Story Time
Nice to see Seth Godin — one of the great marketing originals — writing in a recent edition of the progressive magazine Ode. His theme: how marketing can save (or destroy) the world. His premise: stories are powerful, and modern marketing amplifies this ancient power beyond measure.
Seth appeals to us marketers to exercise a little conscience about what we say, and how. He points out that bad stories have killed more people than nuclear weapons, and he bemoans the cynicism of those who hide behind a "free market" ethos to justify lying to the public.
For a marketer, the issue is not so much the story as the client. If you pick cynical clients, you will get paid to lie. In this respect, I consider myself blessed. For a long time I have attracted clients with decent values at the worst, and at the best, extraordinary vision.
The very idea of marketing gets associated with dishonesty. We tend to assume marketers make things look better than they are. Isn't that their job? Funnily enough, I often find that my clients' truth is actually better than appearances. "If only they knew..." these frustrated entrepreneurs lament about their non-buying prospects.
For example, I've been advising a little school that provides child-centered education for toddlers and up. The local parents tend to see it as a high-class baby minding service, when in reality the school is giving its miniature students extraordinary tools for social, emotional and cognitive development.
In that situation, you have to know what every therapist knows: the difference between want and need. In principle, the trick is to meet people in what they want, and lead them to what they need. No bait and switch here — we don't have to risk Seth Godin's ire! It's about framing the story in terms that resonate, creating an emotional environment where new ideas can take root and flourish.
Great storytellers not only speak to their audience, they listen, too. And it's the listening that makes the story sing.
Here meanwhile are Seth's nine principles (abbreviated) for succesful story telling . Great stories, he says:
1. Are true
2. Make a promise
3. Are trusted
4. Are subtle
5. Happen fast
6. Appeal to our senses
7. Are rarely aimed at everyone
8. Don't contradict themselves
9. Agree with our world view
Seth appeals to us marketers to exercise a little conscience about what we say, and how. He points out that bad stories have killed more people than nuclear weapons, and he bemoans the cynicism of those who hide behind a "free market" ethos to justify lying to the public.
For a marketer, the issue is not so much the story as the client. If you pick cynical clients, you will get paid to lie. In this respect, I consider myself blessed. For a long time I have attracted clients with decent values at the worst, and at the best, extraordinary vision.
The very idea of marketing gets associated with dishonesty. We tend to assume marketers make things look better than they are. Isn't that their job? Funnily enough, I often find that my clients' truth is actually better than appearances. "If only they knew..." these frustrated entrepreneurs lament about their non-buying prospects.
For example, I've been advising a little school that provides child-centered education for toddlers and up. The local parents tend to see it as a high-class baby minding service, when in reality the school is giving its miniature students extraordinary tools for social, emotional and cognitive development.
In that situation, you have to know what every therapist knows: the difference between want and need. In principle, the trick is to meet people in what they want, and lead them to what they need. No bait and switch here — we don't have to risk Seth Godin's ire! It's about framing the story in terms that resonate, creating an emotional environment where new ideas can take root and flourish.
Great storytellers not only speak to their audience, they listen, too. And it's the listening that makes the story sing.
Here meanwhile are Seth's nine principles (abbreviated) for succesful story telling . Great stories, he says:
1. Are true
2. Make a promise
3. Are trusted
4. Are subtle
5. Happen fast
6. Appeal to our senses
7. Are rarely aimed at everyone
8. Don't contradict themselves
9. Agree with our world view
posted by Jon Ward at 5:21 PM
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