APPLICATION OF THE THIRTY-SIX CHINESE STRATEGIES TO THE MARKETING OF RETAIL SPACE

Abstract

Marketing, has over the years, revolutionalised into a total warfare. With the limited resources available coupled with a competitive retail market, strategic marketing concepts have become increasingly important to win the "Retail War" Western marketing concepts of the 7 Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion (first introduced by McCarthy in 1960), Personnel, Process and Physical Evidence ( later developed by Magrath in 1986), have been widely used in the business environment. As the saying goes, "Business Is alike War", therefore in this dissertation, it was felt that the incorporation of Chinese military treatise would enable one to further develop marketing strategies that will enhance one's positioning in the competitive market. The Secret Art of War: 'Thirty Six Strategies" was chosen for this study. It first appeared in the official history of Southern Qi about 1,500 years ago. Since then, it has gained increasing currency. Many famous wars were won based on these strategies. It is therefore believed that these strategies can be similarly applied to business situations to gain advantages.