More often than not, strategy is a just a formality or a due process that marketers go through to reach their favourite part: execution. However, the days of one-way communication models are gone. Thanks to social media, all campaigns have direct feedback from the audience. Without a proper strategy in place, most campaigns run the risk of spinning out of control. So where are we now?

PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

Usually, strategies are supposed to be the job of marketers and the marketing department. These marketers are very ill-equipped to deal with strategies in most cases. They have overwhelming KPIs and super tight deadlines thanks to the long approval chain. Once they somehow scrape together a strategy, the holes begin to show instantly once the pre-execution phases begin. This is when a strategist is brought on board to "fix" things. Unfortunately, with all the approval processes and due diligence being done, a strategist can do very little to fix fundamental mistakes in the strategy. The end result is a weak plan that struggles with the execution.

Just get a strategist on board during the planning phase and save some money in the process. It's better, trust me.

"STRATEGY IS NOTHING WITHOUT EXECUTION"

Oh boy, this is my favourite argument. My question is what are you doing separating strategy and execution then pitting them against each other? What benefit does this mental exercise have? It's not some battle. It's just people who are weak at strategy using this argument to get more credit. Going by this logic, we don't require a torso or a head since our arms do most of the work. This is a dangerous precedent set by silver-tongued marketers who are only good at executing plans. If you're a firm believer of this camp, maybe you should slow down and think every now and then. It's a nice feeling.

STRATEGISTS ARE ALIENS

When I told my peers that I want to specialise in strategy, the reaction I got was that it's not a very good idea because the bulk of the money is in execution. Young strategists like me are discouraged day in day out, we're slowly moving towards another manpower crisis similar to what the industry is now facing with designers and copywriters. Since the industry as a whole is going after money, the industry itself has to invest in strategy or else in a few years. To use a footballing metaphor, we're so busy trying to produce a Messi that we're entirely forgetting about the Xavis, Puyols and Iniestas.

HOW TO START THINKING STRATEGICALLY

A good strategist always begins by evaluating his existing resources, timeline and goals. Once you know what you have, when you'll need what and what you are out to achieve, things become increasingly simple. Yes, of course there's office politics and the chain of command making things difficult but those are concepts of the past now that the internet is here to stay and AI is right around the corner.

HAVE ONE CENTRAL GOAL

Your strategy requires one central goal and secondary, tertiary goals. If two goals are equally important, you're splitting yourself. Argue all you like but having two primary goals is a recipe for confusion. Your strategy is all about forecasting and introducing more confusion into that delicate structure is like carefully transporting fire through a fertiliser warehouse.

PREPARE FOR AI DISRUPTIONS

Only applicable for those who are making decade-long strategies. Speaking of which…

WHAT'S YOUR LENGTH?

To top that question, do you know how fast the internet moves? Try not logging into Facebook for two days and check what trends you're missing out. So it baffles me when people bring out five-year digital plans or even one-year ones, to be honest. While most digital marketers should be focusing on a highly targeted swarm of micro-campaigns, they're still stuck in the days of ATL branding: make expensive ads and offers, then aggressively push them through a fortune spent upon media buying.

Armed with all this knowledge, I hope you can now make brilliant strategies like dropping a socially aware tissue brand out of nowhere. Knowledge is power, especially when you're launching yet another carbonated beverage brand in a declining global market. May the youthful swag be with you when you're making a youth product at the age of forty without any actual input from young people.

Illustration: E.R Ronny

Rumman R Kalam is the founder of Rantages and uses his 8 years of content experience as a consultant to help brands develop their long-term vision and bring stability to their marketing activities. Reach him at rumman@rantages.com.