Marketing: Art or Science?
By Jeff Lowe
As pioneers in emotion and creativity, marketing ex-
ecutives have utilized predominantly right-brain strategies
with artful storytelling to enlighten and engage audiences.
Throughout my 25 years in marketing, there has never been a
question in my mind on the importance of this approach.
Proof positive that emotional marketing is still a driving
force are this year’s Super Bowl ads, where Airbnb launched
“We accept,” promoting diversity and inclusivity, while P&G’s
Mr. Clean emerged as somewhat of a sex symbol in a cheeky
“Cleaner of your dreams” advertisement.
But with the recent onset of buyer journey complexity,
Big Data, and “the Internet of Things,” left-brained strategic
thinking is taking prominence. Marketing has become more
rational, analytic and data-driven.
Knowing how to strike to the right balance between ratio-
nal and emotional marketing is a core challenge faced by all
marketers today. Marketing is the juxtaposition of right and
left-brain thinking, of bridging emotional, artistic storytelling
with data, insights and strategy.
To better understand the contrast, let’s explore two differ-
ent perspectives:
“Good creative people are junkies - art heads, addict-
ed to creative expression. They take jobs in agencies to
feed their habit. They’re smart, they can act, you’ll be-
lieve they’re fascinated by your revenue and margins
and sales results. You can’t rehabilitate creative people.
There’s no cure. Get over it. You need them, they need
you.”
The quote above is from a highly talented creative di-
rector that believes storytelling and beautiful pictures above
all else will win a customer. Now compare this quote from a
strategic marketer with a great reputation:
“Marketing is about delivering qualified leads that are
ultimately converted to revenue. It is about delivering
business results, and as such must be planned and mea-
sured rigorously. To connect customers to business re-
30 July 2017