An Allegory: The Emperor’s New Marketing

The author of this allegory, George Silverman, and author of the book from which it is taken, The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, uses this tale to point to critical factors in a word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

By George Silverman

Once upon a time not long ago, in a land not far away, there lived an emperor who wanted to promote his kingdom. After all, it had the best scenery, the best doctors, the best workers, the best natural resources, the best companies, and, yes, even the best marketing consultants. But, alas, his in-kingdom advertising wasn't too hot.

He called in ad agencies from far and wide, the best hypemeisters he could find. They all had slick pitches. He picked the agency with the most creative awards, the most appealing ads (the ones the Empress liked best), and the fanciest offices. The hypemeisters told him they would weave him the most creative marketing campaign a kingdom has ever seen. They put on a big show, with focus groups, surveys, storyboards, and animatics. The campaign was finally ready and was paraded through the land, with great fanfare. The hypemeisters said that only the intelligent and creative could see its true genius. The ads, brochures, sales aids, and Web site were truly something to behold, with gorgeous double-page pictures of natural scenery, beautiful skylines, smiling children, industrial plants, and bustling thoroughfares, printed on silver paper or spectacularly animated with Javascripts.

They all had catchy slogans, clever lines, and zippy copy.

Everyone wondered whether all this glitz would really influence people, but, wanting to be thought creative, they said they loved the campaign, because it was, after all, enormously entertaining. The hypemeisters were overjoyed, thinking of many insertions, hits, and awards.

Until a little boy stepped forward. Being ten years old, he already had so much creativity that he had nothing to prove. He said, "The Emperor’s new marketing is naked. It doesn't make any sense. It’s pretty, but what does it mean? It’s clever, but who cares? It’s zippy, but what does it say about what we stand for? It doesn't help anyone make a decision to visit our kingdom, or relocate their factories, or use our products any more than those of any other kingdom. Worse yet, it doesn't make people talk about it. It’s woven out of whole cloth so loose that you can see right through it! The Emperor’s marketing has no close!"

Everyone saw in a flash that the Emperor’s new marketing was so full of holes that it might as well not be there. In fact, they found that plain reminder advertising did as well as the fancy glitz.

So they tried a better approach.

• First, they interviewed their customers (evangelists and regular, high and low users), prospects, nonbuying inquirers, rejecters, former users, and nonusers.
• They talked with their sales stars.
• They used special techniques to get beyond the superficial and predictable: For instance, they mixed their evangelists with their interested prospects to hear what actually changed minds through word of mouth.
• They built this proven word of mouth into their marketing mix through testimonials, referral programs, FAQs, and a dozen more methods.
• They mapped out the decision steps needed to adopt the product, and figured out exactly how to help the prospect easily move along the steps.
• They identified the compelling case for several different types of prospects, and they developed interesting materials, seminars, demos, and other materials to present and support the case.
• They validated everything by trying it out with real people, in real situations, to see if it was persuasive and generated increased word of mouth.
• They made it easy and interesting for the prospect to engage in decision making. They made the gathering of information easy and fun, and the trial convenient and conclusive. The customers were supported all the way, instead of badgered.
• They made it easy for their evangelists to evangelize. They gave them tools to invite their friends to experience as well the advantages they had to offer. They made sure these tools survived photocopying, e-mailing, and other means that friends might use to communicate.

• Have our hypemeisters been sitting around talking to themselves, brainstorming when they should be deeply analyzing what’s in the minds and hearts of customers?
• Do neon diagrams really sell products, or even attract attention? Do our animated GIFs add or distract?
• Does recall guarantee product success or can people recall ads and still not buy? Or, do they buy without recalling the ads?
• Do our pretty, clever, award-winning materials actually influence decisions?
• How are you going to measure which elements are cost-effective and which are not?
• What are we doing to harness word of mouth, the most powerful force in the marketplace?
• How do we know that our salespeople are really influencing people, or are the sales being made despite the salespeople?
• Has any one of our hypemeisters actually gone out and faced real prospects and turned them around, or even heard it done in a sales call or in a focus group situation?
• Have we actually looked at how people make purchase decisions, and incorporated the latest that is known in the psychology of persuasion?
• Are all these ads, mailings, sales calls, and symposia integrated into a persuasion plan, so that all elements work together, creating synergy, each amplifying each other?
• Have we really gotten inside the heads of our customers, prospects, rejecters, and ex-customers?
• Do we really know why our customers bought, or are we operating on our guesses or their rationalizations? ("I really buy Playboy for the articles, a Mercedes for the engineering, a Gucci bag for its workmanship.")
• Have we uncovered and mapped out their needs, values, wishes, desires, and dreams as well as their conscious and unconscious concerns, qualms, fears, and anxieties?
• Have we targeted our prospects?
• Have we figured out with which prospects we have a chance, and whom we will be wasting our money on?
• Are our products truly positioned, or just tagged with clever slogans?
• Have we identified the actual arguments, the truly compelling case or cases that will actually get people to use our products?
• Do we know the sequence of information that people need, or are we underwhelming them with too little information or overwhelming them with too much?
• Are we covering the different channels that prospects need to get their information?
• Have we taken out the hidden negative language?
• Have we identified the grabbers, hot buttons, and exciting words and concepts that actually turn people on, or just the ones that turn us on?
• Have we actually identified what keeps a customer?
• Have we listened to the word of mouth about us?
• Have we figured out how to turn it to our maximum advantage?
• Most of all, do we have an integrated persuasion strategy and a persuasion system of validated elements all working together?
• Or, do we have a hodgepodge of marketing elements that all try, with varying success, to get across points that we think should be made?
• How are the elements supporting each other?
• How are they related to each other?
• Are we making a compelling case, or a series of points?
• In those campaigns that are already implemented, are we getting the results we could be getting?
• If not, why don't we change the approach to one that is customer empathic, one which comes from sound, customer-oriented, persuasion principles, following the decision flow of the customer, instead of product-oriented hype?