TELL THIS FIRST

After yesterday's post (Feelings) my brain went a different direction from the commentors. They seemed largely concerned with the "marketing culture" and how it's "evil" and "foolish" and what not. All good thoughts. Just not where my brain went with all this. Admittedly, I drank pee and ate roaches as a child so your brain's probably in better working condition but...

LEARNING FROM MY MISTAKES:
My former label and good friends taught me a lot about marketing. They're good at it. In my almost six years there I worked with four heads of marketing and learned from them all. All of them had a different strategy.

My first record's bio, crafted by a marketer, started this way: "Shaun Groves has the look and swagger of a rock star." I never liked that line. It's not true. And I now wonder if the person who wants to feel something rock stars make them feel isn't listening to Christian radio or shopping at LifeWay. And those are the places that heard this message most.

My second record bio focussed instead on the awards and accomplishments of the first record. I was marketed as the guy who wrote a hit song...with a new hair cut. People who want to feel in step with the herd bought my second record (if they knew about it) so they wouldn't feel left out. But again this isn't who I truly am. So at this point in my career, IF the message/story from the marketers was being heard by you you'd think I was a rock star who was successful. Not too compelling.

The truth is of course the best story and what we should have told first. (We didn't know it then.) People can smell marketing when it's a lie. Good marketing, Seth says, is "authentic."

We told the truth for record three. The person who wrote the bio this time was a friend at the label who knew me well. It showed. She got it right..."More than a musician"..."a communicator, a man full of messages and ideas that he hopes to translate through a variety of media." "A writer, teacher, preacher, father, husband." Well done. True.

Problem was the truth came five years too late. The lies were already out there and believed. The original message stuck: Career focussed, successful, "rock star" on Adult Contemporary radio with good hair. (OK, so it's not ALL a lie.)

THE LIE STICKS:
When I show up for interviews the conversation is about songs and looks and past successes and that hit of mine years ago and accomplishments and career ambitions and... The media has stopped discovering who I really am because they think they know. We told them five years ago. It's our fault - mine too.

Which brings me to applying the lessons learned from Seth and my own mistakes today.

RELATIONSHIPS:
Why did a friend of mine divorce his wife a few years back? Well, he said she wasn't the person he married. And he was right. The person she SAID she was, that she PRETENDED to be when they dated wasn't the person she really was. The lie couldn't be told forever and he discovered the truth. he wanted her to always be his first impression. And her first impression was that of a domestic goddess who loved to have sex very often and laughed at his every joke. What a lie.

CHURCH:
I wonder whether words we use in churches like "traditional" and "relevant" and "contemporary" and "emergent" and "accessible" and "upbeat" are really any different in purpose and power from words used on Madison Avenue like "hand-crafted" and "imported" and "value" and "new" and "limited-edition." I wonder if they tell the whole truth about us and whether they attract the kind of "customers" the whole truth would.

Pastors lament the lack of volunteerism and tithing in their church. They don't understand why their people fight about silly things like music preferences or the color of carpet being installed in the new Childrens building. And then I go to their web sites and see the story they told to sell their church (and their God) to people. Someone in their marketing department or behind the pulpit is telling the consumer (the member) that the church is a place to be comfortable, have fun and be served, to be cool (relevant) and trendy (cutting edge) and hear music (passionate worship). The consumer believes this story, grabs a seat and enjoys the show while the preschool department pays workers to watch kids since the church member/consumer won't.

Why would she, liar? Her actions are in line with the story you told her. Don't get angry now.

SETH SAYS, BUT I SAY:
Seth says this can't be undone, by the way. He says once the impression is made, once the expectation is set, once the story is told, it's in stone. I hope he's wrong. His one bit of advice on trying to change the original impression is to figure out what the truth is, who you are. Be who you are as a church, a musician, a tube of toothpaste starting now. Get that straight (I'm a teacher.) THEN tell that story to people who want or need who you are (My people: People who feel like their improving themselves and the world by learning. People who don't like how things are and want better. People who are rethinking what they believe. People who like to ask why.)

The truth is the best story we have. Tell this first.



Buy All Marketers Are Liars for more on truth and lies and marketing.