Constructing a more complete story.
Harry Anderson is a not your typical magician. Instead of performing outrageous tricks, then leaving the audience guessing how each trick was performed, Harry performs his tricks, then shows the audience exactly how he pulled off the illusion.
David Blaine, he’s not. Harry does not create a distance between himself and his audience as most performers do. Instead he wows you with the results of his creativity and endless hours of dedication. And then he lets you in on the gag. At that moment, he becomes an ‘everyman.’ Members of his audience connect with him by thinking, “Hey, with enough practice, maybe even I could pull this off.”
Does this transparency diminish Harry’s act? Does it make his illusions any less “magical?” No. In fact, quite the opposite. Once you have an opportunity to “look behind the curtain,” you can more fully appreciate Harry’s act. By “giving away his secrets,” Harry his making magic more human and approachable. It’s one thing to make a 40-story skyscraper disappear. It’s another to have the magician show you how he did it. It gives you a more complete story. It gives you “expert knowledge” that you can try out on your own or share. It gives you a deeper connection to the craft.
So how can you apply this to your marketing? Instead of attempting to be secretive about everything that goes into the creation of your products, consider what would happen if you were more transparent. Sure, there is a fine line here: there are always patents, trade secrets and competitive intelligence that need to be protected. But most of what we do on a day-to-day basis doesn’t exactly fall under the auspices of “classified information.” Yet we’re reluctant to share much about our processes.
One thing you’ll find out is that the customers who are truly passionate about your products want to know as much as they can about the organization. Just as Harry’s act creates a more complete story for his followers, inviting followers to learn more about your products, people and processes builds a more complete story for them to share.
Here’s Harry perfoming one of his most famous tricks: the old “needle-though-the-arm”:
And here’s the follow-up revealing how it’s done:
Now that you know how the trick works, aren’t you more likely to talk about it later? A more complete story provides a more complete experience.
Posted by Mickey
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!


To be fair, Toyota spokespeople are talking. It’s just that they’re not saying anything. Peruse this ad that ran in this Sunday’s paper, and you’ll see what I mean.

Recent Comments