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Marketing As An Art Of War

1
Spandan
Marketing as an Art of War
Malini Pande
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The true nature of marketing today is beyond serving the customer; it is outwitting, outflanking, and
outfighting your competitors. In short marketing is a war where the enemy is the competition and the
customer is ground to be won. Marketing battles are not fought in physical places but in the minds of the
prospective consumer. The mind is the tricky terrain both difficult to understand and difficult to win over. A
marketing war is a totally intellectual war with a battleground that no one has ever seen. It can only be
imagined in the mind and that is why marketing warfare is one of the most difficult disciplines to learn.
Even though the language of marketing has been borrowed from the military, we talk and act like
generals, but do not plan like generals. This paper attempts to deal with the application of the principles of
military strategy to our marketing operations and thus increase the chances of success in this era of fierce
competition.
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INTRODUCTION
"The Economic Times" or "The Hindu Business
Line" carries more blood thirsty language than is
found in any of the general newspapers. "We'll
murder them", "Its kill or be killed", "This is a life
or death struggle", these quotes form a part of
the conversation of business leaders discussing
their marketing campaigns. The language of
business is becoming littered with similes of
war and military analogies.
Articles dealing with competitive strategy are on
the rise and business people frequently use
military talk to describe their situations. There
are " price wars" ,"border clashes" and
"skirmishes" along the major computer
manufacturers; "an escalating arms race" among
cigarette manufacturers, "market invasion" and
"guerilla warfare" in the coffee market. A
company's advertising...