Why Even Sliced Bread Wasn’t that Great at First

In this video, best-selling author and founder of Squidoo, Seth Godin, explains why tried-and-true marketing techniques no longer work and reveals what does work in today’s changing market. Godin points out that a public that is bombarded with a daily barrage of products and information has little choice but to ignore all but the most bizarre and unusual offerings.

Godin’s insights are vital information not only for anyone running an internet marketing company; anyone who is attempting to market anything can garner valuable tips from this video. According to Godin, it no longer makes any difference whether a product, service or technology is any good, or even whether it works or not. His mantra, repeated over and over again during the video, is “Ideas that spread, win.” The key to spreading an idea is to get people talking about it, and the key to getting today’s jaded consumers excited enough to start talking about your product is to do something different.

Since television sets became fixtures in American homes, marketing has hinged upon distribution of ideas via television advertisements. A company would spread the word to potential consumers, sell products and make a profit, then re-invest those profits into more television marketing. This model worked so well that most other methods of marketing were all but forgotten. Companies aimed for the middle-of-the-road consumer, hawking products with broad appeal to the average consumer.

Today’s consumers no longer learn about new products from the sponsors of their favorite television shows. If they still watch television at all, they have become adept at ignoring those who are trying to get them to buy things. To create the buzz necessary to get their attention, Godin advises marketers to first figure out what people are looking for. He suggests they do this by keeping three things in mind: design is crucial to marketing today, risky ideas are the new safe, and it’s better for a product to be very bad than to be very good.

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