INSPIRED BY HUMANS™

It’s one of my guiding principles. It’s also a differentiating principle. In the last 15 years or so, marketing has taken an unfortunate turn toward the mechanical and rational (a result of tech software on the industry). Not that there isn’t value to be leveraged with technology and data science, but what has been lost in this change is genuine human connection.

In marketing—as in product dev and leadership—you win by understanding deep needs and wants, and meeting them through emotion, comedy, and magic. You don’t win through rational intellect and persuasion.

Don’t go get your degree in marketing; study behavioral psychology and economics. Take courses in art history and political theory. Be an observer of culture and deeply curious about what moves hearts and minds.

There is a place for speaking logically. People seek rational validation for choices made on emotion. They want evidence that you can solve their problem. But we understand that only because we recognize that a fundamental human need is trust, and a fundamental fear is regret.

Strategy needs creativity. Creativity needs art. All three are useless without grounding in what it means to be human.

Let’s talk over a ☕️