The dark energy at the heart of the “dark art” of marketing

Citation

(2010), "The dark energy at the heart of the “dark art” of marketing", Strategic Direction, Vol. 26 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2010.05626gad.007

The dark energy at the heart of the “dark art” of marketing

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 26, Issue 7

Mitchell A. Marketing (UK), 20 January 2010, Start page: 28, No. of pages: 2

Debates the question of whether the current metrics model for marketing is sufficiently accurate and comprehensive or whether it is time to explore fresh considerations. Draws a parallel with the concept of “dark matter” and “dark energy” in physics, where only 2 percent of all the matter and energy in the universe registers on existing instruments, to illustrate the fact that, while what organizations do may be measured intensively and accurately, the metrics of how people behave in a marketing context are largely unknown and unmeasured. Stresses that, behind the scenes, individuals are naturally always seeking to improve their personal metrics and these tend to be framed in business terms through certain assets (time, money, energy, knowledge, attention, emotion), and they “invest” these assets in certain activities, and want to get the best possible “returns” or outcomes from these investments. Argues that the effectiveness of any marketing is a function of how much value it adds to the consumer, and if effective marketing is about alignment, then a marketing metrics system that focuses on measuring how effective people have been at changing consumers probably does not measure what it appears to be measuring. Notes that these metrics, whether “hard” measures like sales and profits, or “soft” measures like preference or brand equity, might give some idea about what happened, but not why. Calls for a reframing of debate about which marketing medium is most effective (TV, Internet, posters), or which discipline is most effective (advertising, direct marketing), since such debates are currently meaningless. Article type: Viewpoint ISSN: 0025-3650 Reference: 39AF244

Keywords: Business performance, Marketing models, Marketing strategy, Marketing theory, Performance measurement (quality), Strategic marketing