Thinking differently about different thinkers

What if history's greatest thinkers had been marketers?

Marketing is a relatively young science, and so has borrowed from psychology, economics and other fields of research. In that spirit of borrowing from others, I now draw from some of history’s greatest thinkers and reimagine how their more memorable work could have turned out if they had been in the field of marketing instead.

First off, we have Einstein’s Theory of Relativity:  E=mc2 or Energy equals Mass x Speed of Light (squared). If Einstein had been a marketing academic and had developed the Theory of Retailing, he might have instead come up with the cautionary: Engagement = Marketers Crazy (extra) or the more hopeful Excellence = Managing CEPs (many)

Sir Issac Newton is particularly well known for his three laws of motion. I’d like to think that, in his role as marketing director for Apple, Newton might have instead come up with the following Three Laws of Marketing Mistakes:

Instead of Newton’s first law, the Law of Inertia, which can be summarised as: ‘An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.’ We could have had: ‘A Distinctive asset stays a Distinctive Asset unless acted upon by an unbalanced Senior Marketing Executive.’

The Second Law of Motion, or the Law of Acceleration, is a nice equation of: F=ma or Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. This could have become: Funnels = muddled assumptions

The third law, which is the Law of Action and Reaction, is ‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’. This could instead turn into ‘For every brand plan that prioritises retention, there is an equal and opposite budget that downgrades growth expectations’. OK, this does not roll off the tongue quite as easily as Newton’s law but is a useful cautionary reminder.

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Posted on August 6, 2024 .