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Book Summary: All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
This work offers a SUMMARY of the book "ALL MARKETERS ARE LIARS" originally written by SETH GODIN.
In an age when consumers are motivated by irrational wants instead of objective needs and "there is almost no connection between what is actually there and what we believe," presenting stolid factual information about a product is a losing strategy. Instead, marketers should tell "great stories" about their products that pander to consumers' self-regard and worldview. Examples include expensive wine glasses that purport to improve the taste of wine, despite scientific proof to the contrary; Baby Einstein videotapes that are "useless for babies but...satisfy a real desire for their parents"; and organic marketing schemes, which amount to "telling ourselves a complex lie about food, the environment and the safety of our families." Because consumers prefer fantasy to the truth, the marketer's duty is to be "authentic" rather than honest, to "live the lie, fully and completely" so that "all the details line up"-that is, to make their falsehoods convincing rather than transparent.
Stories are necessary to help consumers deal with the deluge of information they face every day, Godin writes, 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.
All Marketers Are Liars is organized around a five-step process that people go through when they encounter successful marketing.
Step 1: Their worldview and frames got there before you did. A consumer's worldview (the combination of his or her current rules, beliefs and biases) affects the way he or she notices things and understands them. If a story is framed in terms of that worldview, the consumer is more likely to believe it. Smart marketers, Godin explains, don't try to change someone's worldview. Instead, they identify a group of people with a certain worldview and frame their story in terms of that worldview. Since people of similar worldviews "clump together," successful marketers find a previously undiscovered clump and frame a story in the words, images and interactions that reinforce these people's biases.
Step 2: People only notice the new and then make a guess. Consumers notice things when they change. As soon as they notice something new, they start making guesses about what to expect next.
Step 3: First impressions start the story. A first impression causes the consumer to make a fast, permanent judgment about what he or she was just exposed to. Godin explains that "almost every important buying decision is made instantaneously. These snap decisions affect everything we do, and we'll bend over backward to defend them later."
Step 4: Great marketers tell stories we believe. A story changes the way the consumer experiences a product or service. Consumers make a prediction about what will happen next and rationalize anything that does not match the prediction. Godin writes that "authentic marketing, from one human to another, is extremely powerful." Consumers and marketers win when the marketer tells a story authentically and the company creates a product or service that does what the marketer says it will do.
Step 5: Marketers with authenticity thrive.Godin writes, "The authenticity of the story determines whether it will survive scrutiny long enough for the consumer to tell the story to other people." No marketing succeeds if it cannot find an audience that already wants to believe the story being told.
Marketers cannot use just any story, Godin explains. The only stories that work and spread are those that demand to be repeated. By being authentic and remarkable, the story will be believed. Godin advises marketers to just tell the best story they can imagine.
In an age when consumers are motivated by irrational wants instead of objective needs and "there is almost no connection between what is actually there and what we believe," presenting stolid factual information about a product is a losing strategy. Instead, marketers should tell "great stories" about their products that pander to consumers' self-regard and worldview. Examples include expensive wine glasses that purport to improve the taste of wine, despite scientific proof to the contrary; Baby Einstein videotapes that are "useless for babies but...satisfy a real desire for their parents"; and organic marketing schemes, which amount to "telling ourselves a complex lie about food, the environment and the safety of our families." Because consumers prefer fantasy to the truth, the marketer's duty is to be "authentic" rather than honest, to "live the lie, fully and completely" so that "all the details line up"-that is, to make their falsehoods convincing rather than transparent.
Stories are necessary to help consumers deal with the deluge of information they face every day, Godin writes, 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.
All Marketers Are Liars is organized around a five-step process that people go through when they encounter successful marketing.
Step 1: Their worldview and frames got there before you did. A consumer's worldview (the combination of his or her current rules, beliefs and biases) affects the way he or she notices things and understands them. If a story is framed in terms of that worldview, the consumer is more likely to believe it. Smart marketers, Godin explains, don't try to change someone's worldview. Instead, they identify a group of people with a certain worldview and frame their story in terms of that worldview. Since people of similar worldviews "clump together," successful marketers find a previously undiscovered clump and frame a story in the words, images and interactions that reinforce these people's biases.
Step 2: People only notice the new and then make a guess. Consumers notice things when they change. As soon as they notice something new, they start making guesses about what to expect next.
Step 3: First impressions start the story. A first impression causes the consumer to make a fast, permanent judgment about what he or she was just exposed to. Godin explains that "almost every important buying decision is made instantaneously. These snap decisions affect everything we do, and we'll bend over backward to defend them later."
Step 4: Great marketers tell stories we believe. A story changes the way the consumer experiences a product or service. Consumers make a prediction about what will happen next and rationalize anything that does not match the prediction. Godin writes that "authentic marketing, from one human to another, is extremely powerful." Consumers and marketers win when the marketer tells a story authentically and the company creates a product or service that does what the marketer says it will do.
Step 5: Marketers with authenticity thrive.Godin writes, "The authenticity of the story determines whether it will survive scrutiny long enough for the consumer to tell the story to other people." No marketing succeeds if it cannot find an audience that already wants to believe the story being told.
Marketers cannot use just any story, Godin explains. The only stories that work and spread are those that demand to be repeated. By being authentic and remarkable, the story will be believed. Godin advises marketers to just tell the best story they can imagine.
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First published March 12, 2015
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