Grateful Dead Marketing Magic

Why 37? The mind is able to remember certain types of numbers better than others! Prime numbers fall into that category, and of course, 37 is a Prime Number

Magic Number 1 Turn the marketing model on its ear.

Most concerts are carbon copies of the next - so if you have seen one Paul McCartney show you have seen them all... so the repeat attendees are limited. The aim is to sell more records.... the youtube of Tokyo is nearly exactly the same as the concert I attended 2 years ago in Brisbane - I am not complaining but I won't be in a hurry to see Paul again.

The Grateful Dead played a different playlist each night or a different style if the numbers were the same - in a year they played more than 500 different songs. they had a huge number of repeat attendees to their shows who wanted to hear a different show each night. [The Dead Fans.]

Magic Number 2 Rejected conventional wisdom

Imagine for a moment if the Grateful Dead had put themselves in the care of a manager who was focused on selling records and increasing the profi ts of a record company. If they had conformed to “industry best practices,” the Grateful Dead might be one of the thousands of bands on the dead heap of music history. The concert-as-business-model worked, and the Dead created a passionate fan base that became an underground cult that catapulted the Grateful Dead into the rock-and-roll stratosphere: the fan base grew from thousands to hundreds of thousands to millions, with the Grateful Dead selling out shows year after year. 

Convential wisdom says play perfectly the songs of the latest album - but the dead did 500 different songs at their concerts [ even some covers ] and often stopped when they couldn't remember the song.

So, in disregarding "concential wisdom" They

1.    Didn't need to rehearse
2.     encouraged people to come to many shows hoping they would see and hear something different.

 

The friends in the crowd were just as important as the band and the music.

Magic Number 3 Innovation is just as important, if not more so, than product innovation

Great Dead Marketing Magic 3/37

 Innovation is just as important, if not more so, than product innovation

Think big

In the same vein of Tony Hsieh’s approach that Zappos delivered happiness (not shoes), the Grateful Dead was single-minded about creating experiences for their fans. As live musicians, fundamental to that experience was the sound itself.Steve Parish (roadie): “In the early days, what there was in PAs (sound equipment) was just so inadequate."

Mickey Hart (percussions): “We realized, that if we were going to play for larger crowds, we would need a real delivery system. And, if sound was the product of all of this work, it better be fucking good, man."

Enter the Wall of Sound.

It was 1974. This sound system innovation was the brainchild of audio engineer and lead mad scientist in their tribe, Stanley Owsley, known as Bear. Bear’s Wall of Sound was literally a stack of speakers (586) and amps (48) all interconnected and optimized for volume and sound fidelity. The Wall of Sound delivered the biggest sound imaginable at the time, widely understood to have been funded privately by Bear’s personal profits from his notorious LSD production. The Wall of Sound required the crew to build up and take down 600 speakers show after each show. The ambition was insane.

Whether it is Zappos resetting standards on customer returns, President Kennedy’s call to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade, or Google’s well-known “moonshot” culture to make 10x improvements vs. 10% improvements, there is no denying that unprecedented ambition catalyzes big ideas. 

#WayneRobertMansfield, #Wayne Robert Mansfield, #Grateful Dead #GratefulDead, #ExperienceOracle, #SMM2021

Magic number 4 Create invitation-only online destination

Grateful Dead Marketing Magic 4/37

 4/37  Create invitation-only online destination

It is easy to do a low cost web destination wich only really costs the domain name registration and use your in-house email list.

Why to Sending Paperless Invitations

1. Lower Cost

The average cost of physical invitations is $5,000 to $8,000. The average cost of digital invitations, on the other hand, will cost no more than $100. Clearly, this can make a big difference for a budget

2. Less Hassle

If you go digital, you're going to be saving a lot of time. Just think: no licking envelopes, no adhering rhinestones, no writing addresses in your best cursive until your hand cramps...the actual act of getting invitations ready to mail out can be incredibly time-consuming, and when you already have a checklist a mile long, anything you can do to save time is amazing.

3. RSVPs Are Easy-Breezy

With an online invitation service, RSVP-ing has never been so simple. I like to say "just count the money."

4. Your Designs Will Flow

With online invitations, it's incredibly easy to make your save-the-dates, invites, and even thank-you cards all part of the same design suite.

5. No Trees Will Be Harmed

The eco-conscious can rest easy knowing their invitations did not waste any paper whatsoever.

#WayneMansfield, #Wayne Mansfield, #SMM2021, #ExperienceOracle, #Done

Magic Number 5 

Great Dead Marketing Magic 5/37

Climb aboard a new bus heading down the road to where the water tastes like wine.

Where the water tastes like winemakes room for two Americas though, side-by-side: An America of legends and an America of the mundane. And it’s where the two intersect that you often find the real “truth”—a bit exaggerated, maybe, but nevertheless striking on something more important than the events themselves, something that speaks to the human condition in a way pure facts couldn’t.

Where the water tastes like wine is a blend of myth and truth is what makes where the water tastes like wine special, the contrast between people’s everyday lives, their small struggles and smaller victories, and the ensuing tall tales. You can watch as American legend is woven before your very eyes, a combination of truths and half-truths and hundreds of distinct experiences. You'll see stories passed from person to person, each retelling exaggerated a bit more until what’s left bears no resemblance to where you started. A silly old man you meet in the woods becomes “The Leatherman,” a ghost who’s wandered the country for 200 years.

Legend: The Grateful Dead built the legend that they are the worlds greatest band - heck thay gave away their music, made it easy to record and share YET sold out stadiums to people who had little to spare!

Mundane: The fans were ordinary people who like ied dyed T-shirts that they bought from friends of a lifetime.

Marketing Magic Number 6

Memorable Band Name

If you stop to think about it, the name is sorta weird. Even a little scary.

But, boy, is it memorable.

Originally calling themselves the Warlocks when they formed a band in 1964, the musicians realized they needed to come up with a new name a year later when they found out that there was another band by the same name that had recorded a single. The guys debated names, coming up with ideas such as “Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle” (Garcia) and “His Own Sweet Advocates” (Weir). When they were unable to find a name they agreed on, they gathered at Phil Lesh’s house around a copy of Bartlett’s Quotations, read out a thousand possible names, but couldn’t agree on anything. Then Jerry Garcia opened a copy of Funk and Wagnall’s New Practical Standard Dictionary (1956 edition) and randomly pointed to a page. There, staring back at him, was grateful dead. Several members immediately fell in love with the name and wanted to use it. Others were a bit wary. But all agreed it was memorable, so they decided to use it.

The dictionary defines the term as a type of ballad involving a hero who helps a corpse who is being refused a proper burial, a theme found in many cultures. For the Grateful Dead, the strange cosmic quality the name evokes–a world beyond consciousness–was perfect. This, of course, played into what the band was doing on stage. That some in the audience might be experimenting with mind-altering substances while listening to a band called the Grateful Dead made the name choice interesting on another level.

Fast-forward to four decades later and the name seems ideal. The choice of name worked to help advance the Grateful Dead to its widely recognized status as the most iconic band in history. And the sort of inside-joke quality–a name that your parents likely hated and your less-cool schoolmates or coworkers scoffed at–contributed to the community aspect of those in the know. A badge of honor was bestowed upon those who were independent enough to enjoy a band with such an odd name.

#Marketing, #Wayne Mansfield,#WayneMansfield,#ExperienceOracle, #SMM2021

Magic Number 14 Experiment, Experiment, Experiment 37

Magic Number 15 Take risks to learn from our failures and successes, and move forward

Magic Number 16 Embrace Technology 

Magic Number 17 Be open-minded about how to market your service or products

Magic Number 18 Push to the limit what was possible based on the technology of the day.

Magic Number 19 Embracing technology and  new forms of communications

Magic Number 20 Establish a New Category 53

Magic Number 21  Cross styles and created your own.

Magic Number 22  Ignore conventional wisdom to create uncontested markets .  

Magic Number 23 Encourage Eccentricity 61

Magic Number 24  Build personality into your web site

Magic Number 25 Bring People on an Odyssey 69

Magic Number 26 Put Fans in the Front Row 79

Magic Number 27 Build a Following 87

Magic Number 28 Cut Out the Middleman 97

Magic Number29 Free Your Content 105

Magic Number 30 Bypass accepted channels and go direct

Magic Number31 Be Spreadable 113

Magic Number 32 Make clients an equal partner in a mutual journey

Magic Number 33 Upgrade to Premium 119

Magic Number 34  Loosen Up Your Brand 127

Magic Number 35 Partner with Entrepreneurs 135

Magic Number 36 Give Back 143

Magic Number  37 Do What You Love 151