“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win” – Sun Tzu
While it may seem slightly antagonistic to start an article about business objectives and marketing strategy with a quote from The Art of War, there is a reason sporting and business leaders often quote the philosophies of Sun Tzu.
Without a clear sense of what a business is looking to achieve (i.e. how as a victorious warrior your business will win…) then going to war (implementing a ‘paint by numbers marketing strategy’) will only end in defeat, which is where understanding where the business is looking to go comes in.
Our job as a marketing agency is to take the overarching business goals (increase profit by X%, grow market share by Y%) and formulate a plan to deliver these with the business. Which is where Sun’s wise words come in.
Before we put pen to paper (or mouse to Mac) it is critical for us to get under the skin of our clients businesses, spend time with them on location, speak to their staff, customers and competitors. All of this effort is focussed on getting to the essence of the business and the competitive landscape and only then can we start to paint a metaphorical picture of what success will look like.
This process, that we call Insight, is the piece that joins together the business objectives to a deliverable marketing strategy. By covering all bases from brand, creative, messaging through to channels such as web, email, PR & advertising, or even looking at business services such as Cloud back up or sales alignment technology, we are able to take our clients into battle knowing that no stone is left unturned and that we are fully prepared for anything the market can throw at us.
We can then deliver a marketing strategy that is fully aligned with the business objectives of our clients because we have lived and breathed the business, and become fully invested in its success.
This means when we go to war, and execute the strategy & tactical activity, we can be sure we’ll be the victorious warriors at the end.
