Strategy Is Not Messaging

The law of 'Strategy Is Not Messaging' dictates that the tactical output of communication (slogans, copy, creative) must be strictly decoupled from the strategic process of diagnosis, targeting, and positioning. In Evidence-Based Marketing, strategy is defined as the 'where to play' and 'how to win'—a series of hard choices involving market mapping, segmentation, and objective setting. Messaging, conversely, is merely a subset of the 'Promotion' tactic within the broader marketing mix. When marketers lead with messaging, they skip the essential diagnosis phase, resulting in 'empty' creative that lacks commercial utility. High-performance marketing requires a sequential flow: first, a cold-blooded diagnosis of the market; second, a clear strategy that defines targets and positions; and only then, the development of messaging to deliver that strategy to the audience.

The distinction between strategy and tactics—and specifically the error of conflating the two—was most rigorously defined in the marketing context by Professor Mark Ritson, drawing heavily on the work of Richard Rumelt. Rumelt’s seminal work, 'Good Strategy/Bad Strategy' (2011), established that strategy requires a 'diagnosis' of the challenge, a 'guiding policy' for dealing with it, and 'coherent actions.' Ritson applied this to the marketing cycle, formalizing the 'Diagnosis -> Strategy -> Tactics' framework. This approach has been championed by the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) as a cornerstone of marketing effectiveness, moving the industry away from 'tactical-led' thinking toward 'strategic-led' value creation.

The mechanism of this law relies on the hierarchical structure of marketing planning. To understand why strategy is not messaging, one must dissect the three-stage process of Evidence-Based Marketing.

1. The Diagnosis Phase: This is the intellectual heavy lifting. It involves market mapping, where the strategist identifies the total available market and how consumers move through it. It requires U&A (Usage and Attitude) studies, brand tracking, and a brutal SWOT analysis that isn't just a list of bullet points but a genuine assessment of competitive advantage. Without diagnosis, messaging is just guessing.

2. The Strategy Phase: Strategy is about making choices. It consists of three specific levers: Segmentation (grouping the market), Targeting (choosing which segments to ignore), and Positioning (deciding what specific 'mental real estate' the brand should occupy in the mind of the target). This phase is silent. There are no ads here. There are no slogans. There are only spreadsheets, maps, and hard decisions about where the budget will be allocated. If you haven't decided who you aren't targeting, you don't have a strategy.

3. The Tactics Phase: This is where messaging finally appears. Tactics are the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Messaging is a sub-component of Promotion. Its job is to execute the positioning decided in the strategy phase. The 'mechanism' of failure occurs when marketers start at stage 3. When you start with messaging, you are essentially building a bridge without knowing how wide the river is or what’s on the other side. You end up with 'hollow' campaigns that might win creative awards but fail to move the needle on penetration or market share because they aren't anchored in a strategic choice.

Furthermore, the psychological foundation of this law rests on the 'Action Bias.' Marketers feel productive when they are making things (ads, posts, slogans). Strategy, which looks like thinking and saying 'no,' feels like stagnation. However, the data from the IPA Databank consistently shows that campaigns with a clear strategic 'why' (e.g., aiming for penetration rather than loyalty) outperform those that are purely tactical by a factor of nearly 3x in terms of long-term business effects.