What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Fifty years ago today, Led Zeppelin IV was released. Yup – I know I already mentioned it last week… and the week before. But it’s a pretty darn influential album on many levels (and today’s the EXACT day)! And I think there’s a lot we can learn from this album and apply to B2B.

Give this song a listen with me and kick the week off with an all-out rocker as we dig a little deeper…

Marketing Lessons from Led Zeppelin IV

Zep’s fourth studio album sold over 32 million copies worldwide, was at the top of the charts for 15-plus months and gave us some of the most iconic hard rock songs ever. But even more noteworthy is its name. Why? Because it doesn’t have one! The album was even devoid of the band’s name or record label! Here’s why the album unofficially known as Led Zeppelin IV offers lessons for today’s marketers.

  1. Substance over style – the band insisted its goal was not commercial suicide but a total emphasis on the music – not the people that created it. Essentially, they had created music so special that conventional labels were inadequate.
  2. Passionate dialogue – Inside the album, fans found the now-famous four symbols – each one representing a band member – with no explanation or context whatsoever. This instantly sparked conversation and created a viral sensation that continues today.
  3. No unbundling – “Stairway to Heaven” was instantly popular, but the band refused to release it as a single. If you wanted to hear it, you had to buy the whole album.

What lessons from Led Zeppelin IV can you apply to your product or solution? Have you seen similar strategies work in the B2B world?

Are Your Leads Lonely?

Has it been a long lonely, lonely time since your team has followed up with your leads? I’ve had some very enthusiastic responses and feedback to our latest webinar – discussing best practices in lead follow-up with one of the top experts in this field (and she actually works with me)! Check out the recording here.

Music Industry in 10 Years

As we wind on down the road, how do you think the music industry is going to change? This great article by Bob Lefsetz outlines how the music industry will most likely change in the next ten years. Will some of those strategies leveraged by Zep have any relevance?

Check out his predicted trends, including:

  • People will stop complaining about streaming payments
  • Live acts will need to be developed in different ways since live venues have changed so much
  • Hit songs are tracks people know, not tracks pushed by ‘the machine’
  • The gap between hype and reality will continue to widen
  • E-sports will continue to grow
  • Festivals will thrive and YouTube will mean less for music

I don’t know but I been told how the industry will change… and it’ll certainly be interesting to see if these predictions do come true – and of course, how B2B marketers will adapt to these predicted trends as they do happen!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat