SUN TZU’S THE ART OF WAR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN

MARKETING.
A.S.M. Shahidul Haque1.

ABSTRACT
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is a very famous Chinese classic written about warfare.

This article is an attempt to introduce Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to the reader and

to show implications of some Sun Tzu war strategies to marketing. War strategies

in Sun Tzu’s book can be applicable in modern Marketing. As marketing has

become quite a battlefield among few global companies and among few

established brands in each and every product as well as service categories. Sun

Tzu’s concepts can be useful in all the important functions of marketing like

entering into a new market, use of sales forces, use of market information,

increasing demand, protecting market share, and surviving against powerful

invaders. The theories are useful particularly in formulating marketing strategies.

Thus the war concepts in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War can be used as effective tool

in actual marketing. Bangladeshi managers can also use Sun Tzu’s war strategies

and concepts given in this wonderful book to formulate their marketing strategy to

win the fight against both local and global competitors and emerge victorious.

INTRODUCTION

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is a very famous Chinese classic written about

warfare. Though the authorship of the book is debated it was probably written

around 400 to 320 B.C. It discusses different aspects of waging war and battle.

1
A.S.M. Shahidul Haque is a development professional at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
But this famous classic is more known as a must read book for Japanese

marketers. It has been observed that after the Second World War Japanese

people identified the true importance of winning the war in the global economic

front. They desperately wanted to win the global market. They first identified

the global market as a battlefield with many crucial players fighting for greater

dominance in terms of grabbing market share, creating brand loyalty and

enhancing profitability, which ultimately leads to dominance in international

market. To achieve this, Japanese marketers are usually very conversant in

many different military classics to become very successful marketers.

The military influence on Japanese business practice extends beyond the

reading of books on the subject. More significantly, Japanese companies are

known to conduct annual or regular management camps for their employees and

managers. Those who survive such trainings are reportedly able to become

better managers and decision makers.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has obvious influence on many Chinese great

thinkers also. One such example is Mao Zedong. He used to say, ”Know your

enemy, know yourself; hundred battles, hundred victories” in many occasions.

This line is in fact a partial quote from Sun Tzu’s writings. Sun Tzu says, ‘He

who has through knowledge of himself and the enemy is bound to win in all

battles. He who knows himself but not the enemy, has only an even chance of
winning. He who knows not himself and the enemy is bound to perish in all

battles’. And, ‘Know your enemy, know yourself, and your victory will not be

threatened. Know the terrain, know the weather, and your victory will be

complete.’

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was introduced to Japan around 716 A.D. to 735

A.D. In contrast, the first western translation was in French and was published

in Paris around 1772, about 1000 years later. Captain F.F. Calthrop, of British

army, who was studying in Japan, in 1905, did first English translation. Sun

Tzu’s philosophies were already being applied successfully in battlefields both

in China and Japan.

Perhaps the best evidence that the Japanese have used military strategies in their

business practice is the way they have conquered the world markets in many

products and industries. The Japanese conquest of world market is very much

like well-orchestrated military campaign. This is in fact, the whole thesis of

Philip Kotler’s famous book The New Competition published in 1985. Many

strategies in entering and conquering the various markets in the world (as

described in the book) are not militaristic but resemble very much Sun Tzu’s

war strategies. It may well be that Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War is inspiration for

much of Japan’s economic success in the world.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is in fact a very short book. The book has thirteen

chapters with each chapter barely a page long. The whole book contains less

than 6200 characters of Chinese literary writings. The average chapter is less

than 500 words. One can easily understand depth in thought and wisdom in such

a short piece of work. It is also understandable, considering the complexity of

Chinese language, writing, and culture that capturing the full meanings and

implications of thoughts of a 2300-year-old book is no way easy. However,

while there is still some contention on the exact meanings of each of the

Chinese characters as used by Sun Tzu, there is nonetheless consensus on the

basic arguments and propositions of his work. In fact translations in different

modern languages has shown little variations.

This article is only an attempt to introduce Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to the

readers and show implications of some war theories in actual marketing.

Marketing has become quite a battlefield among few global companies and

among few established brands in each and every product as well as service

categories. Just think about soft drinks. Coke and Pepsi are global competitors.

They are fighting for market share in every corner of the world. It is well known

that marketing strategies or any type of offensive or defensive strategies has

strong relationship with military strategies. So, it is not surprising that different

war strategies to engage in a battle or war can be applicable in marketing,

considering marketing as a battlefield for capturing market and maintaining

dominance and protecting market share among few major players and many

minor players.

Some war concepts of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War clearly can be modified to use

as marketing tools. For example Sun Tzu gave importance in collecting

information about battleground and analyze the information perfectly before

engaging in actual battle. Thus these theories can be useful in marketing also. A

marketer also can follow the instruction given to analyze the market before

introducing a new product or entering into a new market. Thus the knowledge

given in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War can be useful in marketing. In the following

sections the implication of Sun Tzu theories in marketing will be analyzed in

detail.

THE ART OF WAR AND IMPLICATIONS IN MARKETING

In the book The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, ‘He who has a thorough knowledge

of himself and the enemy is bound to win in all battles. He who knows himself

but not the enemy has only an even chance of winning. He who knows not

himself and the enemy is bound to perish in all battles.’ Now these lines can be

explained, changing some key words to apply this teaching in marketing. Sun

Tzu gave importance to acquire thorough knowledge about oneself to become

successful in war. A successful marketer will more likely read above lines like,
‘He (read a marketer) who has a thorough knowledge of himself (about product

or service or strengths and weakness of the company) and the enemy

(competitors) is bound to win (successful) in all battles (initiatives). He

(marketer) who knows himself (product/service) but not the enemy

(competitor’s product/service) has only an even chance of winning (become

successful). He who knows not himself and the enemy is bound to perish in all

battles.’

Any successful marketing campaign starts with planning. Planning gives

direction to achieve goals and objectives. The business world is like the

battlefield. Many businesses have collapsed because of poor planning, resulting

in the loss of capital and employment. Sun Tzu says, ‘..With careful and

detailed planning, one can win; with careless and less detailed planning, one

cannot win. How much more certain is defeat if one does not plan at all’. A

good plan should be done only after careful assessment of the strengths and

weakness of own company vis-à-vis those of competitor’s.

Sun Tzu says, ‘Know your enemy, know yourself, and your victory will not be

threatened. Know the terrain, know the weather, and your victory will be

complete’. A marketer will read the previous sentence as, ‘Know your

product/service, know your company, and victory will not be threatened. Know
the market (controllable features), know the uncontrollable factors, and your

victory will be complete’.

Different successful companies use corporate planners to assess competitive

advantages through different tools like Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat

(SWOT) analysis to exploit any market opportunity. Marketing experts scan the

environment and detect trends that can impact on the operations of business in

future and develop intermediate and long term plans to deal with such

developments rather than trouble shooting daily problems.

Sun Tzu advocated the need to appraise five fundamental factors in the book

The Art of War to win a war. These five important factors are, first of all ‘moral

influence’ (read political leadership), then ‘climate’ (read business

environment), ‘terrain’ (marketing environment and structure), ‘generalship’

(marketing manager or team leader), and ‘doctrine’ (long term objectives and

goals).

Sun Tzu and Marketing Environment

In the book The Art of War, Sun Tzu clearly gave importance to a good

government to become successful in war. Same thing is also true in the field of

business. A good government that provides leadership to the business sector in

the form of proper legal and statutory systems as well as effective directives and

policies can play important role in development of business sector in the

country. Countries like Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore are the examples of

good governance. Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) is known for

developing overall industrial policy for the country. Experts say that

government initiatives should be taken in harmony with nature, the culture and

sentiments of the people.

It is also true that efficient managers are also important with good government

policies to develop local industry as well as export market. Sun Tzu says,

‘Hence it is said that enlightened rulers (read government) deliberate plans

while capable generals (read business people or entrepreneurs) execute them’.

Sun Tzu and Leadership

According to Sun Tzu, a capable general (read successful marketer) must

possess five important qualities or attributes. These are wisdom, sincerely,

benevolence, courage, and strictness. By wisdom, he meant the ability to

recognize changing circumstances (read market environment) and to act

expediently. Sincerity means the ability to have the complete trust of

subordinates so that they have no doubt about the certainty of rewards (read
clearly stated incentives) and punishment. Benevolence requires love for

mankind, the ability to sympathize with others and to appreciate the hard work

and labor of the rank and file. Courage means being brave and decisive and

having the ability to gain victory (read achieve objectives) by capitalizing on

opportunities without hesitation. Finally, a strict general is able to instill

discipline and command respect as his troops are in awe of him and are afraid of

punishment.

A company engaging in the business world is no different from an army

engaged in battlefield. It also has its relative strengths and weakness in terms of

resources, such as manpower, management, money, machines, materials,

methods of production (including technology), and markets served. Sun Tzu

says, ‘The management of a large force (read sales force) is similar to that of a

small force. It is a matter of formation and structure’. Most of the marketing

team consists of different smaller teams controlled by regional as well as sub

regional team leaders who reports to their respective bosses.

Sun Tzu and Marketing Strategies

To elaborate war strategy, Sun Tzu says, ‘The highest form of generalship is to

attack the enemy’s strategy; the next best policy is to disrupt his alliance; the

next best is to attack his army; the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities’.
The statement above can be retranslated in marketing terminology. As for

example the competitive advertising among Coke, Pepsi and Thumps Up in

India in terms of grabbing marketing share can be sighted. Competition in the

business world can also be quite vicious and merciless, and clobbering the

competitors is a common event of the day. For example the basis assumption

underlying the use of and practice of comparative advertising (where one’s

products or services are deliberately compared with those of the competitor) are

to put competitor in a bad light and to discredit them if possible. For example,

Thumbs Up and Pepsi advertising can be sighted. Obviously Thumbs Up

targeted the Pepsi as it has second largest share in soft drinks market in India to

create its own market share as well to protect its share while Pepsi was planning

to fight with Coke, the largest shareholder in the industry. Thumbs Up

deliberately sabotages all the Pepsi advertising. At last ‘Lehren’ come up with

ads to sabotage Thumbs Up ads to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Different consumer product marketers like P&G, Unilever are closely following

sales promotion campaigns of each other in India. The situation truly reflects

Sun Tzu’s strategy to attack competitor’s strategy.

Sun Tzu and Market Entry

In the last decade different countries are opening up their market for foreign

companies. Large countries like China, India and former communist countries
offer attractive market for large companies with globally established brands.

Large global companies from cosmetic producers to car manufacturers are

investing a huge amount to create brand and brand loyal customers what will

ultimately lead to increase in market share and profitability. Interestingly Sun

Tzu also mentioned the need to go early in the battlefield. His writing says,

‘Generally, those who reach and occupy the battleground (relatively new

market) early will have time to rest and wait for the enemy (will have early

mover’s advantages over competitors). Those who arrive at the battleground late

will have to rush into action when they are already tired and exhausted’. Early

mover in any market has huge advantages. For example in Bangladesh often

general people use ‘Honda’ as synonym to motorcycle or ‘Mobil’ in referring to

engine oil. These are two examples to show the impact of first movers in a

relatively new market.

Sun Tzu suggested different war strategies to achieve ultimate goals and

objectives. He says, ‘The highest form of generalship is to attack the enemy’s

strategy’. In order to attack competitor’s strategy a company can take measures

pre-empting competitors strategies. One such way is to introduce a new and

technologically advance product in the market or entering a new segment before

any competitor. Companies like IBM or NOKIA are very successful by

introducing new products constantly.

Sun Tzu continues to say, ‘next best policy is to disrupt his alliance’. Forming

alliance is also a very useful strategy in global marketing. Recently, alliance

between HP and COMPAC or ERICSSON and SONY was formed to achieve

competitive advantages. Many western nations were benefited because OPEC

did not maintain its alliance and some members increased production and sold

their oil at a reduced cost. ‘Toy’s R Us’, a large toy seller in USA was also very

successful in Japan only after they could break alliance of Japanese toy

merchants.

Sun Tzu suggests, ‘the next best is to attack his army’. It is a very popular

strategy to lure some top management officials from competitor’s company to

enhance own marketing team and to weaken the competitors. Head hunting for

large companies are now big business. This practice is seen in different new

banks and financial institutes in Bangladesh. Some company deliberately target

and recruit sales peoples from their rivals to use their knowledge and experience

to gain advantages.

At last Sun Tzu says, ‘the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities’ Though

Sun Tzu says capturing ‘walled cities’ as worst strategy, some time it becomes

absolutely necessary and a better option. When Standard Chartered Bank (SCB)

wanted to expand its service in South East Asia, they targeted four or five small

banks operating in this region. In Bangladesh they acquire ANZ portion of

ANZGrindlays. The account holders of SCB and SCBGrindlays now know very

well how is life under near monopoly business. Acquiring an established

business is a quick way to enter a market without facing all initial problems.

Sun Tzu and Adaptability

In business, companies should try to compete in an industry where they have

distinct advantages or expertise. A company should not enter into an unfamiliar

market. Similarly a company should not compete in products or services where

it has no skills. Sun Tzu says, ‘One must not move troops without being familiar

with the conditions of the mountains, forests, dangerous passes, swamps and

marshes and so on’. NIKE’s initial failure in European market can be stated as

an example. NIKE tried to implement all the marketing strategies they followed

in USA while they entered the European market. They even tried to use the

same icons (models like Michel Jordan, Charles Barkely) to the European

audience. Soon they understood the problem and adapted their marketing efforts

to fit in European market and gradually become successful. On the other hand

companies like LG and SAMSUNG became successful in Indian Subcontinent

as they have shown better understanding about the society and adapted their

products and services to Indian environment.

There are many businesses where entry and exit cost is relatively low. In many

small businesses like retail food business, it is very easy to get into the market,

as the barriers in terms of capital and technologies are both very low. In such

cases there is little differentiations and consumers can easily substitute one

supplier to another. In such industries protection of market share is important.

Sun Tzu says, ‘Pay strict attention to the defense’. To defend in such

circumstances, attention is needed to locations and distribution channels. Cost

of production must be brought down. If any strong competitor’s arrival can be

anticipated then preoccupy all the strategic locations. Closely associate all the

inputs from production to distribution and invest in customer relationship

management.

CONCLUSIONS

Though Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is a small book it contains detail theories of

engaging in a war and all the elements needed to win it. In its thirteen chapters

all the internal and external factors are identified and discussed. All the war

strategies similarly can be modified and can be used as marketing strategic

tools. This article is only an attempt to show how global marketing environment

is similar to a battlefield and war theories can be applicable to marketing as

well. Managers from different parts of the world have reportedly read and

understood the war concepts in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and successfully
applied in actual marketing. Bangladeshi managers can also use Sun Tzu’s war

strategies of this wonderful book and use some concepts to formulate their

marketing strategy to win the fight against both local and global competitors

and emerge victorious.

BIBIOGRAPHY:

1. Wee Chow How, Lee Khai Sheang, Hidajat Bambang Walujo, Sun Tzu War &

Management, Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Singapore,1996.

2. Peter D. Bennett, editor, Dictionary of Marketing, NTC Publishing Group, Illinois,

USA, 1995.

3. Ohmae Kenichi, The Mind of The Strategist, McGraw Hill Inc., 1982.

4. Philip Kotler, Swee Hoon Ang, Siew Meng Leong, Chin Tiong Tan, Marketing

Management an Asian Perspective, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, 1999.

5. Philip Kotler, Marketing Management Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and

Control, 8th edition, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd, 1994.

6. Del I. Hawking, Roger J Best, Kenneth A Coney, Consumer Behavior, 4th edition,

BPI Irwin, 1980.

7. Griffin S.B., Sun Tzu: The Art of War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1971.

8. Philip Kotler, The New Competition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,
1985.