Data Can Point But it Can't Touch

Data has never been better.

And advertising has never been worse.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

The bigger the data, the bigger the insights, right? Um… not quite.

We got lazy.

Using data like a drunk uses a lamppost;more for support than illumination.

Expecting the data to do our work for us. Take the blame for us.

Out of fear, we seek certainty and perfection.

Have we forgotten that perfection is the enemy of progress?

We’re now playing it so safe that it’s dangerous.

Benching our better judgement and intuitionwithout even bothering to offer a hypothesis.

Remember, creative magic can’t be coded.

We don’t find insights in the tea leaves of data, we ratify them with the tools of data.

Insights are found in observations, in feelings, in questions, in connections- human connections. Found by humans!

Data is directional but it can’t touch you.

Move you.

Make you change your mind and behavior.

Today, there’s a civil war of the mind and heart.

With the pendulum swinging far too far to our left brains, blocking the intersection of art & science.

Let's all get back on the path back to balance.

Using our whole mind to see the whole pictureto create more effective work that works.

Work that relies on humanity to speak to humans.

Because, as the old carnival cliche says, logic tells and emotion sells.

We’re Drowning in Information, While Starving for Wisdom. - E.O. Wilson

Too much of a good thing. That’s what today’s abundance of data has become. Too much. In fact, the more we come to know, it seems the less we actually do know. It’s like a book full of random words that fails to tell a story. Then again, it may also be your opportunity:

The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.? -- E.O. Wilson.

Bottomline: data without analysis and insights is both nice and worthless.

If I Had Asked People What They Wanted, They Would Have Said a Faster Horse. – Henry Ford

This old chestnut never grows old.

The fact is, we don’t know ourselves very well.

We rationalize a lot. Especially when asked specific questions about what motivates us.

This is what clouds so much self-reported data.

The key is taking specific answers and laddering up to higher values.

Once we are in touch with people’s higher values, we’re in a better position to solve their problems and make their lives better.

That’s when faster horses become faster transportation < the ability to see and do more things < satisfy our insatiable curiosity < more time to deepen our relationships, both personal and professional.

Let’s keep gathering deeper and deeper data while realizing that eventually a true insight will have to came down to someone interpreting it all to arrive at a human truth.

?Algorithms Eat Anecdotes for Lunch

Trust me.

Back in the day, that’s what clients used to hear all the time.

And there’s certainly still room today for intuition, experience and imagination,

but first comes your due diligence.

These days there’s enough data that you shouldn’t have to settle for someone’s

gut feel and hunches to form the basis of your strategy.

Look for those who know how to tell good stories with numbers. And when

the time comes to fill in the gaps with intuition, experience and imagination,

you’ll already be closer to the right answer.

Make Creative for Consumers Not Researchers

Advertising and other creative fields are a right brain craft, not a left-brained profession. It shouldn’t be spelling out how people should think and react.

Over-relying on the assumptions of those who mine data and other left-brained efforts can be counterproductive. It frames things only in rational terms. It nips creativity in the bud. Without balancing both sides of the brain, your efforts will lack the texture and depth, serendipity and spontaneity that will capture the hearts of the people.

I’m Not Data Driven, I’m Data-Informed, Great-Thinking Driven.?-- Sir John Hegarty

Why? First data is only as good as the people who designed the data systems. Market research is not the highest rung of the professional ladder. Most people who do quant in market research don’t know what a Fields medal is. For those wondering, that’s the equivalent of the Nobel prize in math.?

Two, data while at times illuminating is often times limiting to a great story. It’s not to say ingnore the data. That would be stupid, but don’t be imprisoned by the delusion of certainty.?

What’s the delusion of certainty? Well that’s the misguided belief that advertising/marketing operate in a knowable environment.?

I’m going to geek out for a little bit. All linear differential equations have been solved, hardly any non-linear differential equations have been solved. Marketing/advertising is a non-linear system. Many Fields level math people haven’t solved it, what makes you think someone in market research will??

Not Everything that Can Be Counted Counts and Not Everything that Counts Can Be Counted. - Einstein

As relevant as ever. You can have your numbers right and your analysis all wrong. If computers can do your job, then you should get another job. Fortune favors the bold. The ones who make decisions. Not the ones who defer entirely to data.

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Business without the Jargon Monoxide. That's Navigating the Fustercluck. Get daily posts on LinkedIn or listen to the podcast on Spotify or another major platform.