Marketing Studies

Seth Godin is getting ready to release his latest book with a highly controversial title All Marketers Are Liars.

There's a blog, too.

And liars' noses available from Seth.

And then there's this short but sweet interview I just did with Seth ... Sorry guys, no audio this time.

The Interview

1. Seth, I think the first question is really obvious: why are all marketers liars? Or is this just a clever title?

It's both. Mostly it's a self-referential thing... the title is a story that people want to hear.

2. But how can marketers find "their story" and how does this relate to their existing brands?

Your story is the authentic tale of what you're doing... but told in a way that matches the worldview of your prospects and customers.

3. In your previous books, you've always offered a process, something we can follow to reach the end goal. Is there a process for creating compelling stories people will actually believe ... And act on?

The process is supersimple: it must be authentic. You have to live what you're lying about.

4. Appropriately, each of your books is a story and was marketed as a story. But even more so, each book was marketed according to the principles presented in it. What can we expect from your marketing of All Marketers Are Liars?

Well, you can buy a liar's nose from me (see my blog) and I'm busy telling stories at http://www.allmarketersareliars.com and there's a surprise lie in the book.

5. How does blogging figure in to your strategy and what do you expect to achieve with it?

All I'm trying to achieve with all of this is to spread the ideas. I think the blog can help with that.

6. In your experience, how do blogs impact the bottom-line on the long-run?

No one knows yet. I think they help spread ideas, and when ideas spread, sooner or later, people will buy the sourvenir.

7. Where do you see the future of "corporate" or "business" blogs? Will they become an integral part of corporate sites, or perhaps even the new "corporate" site norm? Or will the existing blog format die out and be replaced with a seamless integration of self-published video, audio and text, collaborative/community content and interactive tools?

I think no one reads a blog unless they WANT to. And the question is, will corporations get clued in to creating stuff that people want to read?

8. Perhaps the logical companion to the above question is the future of RSS?

RSS replaces commercial email. For sure, for good.

9. But, do you personally believe that RSS is "there" today already? It's quite evident from your "mass" communications that RSS has become your primary content delivery channel, but what are your thoughts on this in reference to the fact that RSS is still marginal when it comes to end-users and that e-mail evidently still works?

I think it's totally marginal. 2% or 5% of the people you want to reach.

10. To complete this interview, what in your mind is "the compelling story" of RSS?

It's the ultimate email filter. It's the content you choose, aggregated in a way that makes it easier for you.