Seth Godin, Edwards Deming and Some Thoughts on Marketing the EMBIBE Way – A Personal Opinion

Our very favorite marketing monk, Seth Godin (he looks like a Buddhist monk, doesn’t he?) once said, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.” 

While I agree with him on the power of great storytelling, I think no story can or should overshadow the ‘stuff’ that you are marketing. I mean isn’t the essence of the story derived from the ‘stuff’? 

Good stories definitely capture the imagination of audiences. But as an ethical marketeer, I believe it has to be factual as well. 

Consistencies in stories help in building a certain image, true. But on a larger scale, their authenticity matters too. 

I believe it is the amalgamation of consistency and mass experiences and memories (and hence, authenticity) that together weave a relationship with your audience, and the latter is derived from the ‘stuff’ in question. This is what storytelling in marketing means to me. 

As a writer and editor working with a data-driven educational platform, I consider the ‘stuff’ extremely important. 

Like Aditi says (and I have quoted this multiple times), Embibe started collecting students’ data when Data Science and AI were still not sexy. Even today, eight years later, not many EdTechs in the market are doing it. 

And yet, the way they write their Success Stories every year after results of various competitive exams are declared… I find it disturbing. I mean do they have anything to substantiate their claims?

There’s probably nothing wrong with it. But I personally feel, probably because all I have seen is how data-driven we are and how effective this approach is, there is a certain gap in this kind of marketing. There is consistency but no proof of authenticity. And this matters to me. 

W. Edwards Deming said, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” Opinions are still OK but marketing without anything to substantiate your claims isn’t something I can do. 

I feel good when I tell a story about Anju Katara who hails from one of the remotest areas of India and who had no knowledge of the paper pattern JEE Main until Embibe happened to her. 

Among other things, the data about her test-to-test performance tells me how she improved, how she managed to increase her correct attempts by 28%, reduced her incorrect attempts by 30.8%. I know that she also reduced her overtime incorrect attempts by 15.8%, and all these resulted in an overall score improvement of 66.3%. I see the data and data never lies. Writing a story becomes easier from an ethical point of view. 

We, at Embibe, celebrate small victories. 

We dream of a future where education is truly democratized, where every student gets the education and personalized guidance that they deserve and reach their fullest potential. 

And so, when an introvert, not-so-academically-sound-by-conventional-standards student, who sits on the last bench, unsure of how to ask questions in the class and get their doubts clarified, or someone who doesn’t even have the knowledge of the English language clears a competitive exam with a decent score, we tell their stories. 

You see, these data, the core of our products, the ‘stuff’, is what give these stories.

These stories are more inspiring and more aligned with our vision of democratizing education and delivering learning and life outcomes. And because we have the data, we know the exact learning gaps, the solution, the impact, and so, we can substantiate our claims. 

So, our product, the ‘stuff’ is an integral part of our storytelling. It’s the origin. It’s because of our products and their impact that our stories are worth telling. Our products have a certain philosophy, you see.

And it is because of these true stories that on a Saturday evening after a long week, I can still write something about us. It is these stories that drive each of us at Embibe. 

After all, our hearts beat for education…

(This article was first published on LinkedIn. Opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.)