Simplicity Versus Complexity
Which Leads to Marketing Success?

I’ve been thinking about how to achieve marketing success and an interesting dynamic has surfaced. The perspectives that ad agency people have on complexity, compared to the perspective of direct/interactive marketing people is an enlightening clue to how to achieve marketing success. I’m not suggesting one is right and the other is wrong, just that their perspectives are quite different.

For the ad agency perspective consider The Ad Contrarian’s post The Complicators Have Won. For the ad agency folks, the “idea” is king. This is fine, but it also tends to generate a single mindedness that blinds them to the opportunities inherent in what is often a messy sales process.

Direct/interactive folks love complexity. We thrive on it. For us the “sales process,” with all its mess, is fertile ground full of chances to adjust the targeting and message to be even more relevant to prospective customers. That said, we sometimes lose the thread of coherence provided by the idea.

People who are good at one are rarely good at the other. And, since agencies tend to attract big idea people with their appropriately sized egos, the tendency toward simplicity, toward believing that the idea drives all, often overshadows the executional opportunities found in real world complexity. This is a shame since consumers welcome and value both.

An idea that connects with them emotionally and rationally is appealing. But they live the complexities of the real world every day. They also appreciate the value found in messaging that is relevant to who they are and where they are in the sales process.

Finally, most clients, the people assessing the ideas being presented, fall into the big idea camp and thus most pitches are long on idea and short on execution. Complexity is just too tough to sell. A fact that direct/interactive people have to remember when protesting to their ad agency colleagues, “There is so much more we can do.” I’ve learned to take this in stride.

Hip Shots

• Use the “big idea” as your glue but there are opportunities in the details. Both are important for marketing success.
• Give the direct/interactive/data/media folks, the ones who are buried in the details, an opportunity to speak. Their perspective often makes the difference between good and great.
• Remember that consumers want both, the idea they can relate to quickly and, if they are in market, the details to make an informed decision.

Tagged as: Advertising, Business Strategy, Direct Marketing, Online Advertising