If people don’t care, your marketing doesn’t matter. It’s a brutal truth that flips traditional advertising on its head. You’re not shouting into a crowd; you’re connecting with individuals who already want to listen.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote means that all the marketing budget and clever tactics in the world are worthless if you’re trying to reach an audience that is fundamentally indifferent to what you’re offering.
Explanation
Let me break this down for you. For years, we were taught that marketing was about interruption. You know, the loudest commercial wins. But Seth is saying that’s a broken model. The real work, the *only* work that matters, happens *before* the campaign even launches. It’s about finding or building a tribe of people who share a set of beliefs. Your product, your service, your content—it’s just a prop. A tangible thing that proves their worldview is correct. So if you start with people who don’t care about that worldview, you’re already dead in the water. You’re trying to sell a story to someone who doesn’t want to hear it. And that’s just… exhausting.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Business (233) |
| Topics | attention (57), emotion general (105), marketing (21) |
| Literary Style | assertive (142), compact (12) |
| Overall Quote Score | 76 (131) |
Origin & Factcheck
This wisdom comes straight from Seth Godin’s 2005 book, All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, which he later retitled All Marketers Tell Stories. It’s a cornerstone of his philosophy, born from his extensive work in the early days of internet marketing, primarily in the United States. You won’t find it misattributed to older ad men; this is pure, modern Godin.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Seth Godin (100) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World (57) |
| Origin Timeperiod | 21st Century (1892) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Seth Godin writes and teaches about marketing, leadership, and creative work. After earning an MBA from Stanford, he founded Yoyodyne, sold it to Yahoo!, and later launched ventures like Squidoo and the altMBA. He has authored bestsellers such as Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, and This Is Marketing. He posts daily at seths.blog and speaks globally about making work that matters. If you’re starting with the Seth Godin book list, expect insights on trust, storytelling, and shipping creative projects that change culture.
| Official Website | Facebook | X
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | If people don’t care, your marketing doesn’t matter |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2005; ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781591841009; Last edition: Portfolio Penguin 2012; Number of pages: 240. |
| Where is it? | Chapter 44: Caring Matters, page 288, 2012 edition |