Marketing Art and Science

I learned years ago in business school that marketing is both art and science.  The great brands, the great marketers know how to merge the two and tell a meaningful story that creates excitement for both the retailer so they put the product on the shelves and for the consumer to then take it off the shelves.   The amount of data that is available to companies is now often staggering and it seems to me that many companies have started to lose the balance between the art and the science and the pendulum has swung far to the numbers side.   

Last week in the Wall Street Journal, Angus Loten wrote an article entitled, “Retailers Lean on Software to Combat Rising Costs” in which he said, “Supermarkets, sports stores and other retailers are putting software to work in efforts to lessen the impact of rising prices, with a growing number of stores adopting artificial-intelligence tools designed to manage price increases in a way that won’t chase shoppers away. 

The tools include a range of emerging AI systems trained on large amounts of sales, pricing and customer data, which aim to provide a level of online and in-store intelligence unimaginable a decade ago, retailers, software makers and market analysts say.”  Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying about the use of the data…the tools available can do some amazing things and should be used to help tell the story, but the numbers can only take you so far.  There has to be some “art” to the story as well.  As a consumer, there are several products that I am very loyal to and buy almost automatically.  Did I become a loyal customer because of the price?  Obviously price plays a role in my buying decision, but I bought into the product because I liked the way it smelled, tasted, looked, etc.…the art of the story.  The technology and data sources are absolutely needed to stay ahead in today’s market, but not at the expense of a great story. 

As a sales and marketing person, I know I look at advertising, product introductions and packaging differently than most, but I am drawn to a compelling story.  In my first marketing job, my boss said to me that the numbers should provide support, not illumination for the story.  At the time I admit that I didn’t fully understand what he was trying to say, but I realize that he was looking for the right balance between the art and science of marketing.  Use the data, and today there is more than ever, but craft a great story and they will come.