Should there be a relation between the vision of a company and the marketing strategy? If you ask this question to a strategist, they will emphatically say a Big Yes. But are the marketers really giving importance to the relation between the vision and marketing strategy is something which is of debate.
There has to be a perfect relation between the vision of the company and marketing strategy else it might spell doom for the company. We can elicit real stories from the business world to understand the same well.
One is Apple INC, who moved away from their vision and paid for it. Once they got their strategy aligned to the vision, they became a part of the history. Second is Reliance Communication, which waited more than 3 years for the government regulations to change to suit their vision before reaching and ultimately conquering the market.
Apple : Re-alignment to vision
Let us take the first example of Apple INC, who are famous for their ‘i’ devices. Their vision statement is
“Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals, and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings.”
In the initial years, Apple strategy makers and marketing team concentrated only on one target group i.e. professionals. By the start of 1985, Apple was out of race from the PC market because their competitors started offering low price PCs targeting students and educators and this threatened the position of Apple. During this time, there were many top management people who didn’t toe the line of investors and started moving out and it was only in 1998, when Apple was sinking, Steve decided to go with investor’s demand of concentrating on two markets: consumer and professional. Moreover he stressed on bringing market differentiation around ‘computing experience’, which was part of their original vision. He stressed on creating ‘compelling user experience’ in the design of ‘i’ generation products. By 2010, Apple became one of the giants and Steve Jobs earned his investors confidence completely.
Reliance Communication: Realizing vision at right time
Let’s see what happened to RCom. RCom started in 1999 with the vision of, “Make the tools of information and communication available to people at an affordable cost. They will overcome the handicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility.” The strategists at RCom felt that it will not be possible to achieve this vision, if they purchase spectrum at high auction price which prevailed at that time. They realized that they will not be able to face the competition and waited till they got spectrum at a reasonable price.
In 2002, after they purchased spectrum at low cost, they entered the market with a BIG BANG. They succeeded in positioning themselves as LOW COST SERVICE PROVIDER marking a revolution in the Indian Tele Communication industry. Just look at this wonderful idea of waiting for a right opportunity to fulfill their vision.
Vision and Strategy to be aligned
So what is the learning out of these discussions? It’s simple; develop your marketing strategies based on your company’s vision no matter even if you have to wait for the right time. It’s when you deviate from vision of the company that trouble starts creeping in. You may antagonize your investors and as well as alienate a section of your target customers. So, this relation between vision and strategy is the key to success of any company.
[message_box title=”Disclaimer” color=”red”]The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any company[/message_box]
