Training session part 4 of Aimee’s journey to learn marketing. If you missed part 1, check it out here. Part 2, here, and yep, Part 3.

In today’s meeting we discussed the balance between using intuition and data when making decisions in marketing. While intuition is an important part of leadership and innovation in any field, it is important to remember that in marketing we have access to unprecedented levels of precision data that can help us in every aspect of this work. Although we must maintain agility and a willingness to change in this ever-evolving world, there is no good reason to ignore plentiful data and well-proven strategies. With appropriate risk assessment, we can use the data to our advantage and still take a chance on doing something new–after all, some of the most brilliant and successful marketing campaigns in history were daring and unexpected.

John also spoke about the challenges of working as a marketing consultant and the importance of his own brand image. Maintaining client confidence and managing expectations are important tasks and are best handled with the same adaptability and attention to human connection that are useful to us in every aspect of marketing.

We also discussed the differences between using fear and disparaging language as part of a brand image, versus branding that focuses on confidence in a product and positive forward movement. Donald Trump vs Taylor Swift, as it were. Though these are drastic examples, they are good illustrations of an important concept to remember along the way: while the business world becomes more competitive and consumers more demanding every day, it is essential that we stay grounded and in touch with our morality.