"Success isn't about having the right people, the right attitude, the right tools, the right role models, or the right organization. They all help, but they don't put you over the top. It's all about having the right strategy." - Jack Trout
A lot has been written about marketing and strategy and if I were to count, I would guess that there are about more than a hundred thousand books written on the subject. Now I would like to make it clear that I am neither a best-selling author nor a multi-awarded professor on the topic. I am merely a small-time practitioner and a curious observer of how the marketing world has been evolving since I entered it. With that, here's my two-cent worth on marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy should be well-researched.
I have seen a lot of marketing plans focused on the "how" without first defining "what" has to be achieved and "why" in the first place it should be done? Analysis of the situation is important. It is important in war, in games, in life and in a marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy should be simple.
Your marketing strategy should not be interpreted in any other way. It should not be confusing. More often than not more strategies mean less focus and a lesser chance of implementation. Keep it simple and your strategy will become a reality.
A marketing strategy should be integrated.
I know for a fact that a marketing strategy necessitates a lot of tactics, the "nitty-gritty" of things to do. Your strategy should integrate everything, from advertising to personal selling and from pricing to packaging. It has to be integrated. It has to be consistent.
A marketing strategy should be thoroughly communicated.
Okay, so you did your research and asked yourself and other people a lot of tough questions. You spent many nights (barely sleeping) working on your plan, consulting customers for new ideas and finally, there it is --- your marketing strategy! Will you implement it? Of course you will oversee it but there are many other people who need to be involved and more importantly needs to be "aligned" with it. Do not be complacent. Do not assume that just because your marketing strategy is simple it will be understood (you will be surprised). You have to make sure that it is communicated thoroughly upwards, downwards and sidewards throughout the organization. There has to be follow-through and follow-up. It has to be thoroughly communicated.
A marketing strategy should be measurable.
"If you're not keeping score, you're just practicing", according to Jan Leschly, former CEO of SmithKline Beecham and ATP tour player in his younger years. Strategy needs feedback to evolve. You have to evolve to be relevant and you need to relevant to be heard. Whether its sales, market share or awareness, it doesn't really matter. Your marketing strategy should be measured and thus, it should be measurable.
from The CBA Journal Official Publication of the College of Business Administration The Lyceum of Batangas Enrique Antonio B. Reyes, RPh, MBA
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