Some questions to Seth Godin

We are very glad to have a short conversation with Seth Godin, bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change. Godin is author of six books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work.

Werbeblogger:
Your actual book is titled “All marketers are liars”, it is a perfect example for your thesis of remarkable storytelling, isn’t it?

Seth Godin:
Not sure if it’s perfect, but yes, that was the idea. To tell a story in the title.

Werbeblogger:
One of our readers remarked that your examples — in spite of the riedel glas example in Austria — are mostly adaptable for the US market but not for Europe. Are your ideas of storytelling which you described in your book really cross-cultural?

Seth Godin:
My stories are unabashedly local, because that’s where i live. But people in other lands have told me over and over that the ideas are totally relevant. If you think it doesn’t work just because I’m not using a local biscuit or petrol station, well, that’s up to you.

Werbeblogger:
Do marketers have to aggrandize the truth or even lie at all? Is it anyway possible to be remarkable with pure truth?

Seth Godin:
Pure truth is a story too, isn’t it? We’re marketing to people, not computers. People filter everything in their own way.

Werbeblogger:
You wrote a lot about permission marketing and the advantages of dialogues. Can you tell us why you shut down your comment area in your blog? And is a blog still a blog without the idea of dialogue?

Seth Godin:
Okay, first of all, I NEVER had comments. I put them on one post. So “shut down” isn’t fair. Second, a blog is whatever you want it to be. How dare someone tell you you can’t have a blog if you don’t fit their definition of it! What about boingboing and postsecret? Both are in the top 10 and neither takes comments. The whole thing is silly. I have a dialogue with 200 or more people a day… by email, which is non-anonymous and focused and manageable. Try that with JD Salinger…

Werbeblogger:
What do you think is the role of blogs within marketing? Is it just a hype or are they really potential marketing tools for all kind of companies?

Seth Godin:
I think a blog lets you tell a story over time. If that’s your goal, it’s a great tool.

Werbeblogger:
You critized interrupting advertising. Isn’t it possible to be remarkable with high frequency interrupting advertising too? Is classic advertising not needed in no cases?

Seth Godin:
Sure it is, but it’s really hard. It’s much less efficient and a bigger shot in the dark.

Werbeblogger:
You can only be remarkable if the mass is normal and you can set off against it with unconventional bahaviour, do you agree? If so, do we need the normal mass to be remarkable?

Seth Godin:
I think when remarkable becomes normal, we redefine what remarkable is.

Werbeblogger:
Spam is bad, it annoys people, it bothers them, but why is so much of this dirt out there? There have to be some positive effects for the addressors, what do you think?

Seth Godin:
I think because the cost is zero, you have a math problem. Like dividing by zero… it gets really big, instantly. If you get one in a million responses, you still make money, because the costs are borne by others. It’s like pollution… not your problem.

Werbeblogger:
Last but not least what do you think is the future of advertising and PR? Are times really changing?

Seth Godin:
Times have ALREADY changed. Take this interview, for example!

Werbeblogger:
Thanky you very much for this conversation.