Ever wonder what the real “Mad Men” were like? You can get some idea from reading Jerry Della Femina’s book, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor. One of the things he writes about is the beer commercials of the 1960s, including a legendary set of commercials for Piels Beer. He thinks the commercials were great, but they created a problem.
“The big mistake with that campaign was that it got people to taste Piels Beer.”
Great marketing and promotion can get people to buy your book or bring you in for a speech. Then what?
If the book is great or your speech is spellbinding and helpful, all is well. People will look for more from you and recommend you to their friends.
But if you’ve got a lousy book, a boring speech, or a flawed business model, you’re in trouble. Then great marketing will just expose those problems faster.