"All Marketers are Liars"

[영어도우미]

"All Marketers are Liars"

excerpt from the book of the same title by Seth Godin

 

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 cooler than a $36,000 VW Touareg, which is virtually the same car. We believe that $225 Pumas will make our feet feel better than $20 no-names... and believing it makes it true.

 

 

Successful marketers don’t tell the truth. They 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 wine glass 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 the share with our friends. Think of the Dyson vacuum cleaner and the iPod. Marketers fail when they are selfish and scurrilous, when they abuse the tools of their trade and make the world worse. Think of telemarketers and Marlboro.

 

This is a powerful book for anyone who wants to sell things people truly want, as opposed to commodities that people merely need.

 

Source: http://www.sethgodin.com/liars/Liarsexcerpt.pdf

 

VOCABULARY:

amoral <adjective> - having no morals; no conception of right or wrong

inevitable <adjective> - cannot be avoided

scurrilous <adjective> - very abusive

telemarketers <noun> - people who aggressively market their products/services through the phone

 

DISCUSSION POINTS:

1. Do you agree with the article that successful marketers are liars? Why/Why not?

2. Do you think "lying" is inevitable in the marketing industry? Why/Why not?

3. Do you think this practice of "lying to sell" is amoral?

4. Can you think of a marketing campaign that appears deceitful to you?

5. What does this statement mean, "People most often buy what they want rather than buy what they need."? Do you think this statement is true for most people?

6. Give an example of a product/service that people want and usually choose over a product/service that they really need.