Why “Lying” is the Best Marketing Strategy: The Difference Between Accuracy & Truth

Georg Riedel comes from a long line of glassblowers and his family’s been in the business for 10 generations.

Riedel knows just about everything there is to know about making glasses and he believes the shape of a wine glass has a noticeable impact on the taste of the wine.

This means a $10 bottle of wine tastes significantly better in the right glass while a $300 bottle of wine will reach exceptional levels.

“The delivery of a wine’s ‘message,’ it’s bouquet and taste, depends on the form of the glass.”

That’s on the company website.

If you’re thinking, “The taste depends on the glass? That can’t be right!” you’re not the only one.

Most people, including professional reviewers and wine connoisseurs, arrive at a Riedel wine tasting as non believers but it doesn’t take long for them to change their minds.

Robert Parker Jr. a respected wine reviewer said, “The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make.”

Riedel glasses are now used by wine lovers around the world and every one of them swears the glass improves their drinking experience.

But that’s not the most amazing thing about this story…

Results of double-blind scientific tests show that the shape of a wine glass has zero impact on the taste of the wine in it.

The “Lies” I Tell Every Day

You can read all about this incredible story in a book by marketing expert Seth Godin.

In his book All Marketers Are Liars, Godin says Riedel glasses make the wine taste better because people believe the story that goes with it.

To be more precise, it’s because people want to believe the story.

Godin talks about the crucial differentiator between a true story and a fact…

A story is true not because it’s factual but because it’s authentic and consistent.

I agree 100% and I share my version of Godin’s message with my students all the time…

Marketing is truthful, but it’s not accurate.

And I’m not afraid to put my money where my mouth is. 🙂

Take a look at the marketing, sales and value content we share at Live Your Message and you’ll immediately see this principle at play.

Here are just some of the “lies” I tell every day:

Be the Superhero to Your Tribe

Change the World From Your Living Room

Even my company name — Live Your Message — is a lie!

Superheroes wear capes and save people’s lives. It’s not accurate that you’re actually being a superhero but it is truthful because it’s the experience people have or want to have as part of your tribe.

Change the World from Your Living Room isn’t about literally making a difference and changing the world from your living room couch.

It’s about doing whatever you can from wherever you are in the world, to create positive change.

Live Your Message isn’t about literally living and breathing your message every second of your day…

It’s about showing up in a way that’s aligned and congruent with the transformational message you want to communicate in your business.

But if you get up close and personal with all 3 lines and you believe all marketing messages must be 100% accurate and factual…

Then yes, all 3 of those are technically “lies.”

Animals Doing Unexpected Things

When I teach my students about truth vs accuracy in marketing, I talk about Werner Herzog.

Herzog is a German fiction and documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author, actor and opera director who makes highly stylized docudramas.

His stories often feature animals doing unexpected things.

Lots of people love Herzog’s work. And lots of people don’t.

Detractors and critics think his stories are just too fantastical and outlandish to make any kind of sense.

But Herzog isn’t concerned with any of it.

He believes in creative filmmaking that is based on truth and he believes that, “Facts do not constitute truth.”

Herzog also says, “Fact creates norms, and truth illumination”

And…

“… poetic, ecstatic truth can only be reached through fabrication, imagination and stylization.”

This is the heart of great marketing… illumination, imagination and stylization.

It’s not about cold, hard facts that fall flat and it’s not about being precise and accurate.

Great marketing is about activating authentic belief and inspiring emotion…

It’s about getting people to feel, and to desire…

It’s about motivating your audience, your clients and your customers to reach for what they want…

To go above and beyond…

To fly higher, dig deeper and become more than they are.

Best vs. Great

You’ve just experienced the power of the “lie” vs the truth in marketing because I “lied” in the headline of this post… Why “Lying” is The Best Marketing Strategy.

If wanted to be 100% accurate, I’d write…

Why Storytelling is a Great Marketing Strategy.

Storytelling and “lying”… they could be the same and they could be different.

There are stories that are factual, there are stories that are fictional.

Best and great… they’re not the same but both words are used interchangeably.

Best means “to the highest degree,” great means “considerably above average.”

If I’d gone with an accurate, factual headline, would you have read this post?

Maybe but then again… maybe not.

Either way, I’m guessing a lot more people clicked to read because of the “lie” in the headline (and in the email too).

This means a lot more people learned how to become better at marketing their products and services…

A lot more people are going to be that much better at selling their products, creating a profitable business and living the kind of life they want to live…

And that’s the truth 🙂

Over to you…

How can you “lie” in your marketing and messaging? How can you include truthful stories to captivate your audience and inspire them to reach for more?

Let me know in the comments!