The Art Of War

Strategy in business, primarily marketing is derived from the military lexicon. Hence there is no better book that teaches strategy than The Art of War by Sun Tzu written 2500 years back. Yet today its contents still hold true in military. Since marketing is a war of the mind, the strategies hold true in marketing as well. Thus this book should be made mandatory reading for all marketing people. Following are the tactics that can be learnt from The Art of War and applied in marketing strategies:

1. Strategy and Planning: Strategy is derived from the objectives of a company. Planning is required to implement the strategy. All three of these need to be done effectively. A gap in any of the three will be problematic. A study of the external environment is required and this must include political, social, economical, technological and legal frameworks and institutions. Know yourself, know your competitor and know your customer, and you have won the battle of the market.

2. Surprise: This is the most important element of the attack. Blitzkrieg (German) meaning ‘attack with lightening speed.’ Catch the competitor napping. This will result in them taking knee-jerk reactions. It will compound their problems which are to your advantage. For example, sudden price changes (could be increase or decrease in price), a technological breakthrough or radical cost cutting through a BPR effort.

3. Innovation: The best form of surprise is innovation. Product innovation doesn’t give the competition time to react. It also gives you a first-mover advantage too.

4. Sustainability: Attack prepared for a sustained assault. The competitor is expected to fight back. Thus be prepared for a long drawn battle. Test the patience of the competition. Eventually they will give up protecting their other strong areas or even stop the fight to save money for R&D.

5. Flexibility: Keep a tab on your sales numbers, competitors’ sales numbers, and consumer behaviour. Accordingly change your tactics.

6. Confusion: Keep the competitor guessing on the parameter you are competing. Is it the product, or price or the distribution channel?

7. Competitor behaviour: Predicting the type of reactions the competitor will have to your moves, as it happens in chess. This will keep you one step ahead of competition.

8. Retreat: When you go for an all-out assault, make sure that you back is safe. The enemy should not have a chance to encircle you from behind. This is also necessary in the eventuality that the competitor has gauged you properly and your assault is going to be thwarted. So rather than continuing, it’s better to back-off and live to fight another day. Take the product back from the market or reverse the decision with regards to price.