PRINCIPLES OF WAR IN MARKETING

 Though we have never realized it most of the principles of marketing have originated from military history. The ability to advertise ones strengths and others weakness and hence garner more support has been the core of military strengths throughout the ages. For example the word entrepreneur was originally a French term used to describe a person who undertook a military mission. Marketing warfare strategies are a type of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to business situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict, and market share considered as analogous to the territory which is being fought over.

            War and marketing have many similarities. Warfare is all about the successful control of ground. Marketing is all about the successful control of in-store (or media) ground: shelf space, location, display. The basic rules of warfare were written by Sun Tzu in China about 2600 years ago.

In warfare Sun Tzu stressed the importance of controlling the high ground. From a position of height, an army can look down on their enemy, target fire, hold ground with fewer soldiers and maintain cover while the enemy must expose themselves to come forward.

Robert E. Lee was arguably the greatest field commander ever produced in the United States (well, George Patton fans might argue this point). Lee performed remarkably in the Civil War with less manpower, less armaments and horrible logistic support. And yet, General Lee, a student of Sun Tzu, forgot the crucial importance of not fighting unless an army controlled the high ground as his Confederate force was routed at Gettysburg and the trajectory of the bloody conflict was irredeemably altered.

In marketing the high ground is taken when you offer a service or product that is honest in performance, presents value, offers new, exciting features and benefits and motivates consumers to choose your item and not the competitions. There is only so much shelf space in even the largest big box retail store. Advertising vehicles are limited by time (television, radio spots), space (newspaper, magazine ads), cost and frequency. The competition is always seeking to take the high ground and advance on your market share.

Sun Tzu said, "The winning general knows what is required for victory and then attacks. The losing general attacks; then seeks victory". The same is true in marketing a business service or consumer product. A business plan, customized marketing strategy, Unique Selling Proposition and sales plan for successfully achieving distribution is essential to success. All too often, the over-confident or novice marketer attempts to penetrate a sales channel without conducting the proper due diligence and laying a groundwork that will support a campaign.

"Use the resources of others to your advantage", is another theorem that Sun Tzu espoused. This is the basis of guerrilla warfare. It is equally applicable to guerrilla marketing.

"The winning general must think like a cobra", wrote Sun Tzu. Cobras are fast, nimble, agile, ferocious and cunning. General Dwight Eisenhower is a perfect example of a military leader thinking and acting as a cobra. For the invasion of Normandy, D-Day, June 6, 1944 the Allied Commander continually feinted, used General Patton's movements as a ruse, oversold false landing spots, and used deceit to confuse the Nazi's about the date, place and strength of the landing force they would confront.

Successful marketers utilize as much secrecy, speed, agility and cunning as possible to outwit and out-hustle their competition. The cobra advantage is why new products continually penetrate large, established, often lethargic categories that are lead by sluggish, multi-national bureaucratic companies. In the beauty and cosmetic industry Bare Essentials and Philosophy has powered past many old line brands. Apple continually re-invents itself and energizes the technology sector. Jimmy Choo has become a generic label for the high-end footwear industry in the last decade. In 40 years Wal-Mart has come to dominate and run off dozens of far older retail competitors. The Korean auto maker Hyundai has quickly become a top selling brand as price, quality and performance has provided the Company a keen Unique Selling Proposition.

There are 12 principles of Sun Tzu which are used in marketing strategies:

1.      Honour the customer: If the customer doesn’t purchase your product or service, nothing else matters

2.      Organization of Intelligence: Know your market as well as you know yourself

3.      Maintenance of Objective: Have a clear intention and steady aim

4.      Secure Position: Occupy a position that cannot be easily taken by your opponents

5.      Offensive Action: Keep on the offensive to secure freedom of action

6.      Surprise: It’s the best way to gain psychological dominance and deny the initiative to your opponents

7.      Manoeuvre:  The easiest way are often the most heavily defended

8.      Concentration of Resources: Mass sufficiently superior force at the decisive place and time

9.      Economy of Force: Assess accurately where you employ your resources

10. Command Structure: Use of human resources appropriately

11. Personal Leadership: Leader’s faith in his or her people and their faith in the leader’s ability to win is essential

12. Simplicity: Even the simplest plans are difficult to execute

Contributed by:

Pallav Edwankar,

MMS 1, JBIMS.