Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead-rock legends, marketing pioneers 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 to the Original Edition xv Preface xxvii 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