Shake, Data and Roll

Inhibitions buried. Check. Dance moves prepped. Check. An obligatory freshly laundered fan-crazy top proudly adorned. Check.

At nine years old, that's me jiving to the infectious bluesy beat of "Green Door". Shakin' Stevens was more than just a name; he was the electric jolt that set my young hips ablaze. The poster in my room? Shaky in his finest threads: double-denim swagger and soft white leather ankle boots.

Was there anyone cooler?

Well, it wasn't me. With my bowl-cut bob and cherubic cheeks, I was a light year away from the school kids, parents, and grannies idolising this 70s and 80s leg shaker.?

But I was a fan. I soaked up everything I could about my slick-topped hero. Over the next 42 years, though, my musical tastes matured. The denim jacket became moth chowder. Still, that early passion for stuff that was important to me stuck.

My dalliance with dance aside it made me think about perception versus reality. To me, back then, in simpler times, Shaky?was?musical brilliance. But many critics dismissed him as a pop gimmick. Our subjective experiences colour how we see the world, even when that perception doesn't match the facts. Subjection colours a lot these days.

Take the ever-busy, perpetually marching sun-blind penguins plunging ahead on thin ice. They go full steam based on their view of the situation and where they need to be. But a narrow perspective often misses the bigger picture. You need a wide-angle lens. And to test the waters before making assumptions. A crevice of unknown depth could lurk beneath. And for penguins, all manner of big-toothed dangers.

This same dynamic plays out in marketing all the time. We envision clever campaigns, expecting enthusiastic responses from target audiences. But reality doesn't always match our assumptions and predictions. We still need to broaden our view. Over 80% of new products fail. That's a lot of good work going into an abyss. Maybe some of it deservingly so.

That's why profoundly understanding your audience is so vital. You can't bank solely on hunches when money's on the line. You need to rigorously examine how to craft stories that reveal flawed assumptions.

But data shouldn't steer the ship completely. A direction of travel only sometimes provides the nuances of the environment around you. And humans don't operate on logic alone. We're wired for storytelling - to connect with narratives that resonate emotionally and tap into shared truths. Sometimes, you need to trust your gut and take a creative leap.

Confusing, huh?

That's where behavioural science and imagination form a power station of a duo. Science spots the psychological triggers behind choices. Creativity blends emotion and bold ideas to weave stories that spark desire. It's your clean energy source to great work. Too often, marketers see creativity and data as oil and water. But they can blend seamlessly.?Data informs, science explains, creativity executes.?Combined, they enable storytelling that innovates.

Of course, new approaches require courage. It's tempting to stick to proven formulas. But looking at challenges differently is how seismic shifts happen. And you want to be seismic in a world that is seismically shifting daily. This all boils down to constantly re-examining assumptions in how you view reality and frame problems. Maintaining that beginner's mindset is critical for breakthroughs.

Embrace data, science and creative storytelling and you will thrive. And forge lasting emotional connections, not just transactions.

You've got to nurture the symbiosis between these elements. Experiment, blend diverse perspectives, and challenge conventions - that's how creativity blossoms. Do that, and you'll reap a rainforest of customer relationships before they all get cut down. The rainforest, not the customers. But save the rainforests, please.

Like young me didn't fully appreciate Shaky's novelty status, our marketing perceptions skew reality. But blending creativity, behavioural science, and data helps align them. And you might just rock customers' worlds along the way. Just like Shaky rocked mine.