Why 'giving up control' is the wrong metaphor (and why it matters)

Metaphors matter.

Metaphors are central to the way we learn new things.  When we encounter something actually new--something completely outside of our experience--the first thing we do is look for an apt metaphor.  Why?  It's simple.  We want to be able to predict how this new thing (whatever it is) is going to behave or affect us in the future.  

This isn't some new marketingspeak gimmick.  This is hard-wired in our DNA because it's primary to our survival.  (Probably the three most important references on this are Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson; Dr. Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion; and Marketing Metaphoria, Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman.)

This principle applies to every possible situation, whether you try to teach someone what happens when you strike a match or suggest to a sophisticated marketer how they could improve the outcomes of their campaigns. As long as a metaphor is available, we'll reach for it.

This is why I believe that the use of metaphors to communicate is a Fundamental Dynamic.  It is a powerful tool in the marketer's toolbox that's so deeply ingrained in the way we think that we even sometimes use it unconsciously. With that power though comes the necessity (and maybe responsibility?) for being precise.

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One of the hottest metaphors circulating right now is the recommendation that we all should "lose control" or "give up control of our marketing." I hate this metaphor. It's too easily misunderstood, and it can do more harm than good. Why?

• Would you suggest to the sculptor that she give up control of the chisel?
• Would you suggest to the surgeon that he give up control of the scalpel?
• Should the chemist give up control of the experiment?
• Or the cellist?  Should Yo Yo Ma give up control of his bow?

It's easy to think of a million examples where control is urgently important and the popularity of the Internet has done absolutely ZERO to change it. Marketing, which is part art and part science, is not so different from these other activities.

For most of the things we marketers do, control is absolutely essential.  And that has not changed, nor is it like to ever change. EXAMPLES: you need control over the messages you communicate and any content you create--regardless of whether it's for inbound or outbound use. This includes communications that engage your customers and prospects in ways that consistently and accurately reflect your organization's: business goals, marketing strategy, brand and messaging, sales and distribution channels, policies and procedures, unique selling proposition and (in some cases) regulatory compliance. If you give up control of those elements of your marketing programs for which control's essential, you're gambling big time.

For other things in marketing, we've never had any control, and that won't change, either. EXAMPLES: you can't control public relations nor can you control social media or the conversations your customers, prospects and their influencers have with each other. You can participate (though there are limits), and seek to influence, but never control. 

Historically, if you wanted control over the message, you couldn't achieve it with PR--you had to buy an ad.  Message control has always been the primary difference between PR and advertising. This has not changed.  It was one of the foundations of Al and Laura Ries's 2003 book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, all the lessons of which still apply today. 

Between the things we must control and those we never could, there's not much control left that's available to "lose."

The originator of the "lose control" mantra of course is David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR and more recently, World Wide Rave.  He was the one who first dropped this pebble into the pond with his ebook, "Lose Control of Your Marketing." Given his popularity, immediately the ripples in the pond grew and the noise in the social media echosphere became deafening.  Now there are armies of lose control of your marketing advocates (not all of whom fully understand what they espouse IMHO).

Whenever an idea becomes this widespread, it usually means it contains a kernel of truth. I agree in this case, there is a meaningful part. It is the notion that we should not try to control those things that are by their very nature outside of our control.  I totally agree.  But that's only half of it. 

There's a problem with the other half. If in their zeal people on this bandwagon apply it in situations where control really is needed--then it may well do more harm than good. 

Consumers and B2B customers have always been in control.  I've never operated under the delusion that they weren't.  What has changed, and for the better, is that now the Internet and social media are providing new and better ways for customers to express themselves, interact and engage with all sorts of people, including peers, influencers, vendors, suppliers--whoever they want.  And that's good.

But to characterize this as having gone from customers with no control to suddenly having all control, and companies going from having all control to having none--as if this were not only true but advantageous--is bogus. Any marketer who takes that oversimplification and applies it to situations where they actually need control is going to suffer self-inflicted damage that easily could have been prevented.

Comments

[Barbara Weyand]

Love this blog. It is the height of silliness for any serious B2B marketer to promote lack of control since it is Marketing's job to know how many times an ad was viewed, how many times a white paper or e-book was downloaded, how many prospects it is delivering to Sales.

I'm frankly pretty tired of so-called Marketing pundits making a reputation on superficiality -- sometimes on a well-chosen book title or speech, but I guess there are LOTS of new marketers out there who can't differentiate the glitz from fundamental truths about how B2B customers buy. To them I say, "Be jaundiced. If it looks too easy, it's not B2B Marketing."