blogAre you settling for sour mash when you could be having whiskey?
Stephen Colbert expressed an interesting analogy while discussing his comedic profession.
We often discuss satire as distillery. You have an enormous amount of material, and you have to distill it to a syrup by the end of the day. So much of it is a hewing process, chipping away at things that aren’t the point or aren’t the story or aren’t the intention. Really it’s that last couple of drops you’re distilling that makes all the difference. It isn’t that hard to get a ton of corn into a gallon of sour mash, but to get that gallon of sour mash down to that one shot of pure whiskey takes patience as well as discipline and focus.
This quote struck a chord for me, how about you? I especially like the part about only doing things that are related to the point you’re trying to make. The title of Master Distiller is earned by the actions not taken as much as by the smart decisions that lead to a quality spirit. Likewise, crafting unique customer experiences rather than settling for commonplace means making a concerted effort in the choices you make.
And these choices are heavily influenced by data. There is no shortage of numbers, however there is all too often a lack of actionable insights from analysis of data. Or when the analysis is valid, there’s a failure to act on it correctly. This begs the question, how can we make better decisions with the information we have?
Since it’s late I’m going to let this question keep stewing in the pot. I’m thinking one part involves having clear objectives. Afterall, what good is a map if you don’t know where you’re going?
Another is having well thought out segmentation logic, specifically giving more weight to behavior (the best predictor of future actions) and personas rather than relying largely on faceless demographics. Sure a distiller relies on pH levels, but he still cracks open each individual barrel to taste it’s contents. Do you know your customers individual flavors? Segmenting by behavior will get you to that point.
Feel free to add to my muddled thoughts in the comments section.
Photo credit Dapper Lad Cycle
Tags: Marketing
