Too often it is not a lack of information that hinders marketing strategy but an inability to select which information is pertinent, analyze that information correctly, and come up with a timely executable strategy based upon the analysis. In poker a seconds hesitation gives too much information away. In marketing stalling a decision is a surefire way to give your competitors the lead. The key is making decisions and making them when they are needed, this ability is often confused with "a Knack for marketing" or "pure intuition" when it is really just good decisions based on a synthesis of past information.
5 Ways to utilise your poker skills to win compete and win in the world of high stakes marketing:
- Don't equate marketing with a game of smoke, mirrors, illusion and luck.
It's a wonderful thing for a poker player to sit at a table full of players who think that, no mater what they do, the outcome will depend only on the fall of the cards, card sharks keep a sharp lookout for these weak "fish" and know that the game gets progressively easier to beat with each fish at the table.
- Viewing Ads does nor make you an expert on marketing
Memorizing the hand rankings does not make you an expert on poker any more than watching ads and buying stuff makes you an expert on marketing. True marketers relish the prospect of competing against companies where the legal team has had as much input in the latest campaign as the VP of marketing.
- There is no such thing as perfect strategy Marketing
Poker is quite unlike other games of skill such as bridge or chess where it takes time to figure out the workings of the game and one can immediately see the depth of the understanding needed to win. The complicated workings of these games lead people to the immediate conclusion that they are games of skill. When the game is simpler most people tend to put the game on the level of a simple game of chance, The same is true of Marketing, the process itself is deceptively simple, and there are many textbooks that show you how to concoct a marketing strategy but unless are able to constantly innovate and adapt you will never be a Marketing Shark.
- In marketing there will always be a lack of complete information
In chess given enough computing power you can find a way to beat almost any human player because chess is deterministic. You merely (sorry Bobby Fisher) go through all the possible permutations and possible results and come up with the best move in the circumstances. Marketing is not completely deterministic. If it was, ads would merely list features and specifications for comparison.
We don't always know why we buy the products we buy let alone why our customers buy the products we sell. In Marketing there will always be a lack of complete information. You will never know exactly what your competitors are up to, you will also never know with absolute certainty how your target market will react to your marketing proposition. This does not mean however that cooking up the campaign in a vacuum pushing it out the door and praying is the best strategy. The use of, the gathering of and the processing of information are keys to maximizing profitable campaigns and minimizing losing or negative ones. - When you have enough information act and act decisively.
Daniel Negreanu, one of the world's foremost poker professionals, often describes hands that he has played in poker tournaments in some detail in his online journal. The insights into his decision making show more thought in one hand of poker than most "off site marketing strategy breakaway" sessions. What is amazing about the thought process is not so much the memory and the information storage but the synthesis of information on the fly and the resulting decision making.
Steve Morris is a Marketing Shark who blogs semi regularly at the Long Con where you can find insights into the world of business and marketing and the ongoing Texas Hold'em Marketing series.
