Inbound and
social media marketing strategies
are much older than most people think. They didn't just appear in recent years. Companies like Dell, Pepsi and other major brands are now adopting strategies and practices that have existed for decades. In fact, inbound marketing existed well before the days of the internet. The internet has merely served as a catalyst to support its growth, scale and reduce cost of entry.
If inbound marketing has been around for decades, who is an example of a pre-internet pioneer? How about the
Grateful Dead
?
You may not realize it from the music industry of today, but in the 1960s the Grateful Dead pioneered many
social media
and
inbound marketing
concepts that businesses in all industries use today on the web.
How did a group of musicians from San Francisco transform marketing and become social media pioneers?
The Dead made a series of important choices to separate themselves from everyone in their industry, making difficult and unpopular decisions such as allowing fans to tape concerts and creating special tickets and access for fans.
The Dead Marketing Funnel
Chris Anderson wrote an entire book
about an an emerging economy based on a "free" pricing model. The concept of the freemium model is to give away valuable information for free to attract a larger base of prospective customers with a percentage of them willing to pay for a premium product or service. This approach is at the core of
inbound marketing
and describes the evolving marketing funnel for many businesses today.
The Dead pioneered this approach. They allowed concert attendees to tape shows and distribute them to other fans for free, and it worked. The Dead, one of the most iconic and successful rock bands of its era, achieved elite success with only one top 10 song, which didn't come until the 1980s.
They succeeded by
building a word-of-mouth network
of fans powered by
free
music. The Dead understood that it was about the experience that the music provided instead of strictly the music itself.
Fast forward to today. Successful inbound marketers have a
content strategy
and marketing funnel that is similar to that of the Dead. Companies who have achieved successful results have shifted focus away from products and features and have created a demand at the top of the funnel through a content strategy that puts the problems and needs of customers ahead of constant interruption caused by outbound marketing.
What Can Your Business Learn From the Grateful Dead?
Free is only one of many concepts that will be discussed by HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan and marketing author and speaker David Meerman Scott in their webinar: "Inbound Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead." Check out the video below from Halligan and Scott as they provide a preview of the webinar, then check out the full webinar here !
Photo Credit: WallyG
On-Demand Webinar: Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead
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Join fellow deadheads, HubSpot CEO, Brian Halligan and acclaimed author, David Meerman Scott for marketing takeaways from the Grateful Dead! |
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Dan Tyre 5:00 PM on March 29, 2010
The Greatful Dead were innovators in many areas. They played for the love of the music and pay back came later. They cultivated their tribe with free downloads, counter culture branding and great community. In 1978, I had the opportunity to sponsor a concert at Colgate University with the original line up and actually meet the band and it was an incredible rush. Dead heads converged on the quad three days early, an instant swap meet sprang up for commerce, the band came, played for three hours and split, along with the circus. I sat in front of Phil Lesh fro the whole show. Thanks to Andy Garvey, now an executive on Wall Street for pulling it off as President of the Colgate Social Committee.
Stan DeVaughn 5:00 PM on March 29, 2010
Seth Godin goes nuts on this topic. Says Jerry Garcia began creating the "tribe" of Deadheads from the start. And he's right.
RM - InBoundMarketingPR 6:57 PM on March 29, 2010
I love that you blogged about the Dead, I never get tired of hearing this story.. True pioneers and a great example of building a tribe with passion for music and giving their fans what they wanted.
Jeff Ogden 7:49 PM on March 29, 2010
Look forward to your webinar, but I hope you discuss, Brian and David, what it really means to take a Grateful Dead approach.
The Dead were hardly an overnight success. Their approach takes patience and years to develop.
It's still the right approach, but anyone who thinks they get instant results from giving away content and loving their customers is naive at best.
Jeff Ogden, President
Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple"
http://www.findnewcustomers.net
Mike O'Neil 4:08 AM on March 30, 2010
After seeing them 6 times, both with Lucy in the Sky and without, I agree that there was a psychodelic cultural element that was (and is) central to it all.
The US Festival "breakfast with the Dead" at 6am on Sunday was a top highlight. '82
Also - sat in the taper section among all the DAT recorders in Salt Lake - a DRY concert. '95
John O'Leary 11:04 AM on March 30, 2010
Great Webinar idea! My band lived with the Dead briefly in 67-68 and opened for them in LA and NYC. Got to witness the early evolution of these unassuming renegades. Great guys (I found Pigpen the friendliest), always experimenting (musically and otherwise). Bob Weir once claimed to me he cured himself of STD's through macrobiotics. I'll be featuring them in my upcoming book, Cool Teams: Business Lessons From Rock.
Elisabeth 3:41 AM on March 31, 2010
The Grateful Dead approach was probably not "strategic". I believe their willingness to share sprung from their ethics and their hearts - an authentic approach and that's why it works.
The Dead are inspirational because they give courage to others. Sharing is not commercial suicide - indeed it is how the human race flourishes!
Michael Conway 9:34 AM on April 01, 2010
I was a full fledged member of the cult(said proudly) with 125+ shows under my belt and years of freelance photo gigs shooting for the Dead's Patty Harris and Dennis McNally. For more years than I can remember I have used the the Dead as a case study, promoted the notion of free as a marketing intent and for years I was told I was CRAZY. It is nice to see that after 15 years without them, Jerry and company are getting recognition for giving as a way of promoting. It was intentional but it came from a good place.
Dave Finkelstein 12:41 PM on April 01, 2010
Awesome getting bobby on to guest blog.
Steamboat Pilot 12:47 AM on April 02, 2010
I absolutely couldn't make the webinar (circumstances outside of my control) but am extremely interested in the topic. Any chance a recorded version will be available anywhere?