1. Sun Tzu said: The good marketeers of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of wining market share.

2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the competitor is provided by the competitor himself.

3. Thus the good marketer is able to secure himself against failure, but cannot make certain of winning market share from the competitor.

4. Hence the saying: One may know how to win market share without being able to do it.

5. Security against failure implies defensive tactics; ability to win market share means taking the offensive.

6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient resource; attacking a new market, a superabundance of strength.

7. The marketer who is skilled in defense holds competitors at bay; he who is skilled in attaking new markets, flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a conquering ofmarket share that is complete.

8. To win market share only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole company says, "Well done!"

10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

11. What the ancients called a clever marketer is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his marketing victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

13. He wins his campaigns by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of market share, for it means conquering an competitor that is already defeated.

14. Hence the skillful marketer puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the competitor.

15. Thus it is that in marketing the victorious strategist only seeks confrontation after the market share has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for market share.

16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

17. In respect of marketing method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, market share.

18. Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and winning market share to Balancing of chances.

19. A victorious marketing campaign opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

20. The onrush of a conquering markeing campaign is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

V. ENERGY

1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large campaign budget is the same principle as the control of a small one: it is merely a question of dividing up the numbers.

2. Campaigning with large resources under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the competitors campaign and remain unshaken-- this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

4. That the impact of your resources may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg--this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

5. In all campaigning, the direct method may be used for head on campaigning, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure market share.

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

8. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

10. In marketing, there are not more than two methods of securing market share--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

12. The onset of a big marketing campaign is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.

13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

14. Therefore the good marketer will be agressive in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.

16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of a campaign, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against failure.

17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.

19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the competitor on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the competitor will act. He sacrifices something, that the competitor may snatch at it.

20. By holding out baits, he keeps the competitor unwary; then with a carefully planned strike, he lies in wait for him.

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right ideas and utilize combined energy.

22. When he utilizes combined energy, his ideas and actions become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped, to go rolling down.

23. Thus the energy developed by a good marketing capaign is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.