Every marketer tells a story. And if they do it right, we believe them. We believe that wine tastes better in a $20 glass than a $1 glass. We believe that an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne is vastly superior to a $36,000 VW Touareg, which is virtually the same car. We believe that $225 Pumas will make our feet feel better, and look cooler, than $20 no-names...and believing it makes it true.
Successful marketers don't talk about features or even benefits. Instead, they tell a story. A story we want to believe.
This is a book about doing what consumers demand; painting vivid pictures that they choose to believe. Every organization, from nonprofits to car companies, from political campaigns to wineglass blowers, must understand that the rules have changed (again). In an economy where the richest have an infinite number of choices (and no time to make them), every organization is a marketer and all marketing is about telling stories.
Marketers succeed when they tell us a story that fits our worldview, a story that we intuitively embrace and then share with our friends. Think of the Dyson vacuum cleaner or the iPod.
But beware: If your stories are inauthentic, you cross the line from fib to fraud. Marketers fail when they are selfish and scurrilous, when they abuse the tools of their trade and make the world worse. That's a lesson learned the hard way by telemarketers and Marlboro.
This is a powerful book for anyone who wants to create things people truly want as opposed to commodities that people merely need.
 Write a Review of All Marketers Are Liars
 
LOLJPB, February 17, 2006
Reviewer: LOLJPB
Content review: As much as I love Seth Godin, there are times when I'm listening to his audiobooks and say to myself "He's saying the same thing over and over and over again." With All Marketers Are Liars it happened again. But as I progressed through the book I realized that there's a point to this. Seth really wants to get his point across. And his point is not only profound, it's downright revolutionary.
The idea that people buy stories rather than products and services is mind-blowing. Of course it's common-sense but I think it's so easy to dismiss because it's almost too simple. But as you listen to Seth tell story after story about how marketers convince people to buy into a story (either benevolently or maliciously) even though this story has no grounding in logic or reality, you realize just how potent it is. All Marketers Are Liars is the right book at the right time. As people gravitate away from mass advertising and towards "messages", the ability to tell a coherent and authentic story about your product or service becomes absolutely critical.
Audio-specific review: I've criticized Godin's audiobooks in the past because of the narration. I take that all back. With All Marketers Are Liars I get it. Godin's message works because it's uniquely Godin. He might not be best narrator in the world but after listening to All Marketers Are Liars I can't imagine anyone else narrating this audiobook.
By the way, I listened to the unabridged (4 hours, 20 minutes) version of All Marketers Are Liars through Audible.com.
- Published:
2005
- Average Customer Ratings:
 (4.2, Audible.com)
- LearnOutLoud.com Product ID:
A006824
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