A recent viewpoint article in AdvertisingAge by Al Ries described the current fascination with math that has taken over much of the corporate thinking about marketing. Whether it's the focus on marketing ROI, the keen slicing and dicing of budgets, or the overall market share numbers, there is a strong sense that math determines a marketing strategy. As Mr. Ries points out, marketing is more than just a numbers game. 

While sales can be considered a science, marketing can almost be described as art. A sale really is a numbers game - contact so many people, get a certain percentage response, and close a percentage of that number. It is a logical progression along a series of numbers. 

As Ries contends, marketing is anything but. While certain areas of marketing can be measured and evaluated, there are many aspects of a marketing campaign that are just beyond measurement. Brand value, for example, is extremely hard to measure - but its importance is easy to ascertain. Building and protecting the brand is a key element to any marketing strategy, but measuring that effort against a numerical formula is difficult at best. 

How do you know when your marketing campaigns are working? In many cases, it's more a gut feeling and a general observation than a solid ROI number. Naturally, a good marketing campaign will produce measurable results, and nobody advocates abandoning metrics and measurement. But confusing art with science can be a marketing mistake.