Peter Drucker famously said that a business has only two functions: marketing and innovation - and those alone produce the results.
But they aren't alone are they?
We'd argue that production is the catalyst that breathes life into marketing and innovation to produce the results.
Similarly a business really only makes 2 types of product.
The stuff it sells - ie. the goods or the service.
The material it needs to communicate, in order to sell the stuff - ie. the marketing assets.
When you make goods to sell in market, a production strategy is developed early doors concerning the whys, hows, wheres, whos and whens of making said goods.
Why are you making it?
How are you going to make it?
Where are you going to make it?
Who's going to make it?
When does it need to be made?
Where are you going to store it?
Where are you going to sell it?
What’s the investment?
What’s the return?
What's more, these products tend to number in single or double digits and don't change much over time.
On the flipside, when you make marketing assets to help sell the goods, 1000s get produced and the variables change constantly.
These conditions absolutely demand early stage Production Strategy.
Yet in marketing, this perception gets abandoned when arguably it’s even more critical. Production is brought it last minute with a, “just get it done” attitude.
Can you imagine doing that with your consumer goods?
Strategy is about positioning your long term goals and how you intend to reach them.
Tactic refers to specific actions taken within a strategy to reach the goals.
Right now, production gets used only as a late stage a tactic, expected to win the day, fixing all issues created along the way, when it should be an overarching strategy, adding value from the start.
Production thinking needs to brought into all upstream activities.
Having robust In-House Production equipped with strategic production expertise is key to consider.
It will help to properly define your vision and how you’re actually going get there, ensuring more great ideas get made.
And an idea that's not made remains just that... an idea.
How do you think production strategy could help you?