The Known, the Unknown, and the Danger of Deadlines

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and there are things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors,” wrote William Blake. Those doors, according to a new white paper from database services provider Merkle, are key to “quantitative marketing.”

In its paper, “Mastering Quantitative Marketing,” Merkle suggests that marketers can improve their effectiveness by linking “known,” observed facts and unobserved but “knowable” data: “For example, knowing the ‘best’ market segment-level pricing strategies for a new product launch may be currently unknown, but is imminently knowable with appropriate prelaunch customer research.”

So far, quantitative marketing sounds like common sense. But while most chief marketing officers will probably agree that their organizations should be practicing it, according to Merkle three major issues prevent most organizations from doing so:

An inability to use the applicable data they have or to obtain the applicable data they need.

An inability to organize and implement the ideas that result from effective application of data. Lack of understanding, lack of infrastructure, high costs, lack of clear metrics, and organizational silos are among the reasons behind this pitfall.

The “functional complexity of marketing….As complexity increases there is a greater likelihood that decisions and initiatives start to focus on the process and timelines in order to meet production schedules. This is often in conflict with working on the ‘right’ things that will actually have a direct impact on results.”