Lies and stories in life and marketing
Following yesterday’s post, I received two fascinating comments.
One was from Angela Segal, who brings a surprising and refreshing frankness to her plastic surgery consultation practice:
In 12 years of patient consulting and plastic surgery management a day would not pass when a patient would ask “don’t you think I need this?” My reply: “NO, we don’t have anything here that you need. Everything is extra”.
The other came from Paul Hancox over on Same Traffic, More Sales:
Seth’s article is somewhat of a generalization. Not everything in marketing is a lie, not every benefit is a placebo. If I buy a product which saves me time or money, or improves my health, that’s real… not imagined.
I guess it depends on the type of product being marketed. I’m sure Vodka requires a little more “spin” than, say, tablets to cure arthritis (for example).
Paul’s comment opens the door to a conversation that deserves its own post, so here goes.
‘Lie’ is a word that almost invariably provokes a negative reaction. To call someone a liar is one of the worst insults we can muster—which is why the word ’story’ is much more palatable. Really, though, what is the difference between a story and a lie, other than awareness?
The point of yesterday’s post was not to invoke the L word, and all of its negativity, as a means of slamming marketers. Rather, my aim was to demonstrate that all commercial interactions depend on stories.
I’ll take this a step further: our lives as we live them depend on stories.
‘Saving time’, for example, is a positive story. On the other hand, there are thousands of time-saving devices, from the vacuum cleaner to email, and yet most of us don’t seem to have more time. The reality is that there is no more time, only different choices of what to do with it.
Arthritis pills come with a story as well. They were created by Scientists, proven by Doctors, approved by The FDA. Every time you take a pill, you are demonstrating your trust in the story of Western medicine. If a homeless man gave you the pill, would you take it? What about a shaman, or a chiropractor, or a lawyer? I am not saying they don’t work. I’m saying that the story is an integral part of the experience of taking them.
The economy is another great example of a story. The only way any economy works is through the belief that it works. This belief is why we’re willing to put our money in the banks. This belief is why we’re willing to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy property. This belief is why we invest in the stock market. Do you think I am saying that the story is bad? On the contrary; we need the story for our economy to survive.
Here is a fable:
Two women are sitting in chairs, facing each other. The first asks the second, “When you look at me, what do you see?”
The other woman replies, “I see a pretty woman with long hair. She is interesting and intelligent.”
“Ah ha,” says the first. “You are telling stories.
“You think my hair is long? Look at Crystal Gayle.
“You think I am interesting? Ask my husband at the end of a long day.
“You think I am intelligent? By whose standards? Compared to whom?
“When I look at you,” she concludes, “I see—I think I see—a woman, sitting in a chair, with one leg crossed over the other.”
The first story we tell ourselves is that we are not telling ourselves a story.
I’d be delighted to hear more of your views on this, and, of course, more of your stories!
