← DictionaryStrategy
A choice about where to compete and what to do differently to win.
Deciding what you will and will not do.
What It Is
You will find Strategy in the Marketing layer, alongside the rest of Planning. The working definition is simple: a choice about where to compete and what to do differently to win.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Strategy comes up in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It normally appears alongside Tactics, Marketing Strategy and Positioning. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Getting Strategy wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. Clarity here removes a surprising amount of downstream argument.
Think of it as a lens. Look through it and some choices get obvious. Deciding what you will and will not do.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Professionally, Strategy carries the narrow meaning: a choice about where to compete and what to do differently to win.
Explained to someone with no marketing background, Strategy is deciding what you will and will not do.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Strategy: deciding what you will and will not do. Everything after that is detail.