The Fudge Factor

I first heard of the fudge factor when I studied calculus. If you’re having trouble solving an equation or using a formula and you have an idea what the answer should be, you can get it by introducing a number, a fudge factor, that will make it all work out. It occurs to me that this describes the role I play in marketing calculations. A client may know what the answer should be and what the path to it should look like, but misses a key element – perhaps a look and feel, a color scheme, a cultural artifact – that will make it all work. Tobin Creative provides the fudge factor.