Why every dad wants a Gibson Les Paul

Today’s blog is about marketing, empathy, and generosity. Even if you’re not a marketing professional – especially if you’re not – it’s so crucial to understand the role of story and status in our daily lives. Getting to know what drives people is the only way to make an impact on the world, whatever that that means to you.

Why do middle-aged dads all seem to want a Gibson Les Paul? Perhaps we can shed some light on the curious case of overpriced guitars being purchased by people who mostly won’t play them. We must start (and end) with marketing.

I recently published a blog post entitled “Your Superpower” in which I declared that you are a marketer.

And your brother is a marketer.

And your best friend is a marketer.

And yes, everyone you know is a marketer!

You may not be a marketing professional, but no matter who you are or what you do for a living, you spend every day pitching either yourself, your product, your service, your time, or your ideas.

Advertising vs Sales vs Marketing

Admittedly, the term ‘marketer’ has a lot of baggage and rubs some people the wrong way. To clarify that post, when I say ‘marketer’ I don’t mean ‘advertiser’ or ‘salesperson.’ Where once those three jobs were all one, big, mushy pile of sleaze, they each have a clear and distinct role in the digital economy.

Here they are:

Advertising is about attention.

Sales is about profit.

Marketing is about change.

When you think about advertising, think Mad Men. A product of the industrial era, advertising is the antiquated and soon-to-be extinct process of purchasing people’s attention, i.e. TV commercials, billboards, Internet pop-up ads, etc. Advertising is impersonal and unwanted messaging that you couldn’t avoid… until the digital revolution. Who else loves “Hide All,” “Block,” and “Mark as Spam”?

Sales can follow a similar pattern, but it doesn’t have to. Telemarketers (the word itself a cause for confusion) are the perfect example of sales gone wrong. Completely impersonal disruptive calls about products or services you wouldn’t possibly want and never asked to be contacted about.

On the other hand, a great sales rep on a car lot displays high levels of emotional intelligence, learning a bit about the customer’s wants and needs, and guiding them towards a personalized, satisfying decision.

But marketers occupy a special place in the new economy. A marketer is someone who creates change by crafting and telling stories.

Storytelling is Generous

Apple was ahead of its time, in that way. Apple told a compelling story about creators, misfits, and rebels being the ones who change the world. And if you were that kind of person in the late 90s until 2011, you had to buy whatever Apple was selling. It didn’t matter if it was a computer, phone, or music listening device; people who self-identified as misfits saw a greater cause and bought in.

The internal narrative goes like this: I’m a misfit who’s going to change the world. And I can prove it, because I own Apple products.

Why do middle-aged dads buy $3000 Gibson Les Paul guitars, even if they barely play? Because when friends come over they say, “Is that a real Les Paul?” And they get to grin and say, “Yes, it is.”

If they bought an Epiphone Les Paul for $500 instead, then it’s, “Well, no, it’s just an Epiphone. But it plays and sounds just as good!”

No magic in that.

Dad thinks he’s a rock star

Well-off, middle-aged dads, particularly those who grew up on classic rock, want to own THE guitar. It’s a status symbol. It’s a story. In their head they could have been a rock star, and this guitar is the proof.

Gibson Les Paul guitars are not 6x better than their Epiphone equivalents. In blind tests, even serious guitarists can’t feel or hear the difference these days.

But the marketing for each guitar is completely different, because the kind of person doing the buying is different.

Person 1: I want a great sounding guitar that feels good and makes me look like a rock star, on a budget.

Person 2: I don’t really care what it sounds or feels like (because I’m not going to play it much), as long as it’s the real deal and impresses my friends at dinner parties.

Each is seeking a change, and it takes a great marketer to show up for each with a different story, and a different product, to help make that change a reality.

Marketing with empathy

But of course, not ALL middle-aged dads want to own a Gibson, and not all can afford it. So the TV commercial generically aimed at middle-aged dads telling them a story about status is going to turn off almost everybody watching.

And the sales rep at Guitar Center who assumes the middle-aged dad in the expensive suit wants a Gibson might also be mistaken. He might be loaded but frugal, and looking for a bargain. Or he might be a veteran guitarist looking for a new sound.

Marketers figure out the difference and ask permission to engage. The act of marketing, when done well, is generous.

So I ask you: Who do you want to help, and what change are they seeking to make? Perhaps you can be the one who shows up for them.