Marketing does not fit neatly into either the field of arts or science, says Ashgrove’s Terry van Rhyn – just as people don’t all fit neatly into consumer stereotypes.

Let’s talk about the magic that happens when you try to convince someone to buy something they didn’t know they needed – or even wanted. Welcome to the wonderful world of marketing!

Now, I know there are plenty of “marketing experts” out there who will tell you it’s all about data, research, and metrics. They’ll point to the science of consumer behaviour and show you some pretty graphs, making you feel like marketing is a straightforward algorithm. The truth? Marketing is not an exact science – it’s more like a wild blend of art, deduction, and a dash of divine inspiration.

Here’s the thing: you can pour over all the data, study customer personas, and analyse trends until you’ve got enough charts to wallpaper your office. But getting into the mind of the consumer is a bit like trying to catch a greased pig in a rainstorm. It’s unpredictable.

We might think we know what makes people tick, but sometimes, people just surprise us. Ever see an ad that made you cringe, yet somehow, it went viral? Yeah, we’ve all been there.

When it comes to positioning brands, that is really where the art comes in. It’s not about throwing a logo on a product and hoping for the best. It’s about tapping into emotions, creating connections, and telling stories that resonate. It’s about crafting a vibe that people can identify with, not just a series of facts and features. You can’t just calculate feelings.

Many years ago, I was involved in creating a positioning for a liquor brand by targeting a very specific and narrow demographic audience profile. We created a rich textured visual theme with a compelling headline to tap into heritage as the key value proposition.

As this was back in the late 1980s, we did not have the benefit of social media or any digital channels to give us immediate analytical data to assess – we had to wait for our quarterly Nielsen reading to determine sales and consumer trends.

What we discovered during one of these review sessions was that not only did we make inroads with our desired target audience, but we also reached a completely different and unexpected group which engaged with our brand as well.

It quickly became clear that, without us knowing, our visual theme and messaging resonated with this new audience extremely well and the brand took off with a huge increase in sales revenue amongst a group we’d never even considered.

This was unexpected but what was more unnerving to us was the fact that we spent many months carefully crafting the message with a very specific audience profile in mind and never even considered this, more lucrative audience group.

We took the win, but it demonstrated to us how we should always be openminded about how the market reacts to your advertising message. It’s also a lesson in not typecasting consumers!

So, now we have more tools – A/B testing, data analytics, consumer insights, and the rest. But at the end of the day, we’re still guessing to some extent. And that’s okay. Marketing is often about taking risks, being bold, and seeing what sticks. If you hit the mark, great! If you miss? Well, then you adapt and try again. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

The real secret to success in marketing isn’t just nailing the perfect campaign from day one, it’s the ability to pivot quickly and learn from what works (and what doesn’t).

So next time you see an ad that leaves you scratching your head, remember there’s a lot of guesswork and a fair amount of trial and error behind it. And while the “science” part is important, it’s the art of understanding human behaviour, creativity, and the occasional happy accident that makes marketing so much fun (and, sometimes, so unpredictable). Exactly why we keep coming back for more.