All marketers are liars

Book Review:
We all view life from a particular worldview that weve constructed from our own experiences, beliefs, and knowledge. This worldview acts as a bias or filter for how we interpret whats going on around us right now. You and I might hear the same set of facts, but because of these biases and filters, we might come to opposite conclusions both conclusions will fit neatly into each of our worldview and align themselves with what each of us wants. The book is pretty much focused on a single point. That point is: You dont get good loyal customers these days just by having a good product and talking about it. The way you get them is to tell them a good story about your product and your customers that let enough customers think, Hmmmm, this is my kind of place/company. Then you have to live up to that story as if it were all true, to live the lie. The author does not say that a good story will make up for a bad product or that you can promise anything and not deliver. You still have to do those things; you just need to have a good story on top of that. Lets take a simple example of this: premium bread. Youll see people wholl offer allorganic bread and give you the impression rural farmwives are busy making this bread the old-fashioned country way, and this is much better than regular bread. The reality almost certainly is that the bread is mass-produced using methods not unlike those used to make Wonder Bread, or that there is little nutritional difference between the two, so the story told or implied isnt true. Thats the kind of lie the author says is OK. However, people are very likely to overlook those kinds of lies if they like the bread, and it is different than Wonder Bread in ways they like. Theyll continue to pay rather more for the bread, and like doing so. On the other hand, they would not overlook somebody who just made the equivalent of Wonder Bread and put it in a folksy plastic bag. You have to give people something real on which they can hang your story.
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Another example can be found in cars. These days, luxury cars often use exactly the same functional parts found in mid-priced models. Companies need to do that to get economy of scale and to control costs. The real actual differences between mid-priced and high-priced cars these days are better, more luxurious design and service. While these certainly add costs to the high-priced models, the extra costs are usually nowhere near the amount of the increased price tag. People pay lots for those relatively small extras, plus for the enhanced image and prestige they think paying more will give them. This concept can be applied a lot of different ways, but the key is to come up with a story that people really identify with, and then deliver the product/company in observable ways that correspond to the story. If the story says or implies, Unlike big impersonal multinational corporations, were home folks who really care about you, the fact that youre actually owned by a multinational corporation can be overlooked by your customers, but youd better take really good care of them. With one big exception, tech companies are generally not as aggressive with this approach as others. Theyre more likely to associate a product with a lifestyle, not so much the company. A good example of this is video card companies. They will try to sell a gamer lifestyle along with their high-priced product. However, most tech companies dont comprehensively tell stories about themselves as well as their products, and when they do, they tend to be low-keyed. Intel and Dell are good examples of this for business customers. The message in the businessoriented ads for both companies is usually, Were here to give you the tools and support you need to succeed. Intel emphasizes, soberly, the great efforts and expense they go through to do this; Dell will emphasize their business-oriented services. The consumer market is a somewhat different beast, and while Intel has never come up with a really effective story for consumers; Dell has a much different story and personality for the home boys and girls, Good products at great prices! The real champ at selling the company and products as a lifestyle choice is of course Apple. Thats been true during the entire Mac era. Mac users believe all kinds of things about their machines that simply arent literally true. Sometimes Apple encourages that belief overtly

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i.e., their infamous benchmarks, sometimes covertly saying how great certain new features or components are without giving any idea what the PC competition has or is doing. The story of Apple fits the theme of this book. Nonetheless, Apple only has 3% marketshare, so obviously this approach has its limits, and this is a point the author stresses. He says that story telling works very well in businesses where you can be quite profitable with a small share of the overall business, and where you dont or cant expect to dominate. For instance, if you own a restaurant in a city, you hardly need or would even want everyone in the city to eat there all the time. You just want enough dedicated customers to keep coming to keep your tables filled close to all the time. The author suggests that narrow-casting in the form of story-telling is a much better idea in these situations than trying to get everybody, especially if you can appeal to a small but bigenough-for-your-purposes group that will happily pay more for whatever uniqueness you have to offer them. Such narrow-casting doesnt necessarily work too well for component manufacturers (though it certainly would in other tech areas like websites), though that doesnt prevent one company projecting multiple personalities to different groups the way Dell does. Yet, not all our beliefs are based on facts. Many are based on our gut reactions, our emotions, or things weve heard from friends, family, or others whose opinion we value. Take, for instance, the Riedel wine glass, about which wine guru Robert Parker said, The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make. Many other wine experts share this opinion as well, and in turn, Reidel glasses cost $20 v/s your typical $1 glass. Which leads one to wonder in a scientific, double-blind study where there was no way people could tell one glass from another, could people really taste the difference? Its doubtful. Yet, wine enthusiasts that insist that wine taste better in a Reidel glass continue to pay top dollar for this luxury because they buy into the story that their wine tastes better in this type of glass. The facts are irrelevant here. Its the experience that matters.

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The point is that we tell ourselves stories all the time to justify our wants. How many times have you procrastinated doing something until the following day, splurged on a shopping trip because something you wanted was on sale, or bought magazines you didnt want to support a fundraiser because you felt bad saying no? In each case, you told yourself a story to justify your actions. This isnt just about hype but about crafting an authentic story about a remarkable product or service that a target audience will relate to and believe in. If your product or services isnt remarkable, people wont talk. With the example of the Reidel wine glass, the marketers told the story of superb craftsmanship, people bought into the story, and suddenly, the notion that the Reidel glass is the best of the best became true. People continue to believe the story, buy the glasses, and spread the word. As Godin states, Successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe. Think about it how often do you tell your family and friends about a mediocre experience you just had? Now, how much more do you proclaim the wonders of something you love or warn how terrible of an experience you just had? Its the extremes that make an impression, not that your product or service was just good enough or your price was just reasonable enough. Of course, there are problems with storytelling. Some people use it to make up stuff about impossible things their product or service can do and in the end, people become the victim of fraud or can even be harmed. Godin uses Nestle as an example. Some time ago, UNICEF accused Nestle of contributing to the death of more than a million babies by telling moms of third world countries that bottle feeding was better than breast feeding. Initially, they provided free samples, but later, people had to buy the formula. Often, however, because families were too poor to keep buying enough formula, theyd water down the powered mix. As a result, many babies got sick. Nestle could have prevented this by specifically targeting moms who couldnt breast feed or with AIDS, but instead, they told the story to everyone whod listen, people believed the lie, and babies died because if it. Godin stresses that as a marketer, it is your job to tell authentic stories.
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Marketers are wrong when they insist that all we do is offer options its up to consumers to decide for themselves. Marketing is now so well developed and so embedded in our culture that consumers no longer make decisions based on a rational analysis of facts. Instead they decide based on the stories theyre told. To disclaim responsibility for a fraud is cowardly. Storytelling isnt a new concept in marketing. One of the fundamental principles of marketing is crafting a marketing message that will be relevant to your target audience. Storytelling takes that one step further instead of bombarding people with endless facts and trying to remain unbiased, you show them how your product or service fits into their worldview. Stories make concepts simpler to process and remember in a world overloaded with too much information. His previous works focus on what he considers to be a truly remarkable product or service and how to create one. If your product or service isnt remarkable, you wont be able to craft an authentic story that people talk about. This isnt about selling mediocre products and services for higher prices. Its about creating products and services that your clients and customers will find meaningful. Marketers aren't really liars. Consumers are. Consumers tell themselves story based on the marketing message they hear, filtered through their own lenses, and believe the marketing they hear IF an authentic message is told. The author explains that all marketers are not, in fact, liars: They are merely storytellers. The liars, he writes, are the consumers who lie to themselves every day about what they wear, where they live, how they vote and what they do to work. The author explains that successful marketers are just the providers of the stories that consumers choose to believe. A good story that satisfies customers is the source of a company's growth and profit. What it takes to make it work, he writes, is a "complete dedication to and embrace of your story." Stories are necessary to help consumers deal with the deluge of information they face every day, and truly great stories "succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences." A great story, he adds, is true, makes a promise, is trusted, is subtle, happens fast, and often appeals to our senses. Great stories don't contradict themselves, and they match our worldview by agreeing with what we already believe.

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Great Stories: According to Seth Godin, there are only two things these days that separate success from failure in most organizations: Inventing stuff worth talking about and telling stories about what you've invented. The difficult job of making up great stories is the imperative of today. Marketers cannot use just any story. The only stories that work and spread are those that demand to be repeated. By being authentic and remarkable, the story will be believed. The author advises marketers to just tell the best story they can imagine. For example, he cites Little Miss Match as one of his favourite small companies. It sells more than 134 styles of socks to preteen girls, but none of the sets are matched (or clash). The story the company tells is framed in terms of the preteen mind-set: The colourful, mismatched socks give girls something to show their friends and demonstrate their hipness. When a girl shows off her cool socks, she's hip. Then the idea spreads to other girls who never had the "I want to be edgy" mind-set. This makes the story work. He writes, "Make your story bigger and bigger until it's important enough to believe. The author brings in a lot of examples, anecdotes to illustrate 5 key points which resonate throughout the book. They are:

Customers worldviews got there before you did People only notice new and guess First impressions start the story Great marketers tell the story they believe Marketers with authenticity survive.

Why tell stories while marketing products and services? One of the first reasons is to spread ideas and ideas spread faster if there is a story element to it. Also, in the age of media glut where every brand is trying to vie for customers attention, how else can a product catch the attention of the customer without a story element? People only notice new and guess.

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Customers are used to telling stories and narrating stories to one another.Itsa natural thing to do for them. Hence as a marketer one needs to understand the world view of the customer and then weave a story in that context. The world view affects three things attention, bias, and vernacular. A few examples of world view are:

New technology can improve my life If I were prettier, I would be more popular If its a prescriptive medicine , then its safe All car sales men are liars. I like opera Physical therapy will cure me faster than surgery Lets party Dont tell me shallow stories about consumerisms spend, spend. Talk to me about the inner values, quality and life World view is not a community. The size of each set of people who hold the world view differs. Its the job of marketer to look at the world views , create new products which address the unmet world views. World view comprises rules, values, beliefs, biases that the individual customer brings to the situation. Frames are elements of story that are used to paint the customers world view. How should a great story be told? Marketer should frame his story in such a way that it concurs with the world view. Very few products have managed to change the world view of the customer (iPod, Napster, etc.). The other means of narrating a great story is by creating easy to pass on metaphors for the products/ services, creating a context / ambience so that story is resonated through them in a subtle way. Whom should be the story told to? In the creation process, the story must be ingrained in the minds of engineers, creators so that story becomes a part of the product. In the distribution process, the story needs to pitched to customers, evangelists,early adopters etc. so that it is passed on, there are enough market conversations about the product.
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The story needs to be told at every touch point with the customer, be it website, be it the customer rep, and be it the packaging of the product. Every effort should be made to see to it the story, product tie each other perfectly. At the end of the book, one cannot fail to notice the power of storytelling in creating world class brands and successful companies. The examples mentioned in the book make a superb list of case studies for anybody interested in marketing his/her product through storytelling.Interesting ones are Starbucks, Riedel Wine, Amazon, iPod, Best Buy, Mac, Littlemismatch, SouthWest, Kiehl since 1851 , Ralph Lauren, Blue Nile, woot.com, UK Travel agency Lunnpoly, Whole Foods . Marketers aren't liars, and neither are lawyers. This book focuses upon how marketers can tell authentic stories to sell their products, but it also applies to your ability to tell authentic stories during trial.

Here are four quick tips I picked up from this book:

Tip 1: Discover worldviews during jury selection How jurors view the worldand your case depends upon their experiences. For example, a Republican's first view of a Democratic candidate is very different from a Democrat's first view. Godin says "A worldview is not who you are. It's what you believe. It's your biases." Don't try to change their worldviews - you can't. Instead, ask yourself, "How can I uncover these experiences and worldviews?" To convince them, you'll need to get past the filters and biases they erect to protect themselves. They want to hear stories that will support their worldview. Their worldviews will affect the way they perceive information and alters the way they interpret everything you say and do. Frame your story in terms of their worldview, and it will be heard. [Step 1: Their Worldview and Frames Got There Before You Did]

Tip 2: First impressions (and lasting impressions) First impressions aren't important - they're crucial! However, it's not just your first impression that matters - it's every impression that you make upon the jury. You must be consistent and authentic every step of the way.

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If you make a fantastic impression during jury selection, but don't maintain that impression throughout the trial, the jury will pick up on the inconsistency and hold it against you. That same philosophy applies to your clients and witnesses.[Step 3: First Impressions Start the Story]

Tip 3: Show, don't tell "You don't get to just sit down and make up a story and expect that people will believe it merely because you want them to." Jurors are too smart for that. You can't simply claim that your client's version of events is the correct one - you must tell a story, not give a lecture. Mere proof isn't enough. You win when the juror proves to himself that your version is the correct one. "The process of discovery is more powerful than being told the right answer because of course there is no right answer, and even if there were, the [juror] wouldn't believe you!" During opening statement, tell a compelling story. Arrange the facts in such a way that the jurors reach your conclusion on their own. [Examples - Stories Framed Around Worldviews.]

Tip 4: People hate to admit that they're wrong "The problem is that once a [juror] has bought someone else's story and believes that lie, persuading the [juror] to switch is the same as persuading him to admit he was wrong. And people hate admitting that they're wrong. Instead, you must tell a different story and persuade those listening that your story is more important than the story they currently believe." Use a frame that matches the worldview of your undecided jurors. [Competing in the Lying World] The message Godin is delivering is really quite simple. Marketers should have a good story to tell; if it's a good enough story, consumers will repeat it, and that story has now become entrenched in our minds as "reality". Mission accomplished.

Successful marketers understand the importance of creating demand from telling a good story. However, as Godin warns, the stories had better be authentic; consumers in this day and age of social media are quick to spot the phonies. That's good news for the consumers; and should be good news for the creative marketers, who have good stories to tell. That probably explains why Twitter is becoming so popular; people like stories, especially short ones that are confined to 140 characters or less. Cutting to the chase has never been more important than it is today.

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