Summary: Seth Godin describes the transformation of marketing from mass to niche, explaining how people have diverse interests and desires that are nonetheless shared with others (in Godin’s terms, their ‘tribe’).
Message: marketers can no longer afford to pitch normal products to the majority, and must cater to niches in order to reach consumers with products that they actually want.
Highlights: though this book was published in 2011, its conclusions provide an explanation for increasingly polarised politics in the United States and Europe. If people can develop niche views and connect with others via social media and online fora to reinforce these, then the earlier trend of regression to the mean (i.e. the political centre) has much less traction. Instead, those with views that might have been considered as extreme in the 1990s and early 2000s find their ‘tribe’ and feel normal among them. Political discourse – among tribes, and arguably in the media and from major politicians – pushes these tribes further apart rather than closer together.
Limitations: Godin’s emphasis on weirdness (or diversity) is understandable, but I was disappointed by the lack of reflection on the ways in which people are inherently the same. There’s a huge body of philosophy on our commonalities, as humans, from Jung’s ideas on the collective unconscious and archetypes, to Christian doctrine on humans being made in God’s image, to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow describes five levels of need: physiological (related to the body), safety, love & belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. We Are All Weird operates almost entirely in the two highest levels: esteem and self-actualisation.
Focusing on what is distinctive rather than what is the same can be a dangerous path, leading to dislike or mistreatment of others, and perceptions of superiority and inferiority based on characteristics such as behaviour, appearance, or belief.
Concluding thoughts: if you are interested in marketing, in politics, or in the way groups of people converge based on their interests or opinions, I would encourage you to read this book.
While hard copies and electronic copies are available, the audio book has also been uploaded to YouTube. I expect that Godin would approve, as he is more interested in sharing his ideas and winning your trust than cash from a book sale.