Bend it like Buddha

I recently took a few days off from the Software Wars to do something completely different: read about Buddha.  I figured it would clear my head for the busy fall season ahead.  Boy was I wrong.  Instead of ruminating on truth, meaning, human suffering and its cure, I found myself thinking about bad marketing and its cure.  Siddhartha Gautama, later re-branded as Buddha, was many things, but most of all he was a brilliant marketer.  He created a unique world view, made a great case for adopting his methodology, passionately evangelized his ideas, and spawned rabid disciples.  And he had skin in the game.  The once-rich royal gave up his wealth and privilege to work for a better world.  Through the centuries, the resulting philosophy of Buddhism has survived purges, modern materialism, been morphed in the West and recast to the East, and today grows as the world's fourth largest religion.

Two thousand years later, what can we learn about marketing technology from Buddha?

Like Buddha, marketers today need to re-frame reality.  Don't give customers just speeds and feeds, don't just give them benefits, give them a new belief system.  Lay out a way for them to see the world anew through your company or product vision.  Most of all, give customers a way to cope--with change, opportunities, danger.  Without a belief system, all our "value propositions" are just empty slogans.  Create a "religion" around your product and it will attract a loyal following.  High tech marketing sucks because it can't get over itself.  Silicon Valley is run amok in technology Narcissism.  It's not about neat new technology, it's about a new way of life. 

By the way, one of the more enjoyable books I poured through this week was the lighthearted Buddha or Bust by Perry Garfinkel.  Check it out at www.buddhaorbust.com