The Coliseum is hushed as the contestants enter. From the left swaggers a scotch-drinking, chain smoking creative director with a storyboard and an ad award from 2003. From the right strolls a direct marketing guru with nothing by his side but a spreadsheet.

Hot shot advertising agencies will tell you that marketing is all about the “Big Idea” – an abstract concept that is totally subject to opinion. While there have been many successful campaigns that started from a singular big idea, the graveyard of unsuccessful good ideas has also been piled high.

That’s because an awesome concept to one creative director is last week’s garbage to the next. And it’s completely subjective. Even more than that, it’s near impossible to accurately predict the success of a campaign created in this manner.

“Big Ideas” get awards and press – typically followed by lots of toasting and high fives. But do they get results? Is there more at stake here than our egos? And how can we push back against decades of “because I said so”?

Data.

Data is one irrefutable, bullet-proof, toss it to lions and watch it walk away unscathed tool in a marketer’s arsenal that can be used in any battle scenario. Data is not subject to opinion. Data has no ego. Data is merely there to help marketers to prove whether their “Big Idea” will fly or not. And, sometimes, the answer is not.

But what a really intelligent creative director/account manager/advertising executive will do is look at the data first and then give their creativity free reign. Insights from data coupled with a creative and pertinent idea is a winning combination.

Really, the two gladiators in our make-believe arena should stop fighting against one another, embrace teamwork that leads to such amazing synergy, and guarantee the success of their campaign. It’s a no-brainer. Alas, getting along and playing nice is not always the law of the jungle – and believe me, it is a jungle out there.

Direct marketers, remember that data is your best friend and your most lethal weapon. Use it to push back against bad ideas, bullies, and bull****. And you will find that, similar to Russell Crowe in “Gladiator”, data always wins.