Why marketing is a painting (but more impressionism than realism)

Sketch it out, fill it in and make adjustments as you go

A friend of mine has finally published his e-book. It’s a sprat to catch a mackerel: purposely controversial, it challenges conventional thinking on something that people assume was nailed down years ago. He wants to upset the established order, and get people talking. But more remarkable than the content is the path the e-book has taken. Because it’s been a long and winding road, over a period of four endless years. It’s been through innumerable revisions, rewrites and corrections. What changed everything was when I told him the story of my artist friend a month ago. I’d once asked her how she knew a painting was finished. “I don’t,” she’d answered. “I just stop. Then it’s finished.” I’ve mentioned this episode before, and with good reason: it’s a powerful lesson for those of us who wallow in perfectionism, and try to turn an art (marketing) into a science (like… er, science). So my friend saved his document, formatted it, loaded it into the e-book template, and published it on Amazon. It’s had pretty good sales, but here’s the thing: the feedback is entirely unexpected. Readers have praised parts of the book he dashed off without a second thought, and criticised others that he laboured over through 20 drafts. He’s gained insights that he’d never have got without taking the plunge. He’s not going to change the book yet – though he’s tempted – but will bring out an updated version in 6-12 months, based on a bigger sample of feedback. A lot of his expectations have been turned upside down. Some intuitions have been confirmed, others definitively cast aside. But none of this would have happened if he hadn’t stopped, taken a deep breath and published.

Assumption or presumption?

I’ve said it before: assumptions can be very dangerous, because they mean that we develop blind spots. We don’t question certain things because they’ve become so much part of our mental landscape. And lazy assumptions can often form the core of a marketing plan. But questioning can be equally dangerous: often, we know what we think and design the questions/investigations to get the answer we want. And if we don’t get it, we often reinterpret the data until we do. It’s called confirmation bias. To further complicate the picture, humans are fallible, changeable and can be influenced (if they weren’t, why would anybody advertise?). Here are some ideas/preconceptions that I’ve had challenged recently:

I thought I hated e-readers, until I eventually cracked (when Amazon dropped the price) and I bought a Kindle Touch. Now, I’ve got the missionary zeal of all converts, telling anybody who’ll listen, and some who won’t, that they’re the way of the future.
I thought Korean pop phenomenon Psy was just a weirdo, with his Kim Jong-Il-style hairdo and psychedelic suits. His popularity was inexplicable. But then I heard a profile of him on the radio. I realised he’s a shrewd business operator, and found out that the song is an ironic take on Gangnam, the chic suburb of Seoul where rich execs live in big houses with their spoilt kids.
I assumed that JK Rowling couldn’t write for adults, and then I downloaded a sample of The Casual Vacancy to my Kindle Touch. And guess what? I was right.

To misquote Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t good. And it could easily have been three out of three – in fact it might still be. So the message here is trust your intuition, but question it. Question everything, but don’t forget your intuition. Do your research, but remember the results might change over time. Do some analysis, but not to the point of paralysis. Sketch out your marketing plan and paint in as much as you can. But remember, it’s always a work in progress, and it’s never finished. Throw the doors open to the public, get some feedback, then make artistic adjustments. Now you’re there. Until the next time. Find out more:

Seoul brother: Psy has all the right moves in the the so-bad-it’s-good Gangnam Style (500m views and counting on Youtube).
Psy ops: BBC Radio 4’s Profile goes beyond Gangnam to find out what makes the popster tick.
Harry Kiri: JK Rowling writes for Muggles in The Casual Vacancy at Amazon.co.uk.

Kevin Marketing.