Patrick Scullin

6 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

Blogging
>
Patrick blog
>
Is Your Marketing Suffering From The McNamara Fallacy?

Is Your Marketing Suffering From The McNamara Fallacy?

c0317693.jpg

I’m finally catching up with something that’s occupied about 30% of my DVR space for months — THE VIETNAM WAR, a 17.25-hour film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

It’s tragic to watch as the leaders of our country make so many bad decisions. I watch sorrowfully because I know their pigheaded mistakes were paid with the lives of 58,220 brave Americans.

And those who came home from fighting that awful war did not receive a hero’s welcome. They still haven’t, and many are afflicted with PTSD as souvenirs.

A major factor in the long-running Vietnam catastrophe was the bad decision making and advice given by Robert McNamara, the United States Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968. At the root of his bogus thinking was numbers.

McNamara was driven by enemy body counts. In his mind, the war was a game of attrition — whichever side had the fewer number of dead bodies would win.

He came from the business world (The Ford Motor Company) and was a master of systems analysis, so he treated war as if planning operational efficiency.

But car parts can’t think, and they don’t have emotions.

McNamara was a slave to metrics and made his decisions solely on quantitative observations, ignoring other factors like the attitudes of the native people, and their unconventional approach to engaging battles.

He held fast to his numbers, and McNamara had Lyndon Johnson believing in his bulletproof thinking.

The Secretary of Defense’s belief in only what can be measured has been named The McNamara Fallacy.

Not to minimize the tragic sorrow of war, but today I see many marketers applying McNamara thinking to their initiatives and campaigns. They let metrics and analytics rule all their decision making.

If it cannot be measured, it doesn’t matter.

These marketers believe in testing, testing, testing–– and the result is the soulless, pedantic crap that floods all media and fuels our desire to avoid and despise advertising.

Are there big ideas out there, ones designed to win hearts and minds?

Precious few.

Instead, we are exposed to an assault of tactics designed to trigger response. Marketers believe if they string together enough battle victories, they’ll win the war.

Maybe, but at what cost?

If your marketing is strictly transactional, I doubt you’ll build much of a brand. You’ll occupy your turf until someone wages a better battle.

Price wars are the quintessential example of this.

Great brands are built with an empathetic understanding of human wants and needs, and an engaging, compelling presentation of why the brand exists and what it can do –– as filtered through the prism of humanity.

These ideas and brands become movements. They capture imaginations, and if the products perform, they instill loyalty and pride in ownership and use.

Weak brands exist in tactical warfare and decisions made solely by the numbers.The spreadsheets are analyzed, and new tactics loaded and deployed.

As Daniel Yankelovich wrote in “Corporate Priorities: A continuing study of the new demands of business” in 1972:

“The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily really isn’t important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.”

What type of marketing campaigns are you engaging?

Are you bringing your humanity to your job, or are you making decisions by the numbers?

Are you taking any chances, following your instincts, and trusting your gut?

Are you being ruled by rational thought only? Remember, most people buy emotionally and rationalize their purchase later.

When you review creative ideas, do you palms ever sweat? Don’t look for palm antiperspirant — sweating palms are good!

If an idea doesn’t make you nervous, chances are it does not have the potential for greatness.

Be human. Be vulnerable. Be brave.

And if you haven’t seen it, watch THE VIETNAM WAR.

##########################################

Patrick Scullin is an empathetic adman and founder of ASO Advertising.

He has two blogs: Empathetic Adman (marketing pontification) and The Lint Screen (satire, smartassery humor, pop culture ramblings, and advice for people getting hip replacements).


"
Comments

Patrick Scullin

6 years ago #3

#1
Great point, Don Kerr. Thanks for reading and adding your perspective.

Patrick Scullin

6 years ago #2

#2
You are so right, Brian McKenzie. We apparently never learn, or, the military industrial complex never wants to learn–– there's too much money to be made in war. So very sad. Thanks for reading and contributing. Best wishes!

don kerr

6 years ago #1

Patrick Scullin "If your marketing is strictly transactional, I doubt you will build much of a brand." Company stories are as important, if not more, than the products produced as it is the stories which create an emotional connection with the customer.

Articles from Patrick Scullin

View blog
1 year ago · 2 min. reading time

The Secret Service accepts no blames for missing texts on January 5, and 6, 2021. · Jim Fletcherson ...

1 year ago · 2 min. reading time

Ernie Johnson may be the perfect template for a Republican candidate. · Dry Cleaner Ernie Johnson wa ...

1 year ago · 2 min. reading time

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to star in upcoming production. · Attendees to last week’s CPAC in Dalla ...

Related professionals

You may be interested in these jobs

  • Genie Healthcare

    Nursing Home RN

    Found in: Jooble US O C2 - 2 days ago


    Genie Healthcare New Lenox, IL, United States

    Genie Healthcare is seeking a travel nurse RN Home Health for a travel nursing job in New Lenox, Illinois. · Job Description & Requirements · ~ Specialty: Home Health · ~ Discipline: RN · ~ Start Date: 04/08/2024 · ~ Duration: 13 weeks · ~40 hours per week · ~ Shift: 8 hour ...

  • WM

    Route Manager Commercial

    Found in: beBee S2 US - 1 week ago


    WM Sacramento, United States Paid Work

    As an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status. · I. Job Summary · This role is respon ...

  • Health Advocates Network-Nursing

    Travel Nurse RN

    Found in: Jobget US C2 - 21 hours ago


    Health Advocates Network-Nursing Fort Collins, CO, United States

    Health Advocates Network-Nursing is seeking a travel nurse RN ICU - Intensive Care Unit for a travel nursing job in Fort Collins, Colorado. · Job Description & Requirements · Specialty: ICU - Intensive Care Unit · Discipline: RN · Start Date: ASAP · Duration: 12 weeks · 36 hours ...