Names, logos and slogans — sure they’re important, but do they move product? I’d bet that a large majority of advertising professionals don’t focus their day-to-day attention on answering that question. The business development execs at the agencies are begging for case studies, but the creative directors respond by delivering them beautiful pictures with gripping headlines.

However, we all know that marketing is not so black-and-white. The beautiful pictures might drive sales. Factual case studies might not be the most compelling brand proposition. So then what does drive action? Marty Neumeier distills it best in his whiteboard overview, The Brand Gap: “A Brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or organization.” Neumeier’s ‘unified theory’ of brand-building identifies every person within the modern business as a creative strategist, that is, every one must solve problems creatively.

I’m certainly not going to expand upon the oft-taught “marketing mix” or the “Four Ps” concept, but decade after decade, the balanced combination of Aristotle’s logos, ethos and pathos has come to be the only comprehensive secret sauce within marketing.

At the ADDY Awards last night, I saw a plethora of pretty work — print ads, billboards, broadcast spots and even a few digital & mobile properties. Gigantic global brands collectively shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars for the creative portfolio pieces showcased in that theater. The ads were pristine; no pixel was left untouched by drop shadow and the sweat of dozens of retouchers and production artists. But were they effective?

Only cold, hard data can tell us. (And while I am not sour about the Awards — after all, I left with a Gold ADDY in hand! — I think that the days of ‘pretty for pretty’s sake’ are close to over.) When will someone establish an marketing industry award show for proven-ROI?

But the times, they are a-changin’. The graphic designer and webmaster roles are rapidly being replaced by art directors and interactive developers. The problem-solving-heavy ‘strategy’ is being layered on top of execution. (I should add that I am increasingly seeing so-called strategists and gurus in the advertising arena — and all too often they lack the ability to ‘put their money where there mouth is’ and actually execute on a project.) Strategy without execution is worthless. Execution without strategy is worthless. They must be fused. Excel and Photoshop go hand-in-hand.

Norwegian marketing visionary and brand planner, Helge Tennø, makes a similar point, though defines it as a fusion of old and new advertising methodologies.

Old advertising is all about creating the right anticipation, making sure the participant has the best possible outset before the experience, coloring both the usage and the reflection.

New advertising is about the experience, creating it, particiating in it, adding additional experiences to enforce and diverse the brand. New Marketing is all about the experience.

I say that effective marketing is a result of numbers (strategy + analytics) and imagination (creative + technology).

Tennø says that it is a result of of anticipation and experience.

How about we fuse our two approaches? Or is that just a re-definition of Aristotle’s aforementioned modes of persuasion? Ah well, no idea really is new. I just hope that next year’s ADDY Awards will feature a bit more meat on top of all of the luster and shine.