The School of Real Marketing
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F1-04·F1 — What Marketing Actually Is

The Decision Problem

The productive tension

Strategy as analytical diagnosisandcreative choice

The synthesis

Strategy is not a spreadsheet exercise. Nor is it a gut feeling. It is the disciplined progression from rigorous market diagnosis to creative strategic choice to focused tactical execution. Diagnosis requires science. Choice requires art. The best strategists hold both. The false dichotomy of "data-driven" vs. "instinct-driven" strategy collapses under the evidence: you need diagnosis AND creativity, sequentially.

Learning objectives

  • Define strategy as the answer to a decision problem
  • Explain Ritson's diagnosis-strategy-tactics triptych
  • Distinguish between good strategy and bad strategy using Rumelt's criteria
  • Identify why most marketing plans fail at the diagnostic stage
  • Articulate the Both/And of analytical rigour and creative judgment in strategy

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