Here in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, where I live, both the public and private sectors are working hard to energize the region, mainly through tourism, since it is the setting of the NHK historical drama "Naotora: The Lady Warlord."
That's all well and good, but in Episode 9, aired on March 5, Imagawa Yoshimoto, whom the Ii family served, was defeated by Oda Nobunaga, and Naotora's father Naomori was also killed in battle.

This battle is known to the world as the "Battle of Okehazama," a historically crucial event that most Japanese people know about.
Since the drama unfolds from the Ii family's perspective, it apparently didn't cover much of the battle itself. (I didn't watch it, so I can't say for sure (^^;))
Still, this battle is described as follows: "The overwhelmingly superior Imagawa army let its guard down and was enjoying a drinking party. The Oda army seized that opening for a surprise attack, and a sudden thunderstorm worked in their favor, allowing them to take Yoshimoto's head."
So people tend to think Imagawa Yoshimoto was a fool, or that the outcome was just the result of a lucky thunderstorm.
Past historical dramas have portrayed him that way too, and in other historical manga, Yoshimoto is drawn with an air that is hardly samurai-like, so he tends to be seen as a useless character.

So did Oda Nobunaga win this battle "by chance," blessed with good fortune? Not at all.
According to recent research, it has become clear that Nobunaga employed extremely shrewd tactics.

On the day before the battle, at a war council held in Nobunaga's home base, Kiyosu Castle, his retainers debated, "Should we sally forth, or hold the castle?"
Against the Imagawa army's 25,000 troops, the Oda army had 4,000… A head-on clash offered no chance of victory.
While his retainers argued heatedly, Nobunaga said not a word and dispersed the council without conveying his own thoughts… And yet! At 4 a.m. the next morning, Nobunaga suddenly set out at the head of his own force, leaving the castle with a mere five mounted men. His retainers hurriedly followed, but they are said to have been scattered all the way to Atsuta Shrine, where he went to pray for victory.
This makes it seem as if the retainers were being tossed about by Nobunaga's sudden whim. However, the leading theory is that this was Nobunaga's plan: considering the possibility that there were informants for the enemy among his own side, he did not want his tactics to leak.

Having advanced without letting the enemy know his hand, Nobunaga was also meticulous about probing the enemy's movements. How was the Imagawa army moving as the situation developed? Above all, where was Yoshimoto? He investigated every detail.
What Nobunaga was after was one thing only: Yoshimoto's head. To that end, he weakened the garrisons of several forts to make them easy to attack and used decoy tactics, drawing the enemy's forces to the front line and concentrating them there.
The aim was to disperse their strength and reduce the troops at Yoshimoto's main camp.
As a result, by the time the surprise attack was launched, the force at Yoshimoto's headquarters is said to have been only about 5,000 men—and they were resting, with morale lowered by the sudden thunderstorm…

When you learn these facts, doesn't it seem that rather than "winning a all-or-nothing gamble," Nobunaga "won because he was bound to win"?

Painstakingly gathering information on your opponent, analyzing it, and then—how do you make use of it? How can you steer the situation into the most advantageous position?

Isn't there something here that applies to our marketing today as well?

We often see or hear stories on TV, in newspapers and magazines about people who succeeded in attracting customers.
They tend to be portrayed as if it were "just luck," "a lucky break," or "winning an all-or-nothing gamble."
That's because such framing stirs viewers' hopes of striking it rich and gives them a thrill.

But in reality, successful people all share solid tactics and strategies—not luck or coincidence.
At the very least, when I talk with the presidents of my successful clients, I'm always struck by the fact that there is always a reason for their success.

The greatest advantage of attracting customers online is that "you can measure results in numbers."
But how do you analyze that and put it to use? How can you turn it into a strategy that builds on your company's strengths? That, you might say, comes down to the ability of the general—that is, the manager.

I want to always keep this in mind and do my marketing with it in mind.
And I want to offer the same to my clients.