Seth talks about marketing has changed. It is no longer just about buying 60 seconds of airtime. Earlier, marketers sold commodities that people needed by promoting practical and objective matters such as price and product features. Today, marketers answer more to consumers' wants than needs. And Wants are things they covet for emotional reasons.
[From the Great Books Series. Also see The Success Manual - Encyclopedia of Advice, which contains summaries of 100+ Most useful books.]
In this book, Seth is not talking aboit marketers beng degenerate liars (ok some) but the importance of telling authentic stories to customers.
"All marketers tell stories. And if they do it right, we believe them. We believe that wine tastes better in a $20 glass than a $1 glass. We believe that an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne is vastly superior to a $36,000 VW Touareg, even if it is virtually the same car. We believe that $225 Pumas will make our feet feel better--and look cooler--than $20 no names. . . and believing it makes it true."
Seth says that consumers tell themselves lies to justify their actions. Thus, Marketers who can find the bias and lies people tell themselves and create a story around fitting that worldview can make large sums of profit.
So, hiw do you go about it? Seth lines out a 4 - step path:
1. Find a shared worldview.
2. Framed a story around that view.
3. Made it easy for the story to spread.
4. Created a new market
What makes a great story? Great stories should:
· be true.
· make a promise.
· be trusted.
· be subtle.
· happen fast.
· not appeal to logic, but often appeal to our senses.
· rarely be aimed at everyone.
· never contradict themselves.
· agree with our worldview.
Marketers Also Have Responsibilities.
Since marketing is about spreading ideas, they have the power to affect people and even whole societies in both positive and negative ways.
That means, when you tell stories, do that responsibly.
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