Thursday, April 13, 2006

Stories that can Save the World

Seth Godin has a great article in this month's Ode Magazine, Stories the Shake the World. It is part of the cover story, The Greatest Story Never Told; How Marketing can Save the World. Ode is an edgy, save the world type magazine, a bit low key and cool, very hip and clearly open. Published in Dutch, originally in 1995 and English since 2004, it seems to have quite a mission. I started subscribing a couple of months ago and Seth's article really piqued my interest.

His premise, as you may know, is the telling of authentic stories to sell whatever. Linking story telling to marketing as a strategy and also as a relationship builder. Building relationships with clients and people in general is good for business. Being authentic (honest), acting with integrity, keeping your word - all points of honest business that matter.

Seth's been telling us this for years. Why do I care that it is in Ode? Ode will likely reach a whole new audience for Seth. Guess what? His story is spreading. And his story is a positive one. His story is that there is a lot more cool, good stuff going on in the world than yucky bad stuff. He says if we tell these cool, good stories in compelling, thoughtful ways, people might just start to feel a little less threatened by terrosism (actually, I'm extrapolating. He didn't quite say that). Is that possible?

The point is, there IS an amazing amount of really powerful, positive shifts in the way we live and the way we do business. These shifts, if well told, can change and quite possibly save the world. Marketers, according to Seth, have a huge resposibility to craft their stories well and have the business and products which are worth selling and worth buying. He reflects that bad marketing has killed way more people than nuclear weapons.

Check out the article. There's a positive tide countering the sometimes overwhelming negativity being spewed forth from traditional media...

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

such a good read. both stories btw. yours and Seth's one :)