There is an ever increasing acceptance that Strategic Marketing is at the heart of Business Strategy. For too long, Marketing has been thought of as only being about communications or promotion – a reflection perhaps of the fact that so few practitioners have been trained and accredited by The Chartered Institute of Marketing!

2500 years ago, Sun Tzu said “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Was he the first great Marketer?

In business our strategy needs to be both clear and robust. So many business we work with have not set specific objectives, expressed in financial terms, that they are working towards and measuring against. Often the daily direction of the business can be defined by the first phone call received or email opened – not the measured implementation of key stages in a business growth strategy.

Until we have set these objectives and determined the combinations of products and services for our target markets, we are unlikely to be working as efficiently (lowest cost base possible) or as effectively (highest profits possible) as we can.

Until these basics are established and accepted by the business, there is an argument that says any form of tactical, promotional, marketing communications has a better than average chance of failing!