Learning about direct mail marketing from the Grateful Dead
In the song 'Ripple,' Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia famously poses the question "What do you want me to do?/To do for you, to see you through?" And while few people associate the jam band with anything related to marketing, according to the authors of a business guide, much can be learned from the outreach strategy of this legendary group, who didn't have technology like web-to-print at the time.
In their book "Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History," authors David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan write that industry professionals can benefit from studying a host of strategies used by the band, which was originally formed in the 1960's in San Fransisco.
The authors claim that the Dead were able to cultivate a solid fanbase by using mailing lists and other inbound marketing techniques that allowed them to achieve one of the most legendary followings in history.
"Making fans an equal partner in a mutual journey, the Grateful Dead teaches us that our community defines who we are," said Scott in an interview with Amazon.com. "In an era of instant communications on Twitter, blogs and the like, we learn that companies cannot force a mindset on their customers."