Read the Tea Leaves

“Your attitude should be large or small according to the situation,” Musashi wrote. That is the heart of marketing strategically in the round. The situation—the particular immediate needs and the desired outcomes—should dictate the approach and tactics your marketing team takes.

A successful strategy depends on the entire team’s ability to assess a particular situation and evaluate the research available. The marketing round is likely to have a familiarity with focus groups in advertising or public relations, with market research studies, with results of listening online or with competitive research in all fields. This information paints a picture of the market landscape and its attitudes and opportunities, as well as revealing any competitors’ actions. It should reveal paths toward your objectives, and the marketing round should see which efforts are most likely to be successful given the resources at hand.