Logic Is Not Always Your Ally

Can you be too smart?

Having worked in several tech companies, I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of very, very smart people (I keep hoping it will rub off but, so far, no dice).

Obviously there's nothing wrong with being smart, but there's definitely a danger in being "too smart."

Here's the deal: when confronted with a marketing challenge, the first temptation is to review the problem, think it over, and come to a highly logical solution. From a logical perspective, you can often come up with a bulletproof position that is fully defensible if questioned.

That said, you may still be dead wrong, as consumers are not necessarily logical creatures (or, at least, they may not share your same viewpoints that lead to your logical answer).

This is critical to keep in mind when preparing a web site, product page or special offer as people will typically NOT do what you expect them to do. Given this fact, it's critical that we take a stance as marketers and make marketing an "outside-in" exercise rather than an "inside-out" exercise.

Think of Jane Goodall. She didn't become an authority on chimpanzees by studying their biology and making sound logical assumptions as to how they would behave. Instead, she went into their environment, observed their behaviors and tested her hypotheses. She took the outside reality and brought it in to her studies, rather than hypothesizing internally and applying it outwards.

Fortunately, as marketers we don't have to go live with primates. We can learn about our markets through research, interviews and surveys. We then need to validate our assumptions through a/b testing and observed behavior so we can do the right thing for our customers, even when it conflicts with our own logic.