If the book were titled, All Marketers Are Storytellers, would you consider looking at it? Seth Godin brought up this point in the book, and it clearly explained what he means by "liars." Of course, he didn't insult marketers, as he belongs in that category. But "storytellers" would be nothing new.
Though he didn't use "storytellers," the book addresses how to use stories to help the business succeed. The book grabbed me at the start, but then it got slow in different parts. What I appreciated most were the examples of storytelling or "fibbing." Godin did point out that fibbing doesn't mean the same thing as fraud. He provided two examples. Can you tell which Godin identifies as a fib and which is fraud?
- A wine glass maker claims wine tastes better in his glasses.
- A company says you can call anytime to hear the president of the company's voice, and the voice introduces himself as such. It turns out the voice is an actor, as the president died over 50 years ago.
The second would be the fraud. It's a story that turns out not true, and customers feel tricked when they find out. No one can prove the glasses don't make the wine taste better, therefore it's good storytelling, because it leads people to believe the claim might be true, and the product is worth trying.
John Stossel of ABC News did a report on bottled water, and discovered people are convinced that tap water is bad while bottled water is cleaner, safer, and tastier. The news report conducted a taste test of four brands and tap water. Tap came in third while the most expensive, Evian, came in last. And in first place? The cheapest bottled water, K-mart's brand.
Telling a story doesn't guarantee everyone will be fooled into believing what you hope they'll believe, but the bottled water example proves many bought into that story.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
All marketers are liars: they make claims for their products they KNOW are untrue in order to peddle their garbage, which nobody really wants, and nobody needs.
2 - Shark
"If you're in marketing, kill yourself. No, seriously, kill yourself."
-- The Late, Great Bill Hicks
3 - Maglase
Marketing is what people who do spin for the private sector call their jobs. This is opposed to the "blunt truth with hair on it" approach favored by lumberjacks and engineers.
Kind of like "a superior cabal..." - which would be a great story, rather than a fib or fraud.