09 Apr Magic, Science, Data & Intuition
We all know about data and analytics, and how useful they can be. No need to labour the point thank you. Rather, this article is more of a call to arms, a reminder to all of us that without an idea, without that magic creative spark – what the hell is there to analyse in the first place?!
I love this story. Baileys Irish Cream was created when product developer Tom Jago – along with his colleagues David Gluckam, Hugh Seymour Davies and a willing barman – ‘experimented with cocktails’ in the Dorset Hotel in Manhattan. They later came up with the name of the ubiquitous Irish liqueur in Gluckman’s London Office.
The fact that Baileys is not as Irish as it claims to be comes as no surprise to anyone in marketing, and that’s not what I love about the story. It’s the fact that they completely ignored the ‘unanimous negative response’ from the focus groups (the data) that followed – that’s the part I love*. They followed their gut instinct and launched the product anyway.
Now I don’t have anything against data, or focus groups for that matter, it’s just that we need to keep it all in perspective.
“The trouble with market research is that people don’t think how they feel, they don’t say what they think and they don’t do what they say.” David Ogilvy
Yes there’s a need for analytics but we shouldn’t forget to use our brains. Human nature hasn’t changed, and the most important part of marketing is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and figure out what they’re thinking. Then of course, to develop relevant communications that convince them to change their behaviour, make a purchase, whatever…
While data can deliver information on what people are up to, it can’t go inside their heads and tell you what they’re feeling, and it certainly can’t write insightful copy or develop new products that sell. You need intuition, empathy and skills for that.
You could easily spend your day reading about the latest in social media, the changing face of SEO and SEM, and the amount of ‘column inches’ devoted to it all could lead you to believe that nothing else is quite as important. But, and I have to remind myself of this now and again, that’s not quite right. That’s not the job either. Our job is to immerse ourselves in the subject matter, have a look at the information available, then come up with some magic.
So I’ve started to take a break from ‘keeping up-to-date’. Instead I’m spending time every day working on my copywriting skills, and analysing successful brands and campaigns from the past. When the focus was on the message, as opposed to the medium, and intuition was paramount.
Bailey’s Irish Cream, now one of the top 20 spirit brands in the world. Surely there’s a little magic in that.
*Thanks go to Wally Olins for sharing it with us in ‘On B®and’.
PUBLISHED: Australian Marketing Institute, July 2013
IMAGE: Thoughtful Gibbon. Mogo Zoo, Mogo, NSW
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