CRAFTING THE STRATEGY
Marketing strategies are not arcane wisdom--some kind of secret knowledge that only the initiated are privy to. Marketing strategies--like chess openings--are well known and are written about in books and articles on a continual basis.

But there's a whole other dimension--an often hidden dimension--to crafting a successful strategy that we often ignore--and that can spell the difference between a successful strategy and a dead one: I'm talking about all the contributing elements that often escape our attention, and that determine whether a strategy will actually succeed.

I avoid the overused military metaphor (we've had more than enough of things like "Sun Tsu and the Art of Beer Can Stacking"). But it makes my point so clearly, that I must make an exception this time.

It's easy to devise a military strategy on paper. Flanking movement covered by air support and then followed by a frontal assault when the enemy's forces are divided and turned to address the attack from the left. This is 2nd Class West Point Military Science.

Of course, if it were really that simple, even I could do it.

But it isn't.

Many other things besides ordnance stores and troop strength go into it. The weather, the battlefield conditions, the experience of troops on both sides, the specific opposing commander, support from the supreme HQ, company morale, contention for battle forces between commanders . . . and more.

And when you devise your marketing strategy, you have to take into account very similar things. Things that are outside of what the textbooks and consultants/writers/conference speakers like me tell you.

To name just four . . . .

1. Is your organization prepared to accept a strategic marketing plan to begin with? Or do you find yourself encountering approval authorities (as I watched happen not long ago) who constantly check their watches while you explain the strategy, only to end the discussion by asking when the brochure will be done and did you make sure it didn't have so much yellow in it this time.

If so, then you have a fair amount of educating to do above you before you're going to get that strategy in place. Educating that must happen well ahead of time.

2. Are internal politics going to destroy your efforts? The cost of developing a strategy takes money--money other organizations want as much as you do. And when those organizations have more clout (not an uncommon situation for marketing organizations where product R&D or Finance so often rule the informal roost), they're likely to lobby behind your back to divert funds you've requested their way. ("I'm sorry," you boss will tell you, " but we're not going to be able to send you on that customer tour--R&D needs additional quality control staff . . . maybe next year.").

You have to lobby--and lobby smart--for your funds before others lobby against them. And sometimes you have to lobby those organizations directly--nothing like two-way back scratching to achieve a goal.

3. You have to ask the tough question: "How good is my staff . . . how good are my vendors . . . how good am I?" The least competent element drags the team down with it. (Who hasn't spent more time than you can count explaining that your strategy is to present logistics as your core customer benefit--faster more accurate product delivery--only to be presented with layouts that are loaded with diagrams and screen shots and product beauty shots and big headlines that scream "Features" and "Ease of Use" and "Lowest TCO"?)

Competence can be taught. Strategic thinking can be explained. Controls can be put into place to ensure that strategy is being followed. What's your ongoing training to help your staff and vendors understand how to execute your strategies?

4. How will the competition respond to your strategy? First hand intelligence gathering is a critical and ongoing requirement. Every time you encounter a counterpart from a competitor, you have an opportunity to develop this knowledge. It's an interesting, and complex, little dance that you two will do together. Giving as little information as you can and gathering as much as possible--which if you're smarter than your colleague can be quite a bit

When you run into them at conferences, or trade shows, or wherever--spend time with them. Take them to dinner. Sit next to them during breakout sessions. Listen to the questions they ask. Talk shop. Probe. Analyze. Interpret.

These elements, and many others, must become part of your strategic thinking. Understanding where and how and when things can leap up--things having nothing to do with the marketplace itself--and destroy your best strategic thinking. And having a set of strategies and tactics in place to handle them. Only when you have thoroughly understood not just strategic principles but the entire landscape within which those principles must exist, can you expect to be successful.

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