View source for Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan

{{infobox1
|title=Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History
|author=David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=An inspiring look at the way the band turned accepted marketing ideas on their heads - and made them work.  A must read - particularly if your business is online.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=192
|publisher=John Wiley and Sons Ltd
|date=August 2010
|isbn=978-0470900529
|cover=0470900520
|aznuk=0470900520
|aznus=0470900520
}}

'Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead' sounds like a gimmick, doesn't it?  Or, if not a gimmick, then the lessons that you learn when you see how it shouldn't be done.  Over the past few years I've read quite a few marketing books and I've generally come away with the thought that they weren't aimed at a business like Bookbag and required far too much control.  We're not that sort of people!  We want to enjoy Bookbag and we want other people to do the same and we're definitely not in the business of trying to pull in every penny that we can.

I knew as soon as I opened this book that I was going to learn a lot from it and that it would all be useful.  Grateful Dead took every piece of marketing advice and turned it on its head.  Then they made it work to their advantage.  Most bands look to sell their music and they tour to boost sales.  There's absolutely no chance of being able to record any part of the performance yourself – if you want the sound, you buy the disc.  Grateful Dead were almost permanently on tour – that was what they were about.  If you wanted to record the performance, you were welcome to do so – and there were even special sections for people who wanted to make recordings.

The band constantly looked to providing their fans (the 'Deadheads') with the product and the service which '''the fans''' wanted and they developed an intensely loyal following.  They encouraged the marketing which went on outside the arena – it was all part of the community of Deadheads.  By seemingly turning every established principle on its head they made money and became the most iconic band in history.

David Merman Scott and Brian Halligan are long time fans and experts on the subject of marketing.  They've produced a short but inspiring book which will give every business person pause for thought and some good ideas as to how they can advance their businesses.  Unlike many books it fully embraces the concept of an online business and gives a lot of pointers so that you can see where your business is doing well and badly.  It took me a couple of hours to read the book, many multiples of that just thinking over what had been written and how we could apply it to our business – and a lot of time nodding and smiling.

The rather good picturesof the Grateful Dead didn't do any harm either.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals then you might also like to try [[Brand Society by Martin Kornberger]] although that's not quite such an easy read. 

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[[Category:David Meerman Scott]
[[Category:Brian Halligan]]