rather than outside in the market.
Guess these lessons serve to keep the fundamentals “fresh”.
Wow! Well put. My worst nightmare is the client that lists the tactics first – let’s do billboards and direct mail and cable TV. I want to scream back (and sometimes do!) – “and who cares about the message?” Media must match the message – and you can’t know the message until you develop the project objectives, then the strategy that will point you to your tactics.
All very good points. Perhaps these are the golden rules for all new CEOs:
-A few years in the military
-Sun Tzu becomes required reading
-Use of any variation on the word “strategy” only allowed after the required reading
-Tactics are delegated
Of course, if all clients adhered to the above, perhaps we would be out of jobs