Is marketing intuitive, counter-intuitive, or a combination of both? Tony Rossell and I recently discussed this issue, and you may find our thoughts beneficial to the quality of the decision-making you are involved in.
The context of the discussion was a common problem we both face, and that is how to convince non-marketing decision-makers that they may not have all the answers to their marketing problems.
Both of us have encountered individuals who base decisions on their unique personal experience. We’ll call this the intuitive side of marketing.
Both Tony and I agree that much of marketing is intuitive. For example, some of the savviest marketers are street vendors. They know about location, product relevance, promotion, competitive pricing, and so on.
We also know that much of marketing is not intuitive. How much is counter-intuitive, and what impact does counter-intuitive marketing have on the outcome of decision-making?
Tony suggested that as much as 20% of marketing is counter-intuitive. I took a different perspective and suggested that most non-professionals believe that 95% is intuitive, and the remaining percentage is irrelevant. Regardless of the percentages, the key point is that non-marketing decision-makers don’t know what they don’t know; they don’t know that there is more to marketing than their own experience.
Marketing intuition comes from a sense that what one experiences in the world is what the world experiences, and that what persuades you will naturally persuade others. The subjective is imbued with qualities of the objective. However, as we all know, different people can perceive the same experience in different ways, or have radically different experiences.
Counter-intuitive marketing may mean the difference between successful and non-successful decisions, or more vs. less effective actions. Whether it’s 20%, 5% or some other number, this counter-intuitive piece may be the most important piece to solving a marketing problem.
What are the signs for effective counter-intuitive marketing? Here are three dimensions to consider:
1. Facts matter. Gather facts, convert them to knowledge and market intelligence. Use them to improve decision-making.
2. Strategic disciplines matter. Use strategic disciplines to guide the development of your plans and recommendations.
3. Broad experience matters. Professionally acquired experience can edify, lead to unexpected solutions, and serve as brakes and red flags to intuitive marketing missteps.
What is your experience with intuitive and counter-intuitive marketing?
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