Measurement and control in marketing

Various reasons for the comparative lack of success of management science in marketing are examined in general, but provocative, terms. There are the basic complexity of the market, the volumes of often unreliable data, the division between the various measurement and control professionals involved in marketing. There are the different perspectives, time scales, rewards and objectives of the brand manager and the management scientist. Some similarity of intellectual approach, perhaps even arrogance, does little to improve common understanding. But the central obstacle to progress is the "3M Problem": how much Money should be devoted to Measurement and control relative to direct Marketing activities? A general increase in educational and professional standards is called for, with a clear division of roles between the generalist, the specialist and the academic management scientist. The 3M Problem is thrown out as a challenge to the academic.