Difference Between Strategy & Marketing Planning

I’m going to jump into it, for those people that are impatient. Strategy is a cogent process that creates theoretical possibilities that result in a compelling single vision for future success. Whereas planning is a methodical process for delivering future success.

One sets the scene, the other identifies how the scene will be achieved. 

Why do I think this is a meaningful definition? 

Breaking that down:

1. The emphasis on strategy being a cognet process relates to the scale of the challenge that requires a strategy team or strategist to take into consideration: stakeholder management, cross business alignment, research methodologies, risk factors and a multitude of other business inputs. 
2. The theoretical possibilities within a strategy are produced because the only known data is historic performance, other data is unknown or based on theoretical thinking; for example, forcastes, trends, market predictions. Whilst they are all founded on logical rationale, they are still theoretical as it relates to future thinking and can not incorporate unknown scenarios. The best (and unfortunate) example of this is Coronavirus, how many trends in 2019, 2020 and beyond forecasted its occurrence and its impact on businesses? Pretty much zero. 
3. Then you have a compelling single vision and this is more important than you might think. Corporate and business strategies all end with what needs to be achieved and when. However, for a business to have a single strategic vision, it needs to be robust and compelling so that all key stakeholders feel that the vision will deliver their commercial needs, the needs of the exec and board. Hence that any single strategic vision has to be compelling. 
4. Planning is a Methodical process as it’s based on known factors such as KPIs, budgets and timings. You know what you need to deliver, how much you have, when you need to deliver it, and now you have to produce a plan that specifies the actions that will go into delivering success. 

But a lot of thinking went into that opening paragraph and I hope that the rest of this post can substantiate it and I am going to start with planning. According to CMOE, “A plan is an arrangement, a pattern, a program, or a scheme for a definite purpose. A plan is very concrete in nature and doesn’t allow for deviation.” This is a rigid interpretation as it implies there is no room for deviation. However, a core part of planning is the ability to consider possible scenarios and prepare for them based on their risk to achieving the end objective. Likewise, the principles of optimisation enables brands to stay on track, but the journey to success isn’t a straight line. Whilst I agree that planning requires a clear beginning and clear goals, the paths in between are not always a smooth journey. Therefore, the art of planning requires the combination of proactive preparation and reactive practices. Thus, allowing for actions to be instantaneous and based on facts and data. Which is generally the opposite to strategic thinking as it combines strong correlations, previous performance, trends and forecasts to substantiate its direction. Interestingly, Surbhi S describes planning as “Thinking before the action takes place”. It decides beforehand, what, when, how the task is to be accomplished. It is not exactly the same as strategy, which is nothing but “a comprehensive plan.” However, strategy is not just a comprehensive plan. Afterall, what are you planning for if you don’t understand the vision and the pillars that underpin that vision? Many plans can be defined and tested but there is only one strategic vision. When asked, Cecil Adjalo from technology consultancy Hiberus stated “For me, planning is a broad topic that must encompass strategic values, but moves beyond visionary thinking and into a richer state of analysis that directly help to deliver critical KPIs. Delivering an array of plans and projects will help achieve the strategic vision”.  

I thought it would be helpful to bring this to life with tangible elements that are contained with both strategy and planning

However, if you're a comms planner looking at this model you may feel a little hard done by. Therefore, I wanted to focus on interpreting the specific roles strategy teams have when working with their clients and delivery teams. 

It would be great to hear your thoughts on this and how you understand the difference between strategy and planning.