This article is by Jeffrey K. Rohrs, VP of Marketing Insights for the Salesforce
The date was May 6, 1999. “Livin’ La Vida Loca” topped the charts while “The Matrix” had movie-goers contemplating the very nature of reality in our technological age. In retrospect, it was the perfect release date for a little, mustard-colored book that would help change the face of marketing forever.
The book was Permission Marketing by Seth Godin. It wasn’t one of Simon & Shuster’s key releases, so Seth was given the freedom to write what he saw fit and design the cover as he choose. The result was an undersized book of then irregular dimensions and only 255 pages that featured Seth’s bald head on the cover.
And a marketing icon was born.
Of course, the contents of Permission Marketing were what really cemented Seth’s iconic status in business circles. His book wasn’t one of whimsy or academic wonder; rather, it contained the practical observations of a marketer and entrepreneur who had lived on the bleeding edge of the Internet for a decade. As founder of Yoyodyne, Seth had seen first-hand how the Internet could directly connect brands and consumers in ways that traditional media never could. He also observed, however, that the most productive campaigns were those that first sought the consumer’s permission to engage. Seth defined “permission marketing” as anticipated, personal, and relevant:
- Anticipated – people look forward to hearing from you
- Personal – the messages are directly related to the individual
- Relevant – the marketing is about something the prospect is interested in
While these principles are widely embraced by today’s email, mobile, and social media marketers, this was far from the case when Permission Marketing was released. Indeed, despite holding the title of VP of Direct Marketing for
But just as Neo saw through The Matrix, so too did Seth see through traditional media’s limitations in a digital world. Consumers were increasingly in control and discovering new worlds in which their needs could be served in a personalized fashion with the aid of new technologies. This was not a world in which “interruption marketing” of advertising need be tolerated because there was always another website to visit or company willing to serve you.
The ideas were revolutionary, but inspired by Seth’s own mentors, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers – authors of 1993’s seminal The One-to-One Future. Whereas Don and Martha saw how technology would soon allow companies to build personal relationships with consumers at scale, Seth helped marketers understand that those relationships would only grow in value if they were built on a strong foundation of consumer permission and attention that was continuously earned through quality products, services, and engagement.
The true testament to the power of Permission Marketing is the number of entrepreneurs it inspired to go build permission-based marketing agencies, campaigns, and platforms (my own employer included). It also laid the groundwork for the social media revolution since every social connection is one based on permission—to post, to share, and to amplify. Indeed, if one didn’t know better, you’d think that Permission Marketing’s subtitle was lifted from one of Facebook’s ad sales training manuals: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers.
Fifteen years on, Permission Marketing continues to inspire marketers to eschew short-term, single-sale tactics in favor of the higher calling of long-term relationship development that yields far greater profits, loyalty, and lifetime customer value. So while I love seeing a Purple Cow, belong to more than a few Tribes, work hard to make myself a Lynchpin, and have been known on occasion to Poke the Box, it is one of Seth’s oldest works, Permission Marketing, that continues to inspire the best marketers I know.
So Happy 15th, Seth! Thanks for living the crazy life and helping so many of us see through the old marketing matrix to a new way of doing things.
