All marketers are liars

This is the catchy title for the book of one of the best #Marketing strategist of our generation, Seth Godin. In his work, he explains how Marketing is all about telling the right story to the right people and if your story is legit and authentic, they will buy it.

Here is an example of great #storytelling for an even better product: Macaroons.

"Let’s face it, a macaroon isn’t even a bite. It’s gone before you know it and although your brain knows you’ve had one, your stomach could beg to differ. Macaroons have been around since the 9th century, but I don’t remember seeing the dainty, colored, every flavored sandwiched confection that is ubiquitous now, even a few years ago. And they’re expensive for what they are in any language, doesn’t matter if it’s $3 or €3.

A lot of people don’t ‘get’ macaroons.

“This is the single most overpriced thing in the history of capitalism. It’s a single, stupid little macaroon.“

—Rory Sutherland

Macaroons are not designed for Rory, they are marketed to a sensibility and dare I say it, to women. Their value is highly subjective. The thing about a macaroon is that much of its value is perceived.

The real value is psychological and therefore intangible.

It’s a sweet ‘treat’ with damage limitation built-in.

A macaroon is mostly almonds and egg white, low in fat, gluten-free (two things we’ve come to care about), and so tiny the sugar can hardly count.…right? When you’re rationalizing about how many minutes on the treadmill it’s going to take to work it off, a macaroon feels like a bargain compared to the other available choices in the cake cabinet.

One man’s rip-off is another woman’s indulgence.

It turns out that like most things we buy, or value when we have everything we need, macaroons are not a product, they are a story we tell ourselves"