Telling Stories

Welcome to the book tour for All Marketers Are Liars, with Seth Godin!

First question: I recently commented on an article that viewed the primary objective of marketing as "changing customer behavior." I think you would say (paraphrased) that the real objective of marketing is to tell a remarkable story. Seth, can you  comment on the difference here?

Seth replies...

I agree with your take... that changing consumer behavior is an end  product, but not something that you can profitably focus on (you wrote:  "You can say, 'I want to be loved.' But being loved comes naturally as a  result of being loveable, or being loving. Wishing will not get you where you want to go... but taking action and initiating a cause will  generate the desired effect.")

Here's how far I take it in my book: I believe that almost all  marketers do not have enough time or enough money to get people to  change their minds. In order to get someone to change her mind, you've  got to get her to admit that she's wrong. And people hate to admit that they're wrong. What we're seeing instead is a two step process:

1. tell stories that match beliefs that people already have. If I believe that politicians are crooks, then telling me a story about a politician being a crook is a pretty idea to sell.
2. make those stories retellable. In other words, people who believe a story are likely to tell their friends. THEY have the leverage and the time to change minds (sometimes). Not you.

So, take for example UFO abduction. There are a bunch of people pre-disposed to believe conspiracy theories, government cover-ups, deux ex machina explanations, etc. Those folks are likely to believe the UFO abduction story. The next step is that, wide-eyed, they tell their friends about what happened. They go for regression hypnosis to prove it to their friends. Slowly, the word spreads. Yes, this is a ridiculous example, but, when you think about it, so is getting people to spend more than the price of gasoline on bottled water...

Comments

[Emilee]

It's like the "Where's Waldo?" and the new hit series the "Look-a-like" Smells like....Acts like......Can you guess? The new version of "Who?" How many copies did that sell? Let's get it back on the market. How do you tell a copy from an original?

[Olivier Blanchard]

We all respond to stories because stories allow us to think metaphorically (which isn't something we are trained to do in the Western world). Stories, tales and fables simplify and clarify concepts that can otherwise be too complex for us to fully grasp. They also provide a safe place for us to not only project our wants, fears and needs, but fantasize about them.

In a very real sense, we are wired to respond to stories, relate to them, and to a great extent make them our own... so it stands to reason that stories are an effective vehicle for us marketers to convey our message (whatever it may be).

Now think about the role stories play in our development. Even as children, from LaFontaine's fables to the Grimm tales, we learn to listen to them and draw from them valuable lessons, which in turn affect our behavior. So in addition to being wired to relate to stories, we're also programmed to allow them to change our behavior.

That's why stories are so effective. :)

Cool blog.

[steven streight vaspers the grate]

Tell people a story they already believe and hope that you can sneak your sales message in that way?

I don't like where this seems to be headed.

Of course, successful marketing understands what the target audience believes and needs.

And you have to state something you know they'll agree with, then lead into how your product is a natural outgrowth of a similar mindset.

But tell people what they want to hear and already believe...

...this is a "safe" and "cautious" approach.

Revolutionary products tell a new story in a powerful way.