Randy Weber

I was chatting with a co-worker about a Logic class she was taking. This brought back memories from my college days – I minored in Philosophy. It also led to the inevitable discussion about how one’s education applies to their profession. Many people assume that I acquired my Marketing expertise while earning my MBA. Likewise, people often assume that my undergrad and graduate studies in the Social Sciences and Philosophy do not apply to my profession, but they’re wrong. Here are 3 reasons why:

1) Empathy – Sociology

Empathy is the most important skill for Marketers.

Empathy is simply putting yourself in someone else’s shoes – like a potential customer or partner. For example:

• “If I was a potential customer or partner, what problems might I have and how might this company’s products help me? If they don’t help me, how do I improve them so that they do help?”
• “Looking at a competing product, how does it benefit me as a customer? If I had to decide between my company’s product and the competition’s, which one would I buy?  What can I do to ensure that my company’s product will win that decision?”
• “How do I best explain the benefits of my product to a potential customer in a way that meets their specific needs and solves their specific problems?”

This is what Marketing, and in particular Product Management and Business Development, is all about – determining what someone values and figuring out how to provide that value or communicate that value to them. If you don’t get Empathy, you won’t be able to do this and you won’t be a successful Marketer.

Let me say it again: Empathy is the most important skill for Marketers. Where do you learn Empathy? Not in a Marketing class. Don’t believe me? Look up Marketing on Wikipedia. Then search that page for “empathy.” It’s not there. The closest concept you’ll find to Empathy is Marketing Research. Marketing Research is not Empathy. Marketing Research does not necessarily put you in someone else’s shoes. If you’re not already in their shoes, you won’t know what questions to ask.

So where can you learn about Empathy? In a Sociology class. Sociology is great for Marketers because it teaches you how to understand and apply Empathy. You also learn how to keep your own background or biases from getting in the way of seeing other perspectives. The trick is making the leap from using Empathy to understand societal issues to using it for business.

2) Opportunity Cost – Economics (yes, Economics is a Social Science)

If you hear things like “What do we have to lose by giving this a try?” to justify a new product or partnership, then you know that this person hasn’t considered the Opportunity Cost.

Opportunity Cost is about allocating resources between competing projects. It is the cost related to the next best alternative. If you can only do one thing, which one are you going to do and what are you forgoing to do it? For example, you have to decide between the following:

• adding a new feature to your most popular product – Net Present Value (NPV) of $5 million,
• entering a partnership to resell someone else’s complimentary product – NPV of $8 million, or
• launching a new product that appeals to a new market segment – NPV of $10 million.

If you chose the partnership (perhaps because you wanted to get to market faster and thought it would be easier to implement), the Opportunity Cost is $2 million. It’s the difference between the new product which is valued at $10 million and the partnership which is valued at $8 million. As long as you understand the implications of this decision and have sound reasons for why you’re doing it (speed to market, easier to implement), then there’s nothing wrong it.

Once Marketers learn how to apply the concept of Opportunity Cost, they’ll make more informed arguments both for and against projects, develop stronger business cases, and make better decisions when choosing between competing projects.

3) Critical Thinking – Philosophy

Speaking of persuasive arguments, it is hard to be persuasive if you can’t think through both sides of an issue. Your brain gets a major work-out doing just that in every Philosophy course (particularly in the Logic class that started this whole discussion).

Philosophy is the study of the big ideas like why do we exist, how do you truly know something, and what is right or wrong. It is known for its critical, reasoned, and systematic examination of these ideas. These are extremely difficult concepts to grasp and every issue has multiple, nuanced sides. It’s enough to start yelling matches and to make your head hurt. Wars are fought over these very ideas. Just as in business, there isn’t always one right answer.

But there is a way to get to the best available answer. Philosophy teaches you Critical Thinking skills:

• how to ask the tough questions designed to get at the heart of an issue,
• how to think through complicated issues with multiple shades of grey, and
• how to see things from multiple perspectives while recognizing that your biases can often cloud your viewpoint.

Armed with these skills, Marketers make better decisions regarding what types of customers to target, what types of products to launch, or what types or partnerships to pursue.

Final Thoughts

Understanding and applying Empathy, Opportunity Cost, and Critical Thinking are essential skills for Marketers. I learned these skills studying Sociology, Economics, and Philosophy. I use these skills more frequently as a Marketer than those I learned in business school. So the next time you see a BA instead of a BBA or an MA instead of an MBA on someone’s resume, don’t assume that the person with the business degree will add more value. Otherwise, you might be overlooking someone that could add a new perspective and significant value to your Marketing organization.