Are marketers really the "C students"?

One of my favourite writers on advertising and marketing is Bob Hoffman AKA The Ad Contrarian. Anyone who takes a cynical side-eye at any kind of organisation or industry is good in my book. Life’s not to be taken too seriously and without writers like Bob we’d end up with a lot of conferences about bullshit like “brand synergy” and other things that don’t mean too much under an even slightly critical microscope.

The Ad Contrarian frequently makes me check myself and my work to see if I’m guilty of the latest truth about marketing that he’s calling out like the kid pointing at the Emperor’s naked arse. Recently though, something hit home a little more personally. In a post from this year on “Marketing and Modesty” he points out how scientists in the past thought global cooling was inevitable, not global warming as we know it is today. He says: “If the A students who study physics, math, climate and medicine are so often misguided, do we really believe the C students who study advertising and marketing know anything?”

Now I realise he calls himself the contrarian so I should expect some response-baiting on his part, but this one just doesn’t sit right with me. Marketing these days isn’t the realm of the C student, and in many cases IS the field of the math(s) A student.

I was always a straight-A kid at school, although I won’t be winning any genius grants any time soon. What was different is that my choices always reflected a blend of the arts and the sciences, my final choices being English, Maths and Design Technology. Today when I’m hiring I go back as far as secondary-school education when discussing people’s CVs. I am looking for high achievers, but more importantly I’m looking for that mix. The person who’s equal parts a left-brain and right-brain thinker. I need for you to be able to create a stunning and eye catching campaign, but do so with as much science behind it as possible (not to mention analysis after) to make success more likely.

I think Bob is right when he says “I think we would be wise to keep open minds and admit that a great deal of our understanding of consumer behavior is incomplete at best, and wrong at worst.” , but I think even incomplete data can guide you if the result is statistically significant for the size of the population. I learnt that in maths. Dunnhumby, one of the biggest databases of consumer data ever, only uses 10% of it’s data to model out marketing insights for its clients and it does OK since they take between $3-$5billion annually for doing so.

I understand the Contrarian point. In an industry over-run with ad fraud and snake-oil agencies that claim to know what they’re doing when at best they are guessing, it’s easy to give marketers a bad name. I’d suggest to Bob that there’s always the good ones and they follow the numbers, not their egos.

HiPPO dodging for marketers

Have you ever been in a position where someone more senior than you has a really strong opinion on a campaign you are running, a branding decision or a piece of copy that you know to be wrong?  Avinash Kaushik coined the term HiPPO for this, or Highest Paid Person’s Opinion, which can, at best, make concrete decisions really difficult and, at worst, derail whole campaigns and strategies.

I’ve had a few HiPPO moments throughout all stages of my career, in fact I’ve been guilty of instigating a few myself when I’ve been a stressed-out founder or CMO. People don’t do it on purpose. Humans have a tendency to lean on cognitive biases, or shortcuts in the brain, in order to help with planning and decision making. One aspect of HiPPO-ing is to do with the authority bias, which means going along with the person who has the most power. I would argue there is something else going on when it happens to marketing decisions. Senior executives who have HiPPO moments with marketers are likely using an availability heuristic to make the best decision with the information they have to hand. They’ve seen ads, used Google and received promotional emails personally, so they think they understand the job in hand and want to see the kind of marketing that would connect with them the most. When I’ve been guilty of it, it’s because I’ve found an idea personally attention grabbing, and of course that’s what we’re looking for as marketers. That didn’t stop me being wrong.

You only have one way out of this situation where everyone leaves happy and better educated. That is, ask the customer.

The CEO wants a font change? Draw up three versions and user-test them. Your boss doesn’t know why you are advertising in a certain location? Use your customer and prospect data to explain why the choice is right. Whole campaigns can, and should be road-tested to give them best chance of success once live. This approach will not only diffuse the situation, but it will make you a better marketer and your business will thrive. As much as their opinion isn’t valid, neither is yours. Without data and research, you’d be as guilty as they are if you just pushed your agenda.

Your marketing activity is then designed and planned to appeal to desired audience - your customer - and not the tastes of the board room. Campaigns will perform better and on seeing the results maybe HiPPOS can be extinct for good.

[I feel guilty about that last joke and so have donated to this hippo conservation charity. Link below for you to do the same!]

https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hippopotamus