Manipulating People, Marketing Man

Marketing Man As a young boy, Elton John’s mastery of the classics gave way to his love for rock and roll, fueled by the likes of Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. He worked hard to go from standing in front of a mirror, pounding out songs on the piano and pretending to be Lewis, to performing live at Dodger stadium in 1975 to a sellout crowd of 55,000.

John isn’t just a music man; he is a marketing man-that’s what has propelled him to phenomenal heights of success and made him a household name. When we study John’s career, we begin to realize that marketing may be one of the most misunderstood words in the common business vernacular. It’s often equated with selling or advertising when actually it’s about creating, changing, or evolving a product into something that people will buy. Simply put-selling is getting people to buy what you produce, but marketing is about producing what people will want to buy. Sometimes marketers are accused of manipulating people by trying to persuade them in some way. John would probably agree, but with one caveat-recognition of precisely who is being manipulated in the marketing process. Marketing is not about a marketer manipulating consumers; it’s about understanding consumers well enough to let them manipulate the marketer to produce what will sell more easily.

Walking the fine line of what “more pure” artists would consider selling out, Elton John is a great example of what it takes to create a complete brand, as you’ll see in this chapter. His career has flourished because of his understanding of what consumers want, his ability to create what his fans will buy, and his willingness to compromise between artistic purity and commercial appeal. As you see John’s branding story unfold, you’ll see how his success provides lessons on: S Adopting a marketing rather than a sales orientation S Developing transgenerational brand appeal S Developing both the functional and emotional elements of the brand to create a unified message and image in the market S Understanding how brand attributes work together to drive positioning and “heart share” S Creating brand personality and promise that connect with fans S Changing a brand image when it becomes irrelevant to fans or no longer represents the promise S Understanding how the image of the CEO or spokesperson affects the image of the brand of the product and the company.