Gregory Serandos

YOUR strategy is an important place to start because it will drive every facet of your business, including operations, finance, sales, human resources and, of course, marketing.

All of your business functions must be aligned to your strategy or you will feel the pain later.

There are even more definitions of strategy than there are people who refer to themselves as "strategy gurus". Most of the earliest definitions of strategy related it directly to military activity, but we are not "at war" in our businesses … or are we? So what is a strategy?

• The science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war;

• The science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions;

• A careful plan or method;

• The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal;

• An adaptation or complex of adaptations (as of behaviour, metabolism or structure) that serves or appears to serve an important function in achieving evolutionary success.

Michael Porter, the great competitive strategy thinker from Harvard, defines strategy as "a broad formula for how a business is going to compete", and that is a great place to start.

How is your business going to compete? Do you offer something unique? Is your customer service better than your competitors? Will you compete primarily on price?

Perhaps even more important in the accelerated and fragmented modern marketplace is Porter's definition of competitive strategy: "Competitive strategy is about how to be different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value."

What that means is that if you aren't better than your competition — much better — then you had better be very different. From a marketer's point of view, competitive strategy is much more important than its older brother, strategy.

Peter Drucker, the late, great strategy and management thinker, famously wrote: "There is only one valid definition of business purpose, and that is to create a customer. Everything else is a cost centre".

Then there's the opinion of a much lesser strategist than the great men quoted above. I believe your strategy is what you do and why you want to do it. Management, on the other hand, is how you do it, how you accomplish your objectives.

Start by describing what you do. "We make ABC products," or, "We deliver XYZ services." Then ask yourself why that is important. Keep asking the question until you have four or five answers and then start distilling those into one fundamental reason. That reason should form the basis of your strategy.

Don't worry if you struggle with this at first, even if you're armed with good advice and an intuitive knowledge of business.

Many experienced managers still have difficulty articulating their strategy. Even the best of great companies spend millions of dollars on consultants to help articulate their strategies, visions and missions.

If you do struggle, try defining what you are in terms of what you are not: Which markets will you not be selling in? Who is not your customer? This way of thinking will help you to determine your focus and strengths as a business.

Your marketing strategy sits on top of your business strategy and includes everything that helps you deliver value to a customer, such as differentiation; understanding your value proposition and competitive advantage; understanding your customers and their buying behaviour; your distribution strategy; your pricing strategy; and how you promote your business and brand.

It should be noted that a great product and marketing strategy are the prerequisites to building a successful company. You must also know how to sell and how to implement proper financial controls and management to ensure your revenue translates into sustainable profits and shareholder value.

Serandos is MD of Pure Communications, a Johannesburg based public relations and digital marketing agency.