The Motz von Butz: The Superstition of Statistics Technology
Trying to achieve creative success through science and statistics is the wrong approach. By Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, source of inspiration, and—for over a year and a half now—also a grumbler for *Werbewoche* readers. Please send relevant comments to [email protected]
At our meeting, she then presented me with an almost endless Excel sheet. Her teachers, or rather professors, wanted to use this technocratic table to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign she had been assigned. At first I had trouble understanding that there really was such a technocratic grid that could be used to calculate the comprehensibility and chances of success of a campaign. Thankfully, in my long time as a creative advertiser, I have never faced a client who was an advocate of such solution-finding methods.
My theory is this: If young, intelligent people who also want to be trained in marketing are taught such outlandish theories today, I am even more worried than before about the advertising of the future.
It took me a lot of effort to convince the student that the strategies, the creative implementation and a media plan can only come from common sense and are not mathematics. You have to imagine a musician. Let's take Mick Jagger and Keith Richard, who would like to have another hit. To do this, they would launch a survey of various target groups around the world to evaluate the latest, trendiest expressions and most popular styles of music. The whole thing would then be evaluated mathematically and catalogically. A ranking list in percentages of the most mentions would then be the guideline for the newest and most successful Rolling Stone song of all time. That's certainly not how "I can get no satisfaction" came about
Martin Suter, our successful Swiss author, doesn't write his novels by imagining what his readers would most like to read. Instead, he writes what he enjoys or what preoccupies him. Just like all artists, be it Jeff Koon, Prince, Polo Holfer, Yello or even the Stones.
This is exactly how advertising works. Unfortunately, you see fewer and fewer good ones. Stop analyzing and constructing. Do what you enjoy and that will also be fun for consumers.
My stand-up is that the student has successfully completed her marketing thesis.
