“Any real record person knows that the number one most powerful marketing tool when it comes to music is repetition.”
– Nile Rodgers
My take: First, I think it’s awesome I get to use a Nile Rodgers quote and apply it to marketing. The guy is a studio guitar legend.
As Nile describes it above, think of all the hits and stars that have been made simply because a program director at a radio station simply decides to play the song every hour on the hour. Britney Spears, anyone? Think of all the songs you think are great simply because you’ve heard them enough to convince you that they are.
The repetition convinces us the song is valid. It’s popular, and therefore we should like it. We start learning the lyrics, and then can’t help but sing along. All positive experiences.
And all impossible without repetition.
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them. Thus it happens that whenever those who are hostile have the opportunity to attack they do it like partisans, whilst the others defend lukewarmly, in such wise that the prince is endangered along with them.”
Dr. Charles Edwards thinks facts are what sells. I disagree. Facts don’t sell; stories do.
Nile Rodgers offers this quote on repetition that applies to marketing as much as it does music.
A quote and poem about selling, whispering in wells, hollering from trees.
“Now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. We’ve come around to saying that Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool. ” Phil Knight, CEO Nike My take: When your product becomes a marketing tool, then your purpose is finally centered on [...]
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
– Mark Twain
If you make a product good enough, even though you live in the depths of the forest the public will make a path to your door, says the philosopher. But if you want the public in sufficient numbers, you would better construct a highway. - William Randolph Hearst My take: Sometimes building a highway can really [...]
I was reading through Os Hillman’s TGIF: Daily Workplace Inspiration, an excellent devotional for businessmen, and came across this quote in his January 5 article: We need to understand that failing does not make us failures. It makes us experienced. It makes us more prepared to be useful in God’s Kingdom – if we have [...]
This post is part of the weekly series Marketing Quotes by Marketing Greats, posted every Thursday at MarketingInProgress.com (beginning January 1, 2009). Read them all here. Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions [...]
