Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead broke almost every rule in the music industry book. They encouraged their fans to record shows and trade tapes; they built a mailing list and sold concert tickets directly to fans; and they built their business model on live concerts, not album sales. By cultivating a dedicated, active community, collaborating with their audience to co-create the Deadhead lifestyle, and giving away "freemium" content, the Dead pioneered many social media and inbound marketing concepts successfully used by businesses across all industries today.

Written by marketing gurus and lifelong Deadheads David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead gives you key innovations from the Dead's approach you can apply to your business. Find out how to make your fans equal partners in your journey, "lose control" to win, create passionate loyalty, and experience the kind of marketing gains that will not fade away!

Foreword xi

Introduction xv

Part One The Band 1

Chapter 1 Create a Unique Business Model 3

Chapter 2 Choose Memorable Brand (and Band) Names 13

Chapter 3 Build a Diverse Team 21

Chapter 4 Be Yourself 29

Chapter 5 Experiment, Experiment, Experiment 37

Chapter 6 Embrace Technology 45

Chapter 7 Establish a New Category 53

Part Two The Fans 59

Chapter 8 Encourage Eccentricity 61

Chapter 9 Bring People on an Odyssey 69

Chapter 10 Put Fans in the Front Row 79

Chapter 11 Build a Following 87

Part Three The Business 95

Chapter 12 Cut Out the Middleman 97

Chapter 13 Free Your Content 105

Chapter 14 Be Spreadable 113

Chapter 15 Upgrade to Premium 119

Chapter 16 Loosen Up Your Brand 127

Chapter 17 Partner with Entrepreneurs 135

Chapter 18 Give Back 143

Chapter 19 Do What You Love 151

Acknowledgments 157

"Furthur" Reading 159

About the Photographs 161

About the Illustrations 161

About the Authors 163

"The origins of the book are not in the field of cultural economics. However, it raises some very interesting issues about the area and also of the general relationships between the disciplines of marketing and economics, even perhaps about the nature of American culture." (Journal of cultural economics 2015)

"Sex, drugs, rock 'n roll and ground-breaking marketing communications, what more could you ask?" (Marketing ie, April 2011)

"... there's certainly much to be taken away from this book." (Business Life, October 2010)

"... a well-written and sprightly little book...they may just be on to something." (Management Today, October 2010)

"... offers advice to marketing executives across a broader range of industries." (Director, October 2010)

"... fits four decades' worth of guitar solos and weed smoking into the context of recent American marketing." (The Guardian.co.uk, September 2010)

"Like all the best teachers, this book inspires you to do your own thinking.... I found it enlightening and liberating." (Financial Times, August 2010)

"... a short but inspiring book which will give every business person pause for thought and some good ideas." (TheBookBag.co.uk, August 2010)

David Meerman Scott (WebInkNow.com; Lexington, MA) is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and bestselling Wiley author. In his consulting work, David specializes in using online content to market and sell products and services to customers worldwide. He has presented at industry conferences and events in over 20 countries on 4 continents. As an award-winning marketer and writer, Scott has developed online marketing programs responsible for selling well over one billion dollars of products and services. Scott is an instructor for the Pragmatic Marketing's Effective Marketing Programs seminar that shows participants how to develop a convincing plan for anything from a single campaign to a strategic go-to-market initiative.

Brian Halligan (hubspot.com/bhalligan; Cambridge, MA) is co-founder and CEO of HubSpot, Inc., an Internet marketing company dedicated to helping small businesses leverage the Internet to "get found" by qualified prospects and convert more of them into leads and customers. His blog, blog.hubspot.com, ranks as one of the world's top 100 marketing blogs, according to AdAge Magazine. Brian is a frequent lecturer at MIT and Harvard Business School on the science of selling and marketing. He also frequently speaks at conferences, such as the New Marketing Summit, Search Engine Strategies, and the Inbound Marketing Summit.

Marketing

THE GRATEFUL DEAD—ROCK LEGENDS, MARKETING PIONEERS

"Demand everything. Expect nothing."
—Bill Kreutzmann, cofounder and drummer, the Grateful Dead

"I miss Jerry. And I wonder ... is your brand iconic? Why not? Hint: it has nothing whatsoever to do with hemp brownies. Becoming iconic is a choice."
—Seth Godin, author of Linchpin, blogger, Deadhead

"Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead is like a powerful, hard-charging anthem that fills in so many blanks while closing the circle of life. Like the Grateful Dead, Brian and David are transformational visionaries with a keen eye for the second set."
—Bill Walton, basketball legend and Deadhead

The Grateful Dead broke almost every rule in the music industry book. They encouraged their fans to record shows and trade tapes; they built a mailing list and sold concert tickets directly to fans; and they built their business model on live concerts, not album sales. By cultivating a dedicated, active community, collaborating with their audience to co-create the Deadhead lifestyle, and giving away "freemium" content, the Dead pioneered many social media and inbound marketing concepts successfully used by businesses across all industries today.

Written by marketing gurus and lifelong Deadheads DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT and BRIAN HALLIGAN, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead gives you key innovations from the Dead's approach you can apply to your business. Find out how to make your fans equal partners in your journey, "lose control" to win, create passionate loyalty, and experience the kind of marketing gains that will not fade away!

"For years, business theorists and corporate strategists have pointed to the Dead's example for insights into perennial issues and emerging challenges. Scott and Halligan focus on one key factor in the band's extraordinary artistic and business success—their iconic and enduring identity, not just as a band but as a brand. The authors' real appreciation for the Dead phenomenon, and their compelling and creative analyses of the Dead's marketing acumen, make this thought-provoking survey mandatory reading."
—Nicholas Meriwether, Grateful Dead Archivist, UC Santa Cruz, and author, All Graceful Instruments: The Contexts of the Grateful Dead Phenomenon and Dead Letters: Essays on the Grateful Dead

"Demand everything. Expect nothing."
—Bill Kreutzmann, co-founder and drummer, The Grateful Dead

"David and Brian share my deep passion for music and its inspiration in our everyday lives. In Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, they combine their marketing expertise with a zeal for one of the most successful and iconic bands of all time. They mold two subjects that are seemingly poles apart into one breakthrough book that is as entertaining as it is enlightening."
—Del Breckenfeld, Director, Entertainment Marketing, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. & author of The Cool Factor: Building Your Brand's Image Through Partnership Marketing

"Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead explores the phenomenon created by the Grateful Dead showcasing the extraordinary power of music and the innovations the Dead developed to connect and bond with their audience."
—Michael Lang, co-creator & Producer of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Festival and author The Road to Woodstock

"Halligan and Scott have written one of the most inspired, practical, and unconventional books on the business bookshelf. Want to develop a cult-like following, establish a new category, and do what you love? Scott and Halligan—calling upon their innate marketing savvy and inspired by their passion for the Grateful Dead—show you how."
—Marc Benioff; Chairman & CEO, salesforce.com

"Jerry Garcia and his band were brilliant marketers. They understood that you grow your fan base one fan at a time and they constantly came up with things to energize their base while continuing to build it. As committed fans and talented marketing pros, Brian and David have created a book that is both entertaining and informative."
—Jim Irsay, Owner and CEO, Indianapolis Colts and owner of Jerry Garcia's guitar, Tiger

"Being a 20-year member of the Grateful Dead's extended family, it's safe to say that we never felt like we were being marketed to in any way. The Dead treated us right by reaching out to us and keeping us in the know. Brian Halligan and David Meerman Scott's book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead is an eye opener with keen observations. Who would have thought so many years ago that there was any plan in place at all?"
—Ken Hays, Big Boss Man, Gathering of the Vibes

"... a well-written and sprightly little book. If you learn these lessons, you will have a better company and you will have a better life...."
—Geoff Travis, Management Today