I loved this comment so much that I had to bring it out of comment-land and into the forefront, lest you miss it. It was in response to my recent post, Data, we need more data and it is from Debra Helwig, the marketing guru at IGAF Worldwide, a friend, and one of the most insightful folks I know. It furthers the conversation. Read it and let me know your thoughts.
"Barbara, VERY interesting post.
I freely admit I hate numbers and number crunching - probably because I know I'm not very good at it. My boss jokes that our company will be just fine as long as no-one gives Debra a spreadsheet to manage (!) and he's only partially kidding. I wouldn't call myself a strict mar-com brochure generation flunky, just because I'm very interested in corporate strategy and how marketing needs to play into that strategy. But numbers? HA! At the same time, I also understand our desperate need for data and often grow tired of relying on my nearly 15 years of industry marketing experience to give me the "gut push" to do this, that, or the other.
Here's the big rub, though. Any system is only as good as the person using it. Buy me a $750 stand mixer, and I will make cakes that look exactly like they did when I was using a $15 Wal-Mart special. Give the same equipment to Wolfgang Puck, and you'll have a masterpiece. How is a data collection & analysis system really any different?
I wonder if this an area where you suck it up and not only invest in a system, but make the even more significant investment in a PERSON to manage the system. Let's face it, you're a creative type like me. Even if you get the system in place, is your first instinct going to be to run and crunch data? Will you even know the best questions to ask? And is it really a good use of your time, the high level strategist and creative guru, to go head-down in piles of database code to extract the 2% of your potential client base that might be interested in X?
I read a post yesterday (and darn it, I can't find it now) that lamented the fractioning of the marketing function between analytics and creative, saying that the creative types were gutted shells of real marketers and that only a person who can do it all is a REAL marketing expert. I personally think holistic expertise is overrated. Do what YOU do best and find someone to help you do the things you don't do well. The key there is to find the right person, one who can help you understand what you need and how to go about getting it without feeling like they have to be the CMO. After all, you are still in charge and you are still the person who understands the industry - the analytics guy is the one you pay to build and play the database like a Stradivarius for you.
Investment? Oh, yes. A super huge one. But if your firm is big enough now that trend data and customer data need more intensive tending and managing, and if you are serious about getting the most out of that data, maybe that staff investment is the "pay to play" for a massively higher return later on, combined with greater job satisfaction all around."
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