A lesson from a puppet in Prague

When I was in Prague last week, I attended a marionette performance of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Yes, this was Don Giovanni performed by puppets!



Although it was obvious these were puppets, it was easy to fall under the illusion that we were watching life-size actors in action. So much so, in fact, that when one of the puppeteers really appeared on the stage late in the performance, he looked like a giant!



It reminded me that all message management is an illusion (or, as Seth Godin says in his book of the same name, "All marketers are liars"). This doesn't make it wrong, unethical or manipulative - though it can be all of the above. It just means you have to present your message in a way that your audience believes it to be real.