Strategy Vs Tactics (Only
Strategy Vs Tactics (Only
Strategy Vs Tactics (Only
Swati Vispute
Introduction
Vicks came with a new liquid cold remedy which cleared up scratchy throats and running eyes, unfortunately it also put you to sleep. This was a problem if you wanted to drive or go to work. They came up with a brilliant idea. If the product puts you to sleep, lets position it as a nighttime cold remedy. The first nighttime remedy is an advertising tactic that will work on the proven principle that of being first.
What is a Tactic
Tactic is an idea .
The VW Beetle was not the first small car on the market. But it was the first car to occupy the small position in the mind. It made a virtue out of its size, while the others apologised for their small size.
Think Small said the VW ads.
Tactic - cont
A Tactic must have a competitive mental angle.
The battle takes place in the mind of the prospect.
There were plenty of pizza places with home delivery operations when Tom Monaghan launched Dominos. But nobody owned the home delivery position in the mind.
A competitive mental angle is the point in the mind that allows your marketing program to work effectively. Thats point to leverage to achieve results. A Tactic alone is not enough. To complete the process, tactic must be turned into a strategy. Need both to establish a position in the mind.
Strategy
marketing direction
Strategy - cont
A
Strategy is coherent in the sense that it is focused on the tactic that has been selected.
VW
had a big tactical success with the small car, but it failed to elevate this idea to a coherent strategy. It forgot about small and instead elected to bring into the U.S. market a family of big, fast, and expensive VWs. But these tactics had already been preempted by other car manufacturers. This opened the way for the Japanese to take over the small car idea.
Strategy - cont
Strategy - cont
A strategy is a coherent marketing direction . Once the strategy has been established, the direction should not be changed.
The purpose of strategy is to mobilize your resources to preempt the tactic. By committing all your resources to one strategic direction you maximize the exploitation of the tactic .
Tactic vs Strategy
1. A tactic is a singular idea or angle.
A strategy has many elements, all of which are focused on the tactic
Strategy vs Tactic-cont
6. A tactic can be a rather small advantage.
The tactic exploited by Tom Monaghan at Dominos was to focus on the home delivery of pizza only. In itself, not a tremendously exciting idea. But it was unique as no one else was doing it. Dominos tactic was just one tactic, not a collection of tactics. The idea was built around home- delivery -only. Not home delivery plus take away plus dine in plus burgers plus hot dogs etc. By building a nation wide homedelivery-only chain they could guarantee pizza in 30 mts. Concept.
Then what is the purpose ? The purpose of strategy is to keep the competition from adversely affecting your tactics. (to preserve your tactics)
Purpose of Strategy-cont
The tactic dictates the strategy, then the strategy drives the tactic. The relationship between the two is crucial to the success of marketing.