Sound Business Decisions – Strategy Before Technology
Businesses that are looking for ways to promote their brands and products are sort of bedazzled by the speed at which technology transcends industries and touches businesses in more ways than one. All businesses agree that technology and being abreast of technological innovations is the key in promoting their brands. The traditional news paper and magazine advertising is all but one way of reaching out to the public. Marketers have a lot more avenues to promote their products and make their brands visible than what there were a decade or so back.
This opportunity provided by technology is precisely the problem as well – businesses, whether they belong to the real world bricks-and-mortar industry or to the new age software and technical lines, need to be in the know of what happens in Information Technology, to make their wise choices. Sometimes, it so happens that companies that are not too comfortable with or familiar with a new buzzword tend to associate themselves with it, only to find that they were never capable of maximising the leverage out of the new tool in town.
The Twitter Case: Consider the case of Twitter, the new buzzword that has been at the centre of attraction of all things that are about publicity. It is common knowledge that being in Twitter is trendy and Twitter is where the consumer is. Or, is it common knowledge or is that hearsay? Out of the blue, companies are rushing to Twitter to market their products and build their brands.
Strategy has to take precedence over tactics. Marching to Twitter in droves is a way to reach a goal. But what is your goal? What is your business strategy? Does Twitter really fit in with your overall strategy? Does your product need to be in Twitter?
These are basic questions that are seldom asked in most organisations before they decide on a course of action, and they rush ahead merely because the rest of the business world is rushing ahead with it. It is not just in the case of Twitter but in any technology that companies would have to put the strategy horse before the execution cart. Every company’s situation and strategy are unique. If the basic issues are not addressed and companies go with the crowd, it would only lead to dissipation of scarce resources into untested methods leading to no productive results.
