Were the Grateful Dead business geniuses?

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Grateful Dead. Some would even call me a Deadhead, and that would be accurate. You might even wonder what does the Grateful Dead has to do with my subcontracting business? Keep reading and you'll find out.

In 2021 I recorded a podcast with David Meerman Scott. He’s the best-selling author of the book The New Rules of Marketing and PR and several other books that are more than worth reading.

One of them is Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. That was our topic for the podcast episode.

You might think, what would The Grateful Dead have to do with my blue collar or main street business? That would be a good question to ask.

The reason I think you would want to listen to this episode is learning what an iconic band ended up doing, mostly by experiments and by accident. They had no interest in becoming marketing pioneers. They just ended up there by mistake.

Some things I bet you want for your business

I’m going to be that you want to be loved by your customers. I’m going to bet that you want to have raving fans that actively recruit others to join your tribe.

That’s what The Dead did. It all started with a short little blurb on the back of an album they put out in 1971. The little blurb was “Dead Heads Unite: Who are you? Where are you? Send us your name and address, and we’ll keep you informed.”

That little blurb on the back of their album was well before anyone thought of anything like social media or the internet started a movement. Thousands of people sent in their name and address.

Some of their experiments

From there came a newsletter. The newsletter morphed into a ticket agency. The result was their fans could get the best seats without paying a ticket charge.

These were just two of the small experiments the band did. The experiments weren’t with any goals in mind. It was just isn’t this cool and let’s see what happened.

When you make small experiments, good things can happen. Not all the time, but enough that it makes it worth your while to try.

Why did this work?

During the conversation David and I had, it became apparent to me there was one philosophical belief that ran through all of them. From allowing and even encouraging fans to tape their shows, to allowing trading of shows as long as there was no economic value for the traders. Eventually, the band even allowed sellers of Grateful Dead merchandise outside the venues they were playing for a tiny and affordable license fee.

The overriding value and philosophical belief for the band was respect for their fans. They expected and mostly knew their fans would not take advantage of the band’s approach to appreciate the people who went to see their shows.

It really all comes down to trust. They trusted the band would not be taken advantage of. They trusted that these were just ideas and if they worked great if not, that was OK too.

A question for you.

How do you show respect for your customers? How do you test your ideas to see if they work? Do you trust your employees, suppliers, and customers to do the right thing?

Trusting that others will do the right thing is always scary. I bet that if you try it, the result will surprise you.

Yes, there will be those who take advantage of you. Just remember, it’s going to a tiny number. Focus on the majority and you’ll find your business transforms. Your customers will learn to love you, your employees will trust what you say, and your suppliers will appreciate the upfront way you work with them.

What do you think about creating a culture of respect for your stakeholders? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

If you're interested in listening to this podcast episode, click here. You'll find it worth the twenty minutes you spend.