The Role Of Sun Tzu'S Art Of War In Guiding Modern Marketing

Sun Tzu said, "We must not neglect the important affairs of the state of war, the place of life and death, and the way of survival and death.". And modern marketing, as the forefront of the business war, is fighting hand to hand on the battlefield without blood. This is for enterprise It is also a big event, and we must pay attention to it. Sun Tzu's Art of War, as a holy book of military science, reveals the general laws of war, which can guide modern times Marketing It also plays an important role.

1、 "Five things and seven plans". Sun Tzu said: Five things should be dealt with according to the classics, and the school should seek for their feelings according to their plans. It not only sums up the "five things and seven plans" that determine the outcome of the war, but also points out the importance of "temple calculation". In ancient times, it was called temple calculation to analyze and think about the factors of victory and defeat in war. "More is more than enough, less is more than enough, and less is less than nothing?" He believes that strategic planning has important forward-looking significance for the overall situation of war. For modern enterprises, before launching a round of marketing stations, they should also plan, analyze and compare their "five things and seven plans" to analyze marketing Environmental Science , analyze competitors, products or services, consumers, public opinion, sales teams, etc., and plan and arrange marketing activities accordingly.

2、 "It is more important to win than to spend a long time." Sun Tzu believed that the most valuable thing in military use is speed, not durability. "Those who are good at fighting are dangerous and their joints are short.". For enterprises, arranging and planning a round of marketing activities also requires a lot of money every day. If they delay and hesitate, they will not only have insufficient marketing intensity, but also can not complete the focus and impact under the condition of limited resources. They may also waste human and material resources and fail to achieve the expected goals due to exposure of strategic intentions or loss of opportunities.

3、 "Subdue the enemy without fighting". Sun Tzu believes that the best result is not to fight all battles and win all battles, but to win all battles without bloodshed. For modern enterprise marketing, instead of falling into a brutal price war and losing both sides, why not improve the value of its products or services, open up the quality level of itself and the price reducer, improve the core competitiveness, avoid the bloody red sea, open up the blue sea, and defeat the competitors without fighting.

4、 "Know yourself and your enemy, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles". Sun Tzu believes that if you don't know your enemy, you will know your friends. If you win one victory and lose one defeat, you will lose if you don't know your enemy. If you know yourself and your enemy, you will be invincible in every battle. For modern enterprise marketing, are you a market leader, a market challenger, or a market follower? What is the positioning and target market of your product or service? What are your product characteristics, channels and pricing strategies? How do you spread your products and services and develop your brand? How do you build your marketing team? How do you communicate marketing information? What do your direct competitors and indirect competitors do about these? First understand your own advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and challenges, and then thoroughly understand your competitors. In this way, you can "control power for profit", "surprise, surprise", and defeat your competitors at the minimum cost to make yourself stand out.

5、 "Qizheng". Sun Tzu believed that when commanding operations, we always contact the enemy with "the right force" and win with extraordinary force, which means "the right combination and extraordinary victory", and "we can make sure that we will suffer the enemy without losing.". For enterprise marketing, if they can't get to know or compete with their competitors in the front, they can use horizontal thinking or blue ocean strategy to move horizontally, seek differentiation, change the rules of the game, expand the market space, and carry out flanking or guerrilla warfare, so as to create a balance between the odd and the right, and win by surprise. The toothpaste market is a very mature market. Its market pattern has been relatively stable, and the competition is also very fierce. It is not easy for new entrants to gain a foothold in the industry. However, NAES VC toothpaste easily entered the market and achieved good results. Nothing else is to regard the concept of "vitamin C nutrition gums" as a wonder.

6、 "Wait for work with ease". Sun Tzu believes that those who arrive at the battlefield first and wait for the enemy to come to fight will be at ease, and those who arrive at the battlefield in a hurry will be tired, which means that "those who are in the battlefield first and wait for the enemy will lose, and those who are in the battlefield later and wait for the enemy will work." For enterprise marketing, it is very important to take the lead in occupying new markets and seizing the minds of consumers, because the market and the minds of consumers have the characteristics of pre emption, Advanced entrants are more likely to gain a foothold in the market due to the lack of fierce competition, and as category guides, they form the illusion of "first" in consumers' minds. {page_break}

Moreover, after occupying consumers' minds and market channels, they can attack the latecomers and force them to withdraw from the market, so as to consolidate and expand their market share. This is the same reason as people often say that it is better to strike first, and then suffer.

7、 "Virtual reality". Sun Tzu believed that "those who can't resist will attack the enemy's weakness", which means that the enemy can't resist the attack because it attacks the enemy's weakness. "Although the enemy is numerous, we can make them not fight", "go beyond what they don't want, and follow what they don't want". Avoiding the actual situation and fighting against the false is the essence of Sun Tzu's art of war. This also has important theoretical guiding significance for enterprise marketing. If the cost advantage of the competitor is obvious, you should not blindly compete with him on price, but compare with him on quality. Swiss watches are so famous not because of their low production cost, but because of their incomparable quality advantage. If your opponent is a well-known brand and you don't have the resources to build a brand, you should work hard on the terminal. There are many examples in this regard. For enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, don't be afraid of too strong opponents, but learn to avoid the strong and defeat the weak. We should be firm and sharp, concentrate our resources, attack the enemy's weak spots, and attack them unprepared. In this way, the strong and weak can easily change the situation.

8、 "Take detours as straightness and disasters as benefits". Sun Tzu said, "In a difficult military battle, one should make detours straight and take troubles as benefits.". That is to say, the difficulty of the military struggle lies in taking the circuitous road as a shortcut and turning the unfavorable factors into favorable ones. For enterprise marketing, it is necessary to have reverse thinking. One factor is unfavorable to you, but another angle may also be advantages and opportunities. The enterprise has little capital, small scale and no cost advantage, but you can turn around when your ship is small, and you can focus on the needs of consumers for quick response. As a local brand, you can't compete with well-known brands in the national market. It doesn't matter. You can work hard in the local market, take advantage of local advantages and cultural advantages, and become a local emperor and local villain. In this way, there are different. "Prosperity leads to decline". Behind the strongest part of the opponent, there are often huge weaknesses. If you find out where the gate of their lives lies, you can win four or two thousand gold medals. Coca Cola's cola is so good that it is unparalleled in the world. It seems that you can't compete with him, but his cola is so authentic and its quality is extraordinary, which is itself a disadvantage. Seven up hit the nail on his head with a "non cola" sentence. No matter how good you are, it is still cola. Moreover, taking advantage of the "momentum" of Coca Cola, it has greatly improved the popularity of the product. Coca Cola claims to be the most authentic cola, but Pepsi Cola hit the nail on the head when it said "young people should drink new cola". Your tradition is an advantage, but it also means being conservative and not new.

9、 "Defeat the enemy by changing". Sun Tzu said, "The water will control the flow because of the land, and the soldiers will change into victories because of the enemy.". Therefore, the war is changeable and the water is changeable. The one who can win because of the change of the enemy is called the god. It means that the flow direction of water depends on the height of the terrain, and the use of troops depends on the change of the enemy's situation. Therefore, there is no fixed form of military operations, just like there is no fixed flow of water. If you can win according to the changes in the enemy's situation, you can say that military operations are like gods. For modern enterprises, in addition to their own marketing activities, they should always pay attention to and study the marketing activities of their competitors. If you are a market leader, you should always pay attention to the trend of market attackers; If you are a market follower, you should closely follow the market leader and so on. The strategy decided by the place, the time and the opponent should always keep sober and alert, and be prepared for danger in times of peace. Only in this way can the enterprise be conducive to an invincible position.

10、 "Take advantage of the situation". Sun Tzu said: Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. It means that fire attack depends on the weather, and arson depends on the date. "Those who do not know the shape of mountains and forests, dangers and rivers cannot march.". During the march, Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of being in the right place at the right time. He emphasized that he should use the right place at the right time to strengthen his strength and take the initiative. For modern enterprise marketing, it is also necessary to learn to "take advantage of the situation", rely on the guidance of public opinion, rely on new concepts, and even rely on the strength of competitors to achieve their goals. The key to take advantage of the situation is to find and explore events related to products, product values and brand values, and to grasp the opportunity well. Because these potentials may be fleeting, whether the grasp of these potentials is timely will directly affect the final potential energy. We should be good at building momentum as well as borrowing momentum. Potential is potential energy, in a sense, it can also be said to be a resource. In a sense, being good at taking advantage of opportunities is also a form of expression of being good at integrating resources. For enterprises, they should strive to achieve that potential is our potential.

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Sun Tzu's Art of War is a precious historical treasure left for us by our ancestors. It is concise, broad and profound. It is known as the first book of war in ancient times, and is still listed as a must read book by Harvard Business School. Shopping malls are like battlefields. If Sun Tzu's art of war can be applied to enterprise marketing, it will certainly be of great benefit to enterprise competition.