During a recent clean up of business books I’ve accumulated over the years I stumbled across my old and somewhat weathered copy of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”.
Being easily distracted, I started thumbing through the pages and reading Sun Tzu’s vignettes on the strategy of war. As when I first read “The Art of War”, I was fascinated by the corollary between warfare strategy and that of business or marketing strategy.
With around 100 or so business books in my library I reflected on how many books come out each year with new ways of describing how best to devise the strategy for success for your business. Be they books, whitepapers, consulting firm pitches or the odd article in either trade or business magazines – there is a certainly lot.
Now I accept that many of these provide new and innovative solutions, particularly in relation to the integration of new “go-to-market” channels. However, I think that the basic principles of strategic planning, particularly for marketers, have not changed for hundreds if not thousands of years.
There have been numerous business books on business and marketing strategy drawn from the strategy of warfare, with many referencing “The Art of War”. Some suggest that this IS the bible of strategy.
“The Art of War” was reportedly written in the sixth century BC by the ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu. The language and style is certainly not what you would expect in modern day teachings, but the philosophy remains sound. And, let’s be honest, any book that is still referenced a couple of thousand years after being penned must offer some value.
Whilst there are a number of terrific sage quotes and analogies about strategy you can draw on in designing your own marketing strategy, there are a couple of statements that I think are critically important to a winning marketing strategy.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know, yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”
If we interpret this in marketing parlance it simply suggests that as a marketer you need to clearly understand your business, your products and services and your value proposition. Additionally, you must know the same of your competitors in the market.
But even with this knowledge, it is not sufficient to guarantee success and for each success you achieve you will lose equally to a competitor. Sun Tzu then states:
“If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
This point itself is quite insightful and one that I feel many businesses fail to devote sufficient attention. Competitive analysis is key to understanding the positioning of your business or products and services, as is the in depth understanding of your business.
Think of your recent strategic planning sessions and the major debates around the development of new products and services in the business. How much time is spent on internal matters? Competing with other divisions for investment? Politicking around the internal structure or hierarchy? Focusing on setting internal KPIs that have little or no relevance to the market? Dominated by individual’s self promoting either themselves of their division? Sound familiar?
Many businesses are so caught up in what they do and how they do it, that they fail to understand their purpose, their competitive position and importantly the strategic intent of their competitors – not to mention the needs of their customers.
Too many times I have seen a myopic internal focus on administrative processes and financial metrics derail the true reason for a business’ existence. Hours, days and weeks are often spent developing then reworking financial plans and metrics, which do little to position the business for success.
Nor does such navel gazing provide adequate insight into the business. Sure financial reporting is important, as is adherence to administrative processes, but not to the detriment to meeting the needs of the customers and positioning the business for success in the market.
I feel that many businesses are good at explaining what they do, but not why. For example, “We manufacture widgets.”
Their internal reporting processes do not explain the business nor provide any direction on how to market the business. Put simply, you can’t manage or market a business from a P&L.
Extending the statements from before, Sun Tzu states:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and Earth, you may make your victory complete.”
Li Ch’ian, a well known writer on military tactics in the eighth century, summarised this best when he said, “Given a knowledge of three things – the affairs of men, the seasons of Heaven and the natural advantages of Earth, victory will invariably crown your battles.”
Once again if we interpret this as a marketer and then rephrase it appropriately, it might be something such as:
If a marketer knows intimately the business of both the competition and their own business, combined with a detailed understanding of the environmental market conditions and the current and emerging needs of its customers and applies this to designing their strategy; business success is assured.
So next time you sit down to workshop the marketing strategy for your business, think of yourself as an ancient Chinese warlord and ask yourself these questions:
If you haven’t yet read one of the many books available on Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” with interpretations and commentary from specialists, I suggest you do. It’s a short read and you never know what you might get from it!
Being easily distracted, I started thumbing through the pages and reading Sun Tzu’s vignettes on the strategy of war. As when I first read “The Art of War”, I was fascinated by the corollary between warfare strategy and that of business or marketing strategy.
With around 100 or so business books in my library I reflected on how many books come out each year with new ways of describing how best to devise the strategy for success for your business. Be they books, whitepapers, consulting firm pitches or the odd article in either trade or business magazines – there is a certainly lot.
Now I accept that many of these provide new and innovative solutions, particularly in relation to the integration of new “go-to-market” channels. However, I think that the basic principles of strategic planning, particularly for marketers, have not changed for hundreds if not thousands of years.
There have been numerous business books on business and marketing strategy drawn from the strategy of warfare, with many referencing “The Art of War”. Some suggest that this IS the bible of strategy.
“The Art of War” was reportedly written in the sixth century BC by the ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu. The language and style is certainly not what you would expect in modern day teachings, but the philosophy remains sound. And, let’s be honest, any book that is still referenced a couple of thousand years after being penned must offer some value.
Whilst there are a number of terrific sage quotes and analogies about strategy you can draw on in designing your own marketing strategy, there are a couple of statements that I think are critically important to a winning marketing strategy.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know, yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”
If we interpret this in marketing parlance it simply suggests that as a marketer you need to clearly understand your business, your products and services and your value proposition. Additionally, you must know the same of your competitors in the market.
But even with this knowledge, it is not sufficient to guarantee success and for each success you achieve you will lose equally to a competitor. Sun Tzu then states:
“If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
This point itself is quite insightful and one that I feel many businesses fail to devote sufficient attention. Competitive analysis is key to understanding the positioning of your business or products and services, as is the in depth understanding of your business.
Think of your recent strategic planning sessions and the major debates around the development of new products and services in the business. How much time is spent on internal matters? Competing with other divisions for investment? Politicking around the internal structure or hierarchy? Focusing on setting internal KPIs that have little or no relevance to the market? Dominated by individual’s self promoting either themselves of their division? Sound familiar?
Many businesses are so caught up in what they do and how they do it, that they fail to understand their purpose, their competitive position and importantly the strategic intent of their competitors – not to mention the needs of their customers.
Too many times I have seen a myopic internal focus on administrative processes and financial metrics derail the true reason for a business’ existence. Hours, days and weeks are often spent developing then reworking financial plans and metrics, which do little to position the business for success.
Nor does such navel gazing provide adequate insight into the business. Sure financial reporting is important, as is adherence to administrative processes, but not to the detriment to meeting the needs of the customers and positioning the business for success in the market.
I feel that many businesses are good at explaining what they do, but not why. For example, “We manufacture widgets.”
Their internal reporting processes do not explain the business nor provide any direction on how to market the business. Put simply, you can’t manage or market a business from a P&L.
Extending the statements from before, Sun Tzu states:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and Earth, you may make your victory complete.”
Li Ch’ian, a well known writer on military tactics in the eighth century, summarised this best when he said, “Given a knowledge of three things – the affairs of men, the seasons of Heaven and the natural advantages of Earth, victory will invariably crown your battles.”
Once again if we interpret this as a marketer and then rephrase it appropriately, it might be something such as:
If a marketer knows intimately the business of both the competition and their own business, combined with a detailed understanding of the environmental market conditions and the current and emerging needs of its customers and applies this to designing their strategy; business success is assured.
So next time you sit down to workshop the marketing strategy for your business, think of yourself as an ancient Chinese warlord and ask yourself these questions:
- What is the purpose of our business?
- How do we add value to our customers?
- What is the strategic intent of our competitors and how will this impact us?
- In which market(s) do we participate and what are the conditions?
- What is our ultimate goal?
If you haven’t yet read one of the many books available on Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” with interpretations and commentary from specialists, I suggest you do. It’s a short read and you never know what you might get from it!
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