When I was getting started in marketing, my favorite part was all the “unbelievably cool super flashy” stuff that I saw the masters do. Riveting headlines, ballsy copy, daring offers.
The problem was, when I tried to do the same thing with my customers it just didn’t sound right. It was almost like trying to stick a rock music drum solo in the middle of a country music song.
One of my fave rave UK musicians is Gavin Harrison. He’s the extraordinarily talented drummer for Porcupine Tree and on this video he talks about the rivalry between “technique” and real art. And how sometimes you don’t have to try nearly so hard to pull of something that’s really beautiful and effective:
Gavin’s ideas translate *exactly* to marketing, and to cultivating relationships with customers.
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
15 Comments on “Why Fancy Often Fails”
I am a musician & I feel bad for this guy Gavin. He and so many other players get so caught up in technique that they don’t ‘listen’ to the music they’re playing & ‘feel it’ for many years.
Some of them, like Gavin, wake up one day & realize that’s what’s missing. Before they come to this epiphany, they suck to play with because they don’t play with feeling & emotionally interact with a band & the people listening. Even though they are on time & in tune, they are like robots. Emotionless.
There are definitely times & places for flash & technique as well. Music reflects emotion we experience in life & life itself.
Not all of life is slow, pretty and tasteful. That’s for sure. Nor is it all sad & fast. There are places for all types playing.
I think that if can you play in a way that the people you’re playing with & the audience can all feel the music, you’re doing your job as a musician.
I think it’s a good point to make as a comparison between connecting with people through music & marketing because both are about emotional connection.
That’s exactly what makes people want to listen to you again & again.
I just wish it was as easy to connect with people in marketing as it is with music for me & many other people. It’s hard to do when you can’t see & hear the peoples reactions on the spot.
This post certainly hit on my emotions, hence the reply.
Hello Perry, You always present us with food for thought. We run on automatic to much of the time and don’t get anything done. If we put our brain in gear it will work in spite of us. Thanks, Andrew Gallop
Love the left-handed single stroke rolls. Incredible technique but the average person couldn’t tell that.
Excellent post – and he’s quite right; I had a near exact revelation of the difference between chops and music…I wasn’t sitting in front of a Swiss fountain after a gig, I was breaking up a cowboy/biker fight, but still…
Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Communication’s gotta feel like something…
video is so awesome…
right around 1:44:
‘we can all do that…that’s is a technique trick’
you can see that he doesn’t quite believe his own words there as he immediately goes up and scratches the side of his nose. :)
saw another excellent example of this on a 60 minutes puff piece with the guy running the dubai investment fund right before they defaulted and had to reorganize their debt.
r8r
p.s. guy is a fantanstic drummer, btw.
It’s the 2nd time you are sending this video out but the funny thing is that I’m getting something else of value out of it.
The part that resonated with me is on the importance of working on your psychology and not just skill
“The things I play today, I could have played 25 years ago, I just did not think of them” hmmhh..
10,000 Hours… I’ve always believed that the 10,000 hours to mastery thing was a half truth and the “listening” part of this video brings out why.
To me, the 10,000 hours to mastery is indicative of a baseline level where basically anybody that sticks with it for that long will figure it out at a masterful level.
But, 1,000 hours of “listening” while you drum has to be worth more than 10,000 hours of putting in your time. And if it takes 9,000 hours of banging away to learn to listen, perhaps your mentorship was off somewhere. That’s how I’ve thought about it every since I heard Carlton & Halbert talk about it.
Thoughts Perry?
In video 1 of this interview he covers some very important concepts directly related to getting your marketing chops and getting to alchemy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eNVyTB-5GI
Specifically the section where he talks about his goal being to become a professional drummer and not to get a gig drumming somewhere… so as a professional drummer in the making, he learned to read music, sat in on all types of gigs and learned what was expected from a drummer in all types of genres and situation… this is good stuff.
Nick,
You are very right. (Did I say you’re one of the most astute person who regularly comments on this blog? Seriously. You’ve got some gifts.) Yes, 1000 hours of listening and paying attention can replace 10,000 hours of rote, for sure.
Perry
Perry,
I’ve seen many examples of translating music to marketing. But this one I could even feel!
By the way.. I noticed that with time I suddenly have ideas or think of things I never did before, or I just suddenly understand something I never truly understood before. I believe, that unless you are a true Genius, you have to ‘grow up’ for each thought, taste and feeling in your life, to truly understand it. Food tastes different at different ages, but all that’s changed is your mind.
Wow,1st, I am floored by the communication level of the artist – how many musicians know exactly why they are there? To communicate and elicit emotions that maybe you’ve need to experience because you’ve been there too much or need to go there cuz you haven’t been.
2nd his playing totally reflects his level of communication, he is as tasteful on his kit as he is in the interview and
3rd, you in marketing are of the same caliber and quality – communication is the pinnacle of art and marketing and advertising that elevates itself makes every day life a joy, instead of the mesmerizing numbness it can be when all one hears is hard sell all day.
So, I have never read one of your books or done more than glance at your emails, but you got me with this one and I am now a dedicated student of the artist Perry Marshall.
Al
You’re likely going to make me a Porcupine Tree fan..
Being a musician who has played with a lot of drummers, this is an all-too common problem.
Excellent tie-in to marketing. I needed that.
Perry,
How wonderful that you can successfully show us examples like that one from other genres, from other worlds, where principles and lessons apply in our own world.
That’s where the real power comes from and that’s what we should be striving for in our own marketing.
Thank you.
WOW! Just wow.
Firstly, I almost spat my beer all over the keyboard when I read the line:
“…it just didn’t sound right. It was almost like trying to stick a rock music drum solo in the middle of a country music song.”
I suddenly pictured Tommy Lee bustin’ it out on a Tammy Wynette tune! :) Or Danny Carey rippin’ it up on to Conway Twitty.
Secondly, what an absolutely diamond geezer!
As a muso myself, a LOT of what he said resonated with me. I’ve had literally DOZENS of such conversations with other musos (mostly guitarists; lead guitarists, to be more specific) over the years about a lot of what he was talking about.
And, finally, your message, Perry, re: marketing really resonated with me, too.
Great post. Great vid. Great correlation.
Nice one, man.
Great post Perry. You always know how to add value to this industry.