Finding Harmony Between Rationality of Data and the Irrationality of Culture

By On Influence and Influencers Archives
Cover image for  article: Finding Harmony Between Rationality of Data and the Irrationality of Culture

It's alluring to think of love, compassion, and joy driving our work, but how do we measure these things? In a hegemony of big data and metrics, it is difficult to imagine a different way of being.

I recently gave a keynote address in Moscow titled Culture, Magic and the Power of Invisibility. My premise was that society is increasingly based on the intangible or invisible. Intellectual property is at the crux of that and is frequently generated by creatives. Further, culture, as a manifestation of shared values, seeks meaning, which, in the world of advertising and marketing, is sorely needed.

The message resonated, but drew questions that tread on familiar ground: How do we create the type of work that is daring and boundary-pushing while feeling hamstrung by short-term business concerns?

At first glance, it might appear we are restaging the age-old "art versus science" battleground. But on reflection, I believe we are having a different conversation. It is more accurate to frame the debate as being between the rational (represented by data and metrics) and the irrational (represented by culture).

Measurement vs. Meaning

You rarely go wrong when citing marketing guru Peter Drucker, who famously stated, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." Measuring company progress via established metrics is an easy way to assess improvement over time. On a fundamental level, this feels right and coincides with our reliance on the seeming rationality of numbers. Ideally, the information we capture should provide a clear roadmap toward actionable and efficient decision-making.

Marketers are adherents to rationality, which, in their minds, is the path of least resistance toward measurable success. But most marketing messages are not resonating. A study from Trinity Mirror and Ipsos Connect found that 69 percent of consumers distrust advertising. And,  according to the current UM media agency WAVE study, only 4 percent of people globally trust the word of influencers. If that's not enough, the recent Havas Meaningful Brand Report 2019 found that 58 percent of people think the content coming from brands is meaningless.

In response, marketers feel their best answer is to double down on rationality by asking for even more potential control over influencers. A recent study by Takumi covers the growing tensions of trust and control between marketers and influencers. Titled "Trust, transactions, and trendsetters: the realities of influencer marketing," the report goes on to say that 43 percent of U.S. marketers feel they should have complete control over the content that influencers post.

When influencer marketing was in its ascendance, its initial success was due primarily to the way influencers used their unique voice to connect with their community in ways that brands could not. That formula has been upended with influencers specifically and culture more generally, as nearly all of it has been co-opted as just another marketing channel to be homogenized and controlled. Given the perception of marketing that approach doesn't seem too rational.

The Logic of Embracing the Irrational

Not to take anything away from Peter Drucker, but there are alternatives views on the rationality of measurement. Albert Einstein said, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts."

In today's marketing environment, this is a seemingly irrational perspective. That is precisely why it is a perspective that is invaluable. Culture is a natural byproduct of the seemingly irrational. It is, by definition, created by those who are on the margins and defy conventional wisdom.

When Dave Trott created a campaign to address third-world debt, he stepped on the third rail of marketing by making his creative all about sh*** — literally. When talking about his willingness to defy conventional logic, Trott makes his position clear in a 2009 blog post. He states, "Emotion and passion aren't logical or reasonable. That's why emotion and passion are the engines of change. Emotion and passion roll right over logic and reason."

You can't control emotion, and you can't measure passion. You can approximate those things by creating fuzzy math metrics but, more than likely, you will find yourself falling woefully short of generating meaning. Emotion and passion are intrinsic human qualities, defying attempts to codify and measure them. It is precisely why those human qualities, alongside such stalwarts as love and compassion, are what is most needed in today's data-centric environment.

Marketers are struggling to be relevant and find a way to connect with people. Their rational voice calls for more data, segmentation of the population into ever-slimmer groups, and micro-targeting ad buys. For all of the control they covet, this strategy shows no sign of working. People continue to opt out of what agencies are selling, while also opting in to the movements and the people they care about.

The case for irrationality is being made with every skipped ad and clicked X to close an annoying pop-up. People have made their preference known — let's see how long it takes the rational to catch up.

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