Unified Theories Posted on September 21, 2008 Post a comment

Creating the optimal marketing campaign for a brand is a complex process. While most people think of marketing as an art, the process of developing a great campaign is actually a lot like science. With input variables coming from the client, consumer research, the media buyer, the agency team, and even the legal department, identification of a single unifying campaign theme can be extremely challenging.

It just so happens that there is another occupation that attempts a similar daunting task. A physicist. Now, maybe the association between the coordinated execution of an advertising or marketing campaign and the effort of a physicist to develop a unified theory of elementary particles is a bit of a stretch, but I’m betting neither professional would want to switch shoes with the other.

In advertising, the impact of any one solution can vary greatly, and the creativity of any one campaign is infinite. Ideas often come and go like spinning particles in an accelerator. Piecing together consumer preference with key messages and product benefits while staying on the brand message can be a trying task for any great mind. But do not be discouraged--just as Einstein said, “Eureka!"* at the realization of his Theory of Special Relativity, advertising’s “aha” moments can be equally as enlightening.

On numerous occasions, related scientific discoveries have occurred at the same time on separate parts of the globe, and it’s often for a very good reason. This phenomenon is a result of the collective progress of the scientific community. Essentially, the research process has allowed understanding to hit a threshold high enough for the solution to be discovered.

There’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case in advertising and marketing. Every new challenge should start at the beginning and build to its crescendo. To be truly unique, and to create a solution that solves the issues best, advertising should go through a similar scientific process for discovery--starting first by learning the industry, conducting consumer research, mapping the audience, and mining the research. After there is a collective understanding in place, it is then reasonable to set goals and begin the brainstorming process. Racking the brain for patterns in this framework to create a unified advertising campaign is a talent, but the foundation must be in place for any great discovery. Take a look at your company’s creative process, could it be more scientific?

*According to speculation, Einstein never said, “Eureka!” Instead, as the story goes, Archimedes shouted the infamous phrase when he discovered the first real method for measuring volume while taking a bath.