"Sometimes the light's all shinin 'on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me,
What a long, strange trip it's been. "

"Truckin" by the Grateful Dead, 1970

On a long, strange trip somewhere between Omaha and North Platte on I-80 I met the Grateful Dead. And, while the Dead's music drave us to our destination, we missed the band's ability to drive market share.

In hindsight, the decision to drive my Ford Pinto from Collingwood, Ontario to Sun Valley, Idaho in 1975 was probably fueled by too many tequila shots at a Saturday night ski chalet party. But, then again that was the decade in which we all believed in our invincibility and espoused a "go for it" persona. So, we did.

Bald Mountain is 2,200 miles west. Or, 42 hours at 55mph, the US interstate speed limit at that time. We tested that limit unsuccessfully in Wyoming with financial constraints that would later impact our wining and dining (beer and burgers, more precisely).

Entertainment choices in a 1975-era Ford Pinto were non-existent. iPod / USB connections were not on the dealer's options list. The Sony Walkman would not arrive in North American retail stores for another 5 years. Cattle reports and C & W music all the way from Iowa to Wyoming, we were warned.

Presciently, the Pinto was retrofitted with a cassette deck and cassettes painstakingly recorded from LP's. The usual stuff of the 70's. John Denver occupied the pre-eminent position. Linda Ronstadt not far behind. Gram, Emmylou and Neil always nearby.

Somewhere in the middle of Nebraska, Denver's Rocky Mountain High got old. My Pinto co-pilot popped in Skeletons from the Closet by the Grateful Dead. Truckin, Friend of the Devil and other songs from the album spirited us the rest of the way to our destination, the Pioneer Saloon.

Thirty-five years after that Grateful Dead epiphany, I discovered the insightful "Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History" at a Toronto bookstore.

Marketing lessons by the Grateful Dead … I'll confess … not the wisdom I thought when avoiding tumbleweed on the interstate on our long, strange trip from Collingwood to Sun Valley.

David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan's testament to the Grateful Dead's marketing genius is, as basketball legend and lifetime Deadhead Bill Walton writes in the book's Foreword, "a fascinating story of how the grateful Dead's counter-intuitive ways of doing business are really best practices that work for everyone ".

Formed as a California free form hippie band in 1964, the Grateful Dead performed over 2,300 live concerts until it disbanded in 1996 following the death of band member Jerry Garcia. The Dead performed for millions of rabid and loyal fans becoming the most popular touring act in rock and roll history. Surprisingly to industry traditionalists, not one top 10 album or single chart excepting 1987's "Touch of Gray".

But then again, the top 40 was not the Grateful Dead's focus. The Dead were (and are) a rock band unlike others. A focus on establishing lasting relationships with loyal, informed fans and delivering authentic concert experiences, not radio play.

Authenticity, relevancy and loyalty through four decades. A consistent standard of success equaled by few marketing and business leaders.

The underlining insight of Marketing Lessons of the Grateful Dead is the band's creation and execution of a unique and sustainable business model that relied on communications techniques that we know today as social marketing.

According to the authors, the Dead is "one huge case study in contrarian marketing … the band's marketing innovations are based on doing the exact opposite of what other bands (and record labels) are doing at the time."

The book outlines the Dead making decisions that differentiated them from their competition. Decisions which were hugely unpopular within the industry. Conventional wisdom and music business models dictated that rock bands record and release albums and then use concerts to promote album sales. The Dead turned that business model upside down: concerts first and albums second. Allow fans to record and distribute concerts – – an early LimeWire model.

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead explores a range of marketing concepts the Dead utilized during their remarkable run.

Here's a highlight of four concepts that GrayHawk believes are building blocks for an organization's success:

1) Rethink traditional industry assumptions:
Rather than focus on record albums as a primary revenue source, the Dead created a business model focused on touring, not radio play and album sales.

Marketing Lesson: Challenge established business models and recognize that business model innovation is more frequently important than product innovation.

2) Turn your customers into evangelists:
Unlike other bands, the Grateful Dead established "taper sections" where fans' equipment could have set up for the best sound quality to record their shows. By doing so, the Dead created a huge network that traded tapes in pre-Internet days. Think 1970's Limewire. The broad exposure led to millions of new fans and sold-out live shows.

Marketing Lesson: When knowledge and content are free and distributed, more people learn about a company and its products driving business to that company. Consider the power of communications, social networking.

3) Bypass accepted channels and go direct:
In the early 1970's the Grateful Dead became one of the first bands to create a mailing list where they announced tours to fans first. Later, the band established its own ticketing office, providing the most loyal fans with the best seats in the house.

Marketing Lesson: building a community and treating customers with care and respect drives passionate and enduring loyalty.

4) Build a huge, loyal following:
The Grateful Dead let their audience define the Grateful Dead experience. Concerts were a happening, a destination, a "family reunion" where 20,000 or more audience members were part of the experience.

Marketing Lesson: a company's community extremely defines who it is. In our era of instant communications, companies can not force a mindset on their customers. Companies and brands have to earn loyalty through consistency and authenticity.

Did the Grateful Dead business model succeed?

In a word, yes. Fifteen years after the passing of Jerry Garcia and disbanding, the reformed "Dead" band tours and consistently sells out concerts to its loyal fan base.

Is this business model scalable?

Appropriately so. Witness the success of U2, Jimmy Buffett and Bob Dylan's and their enduring fan loyalty over decades and generations. In fact, billboard charts for 2010 tell us that each and every artist on the top now 40 earns more from concert tours than record sales.

A compiling read with marketing lessons that GrayHawk Consulting Group endorses.

And, should you not appreciate the book … Truckin will get you from Omaha to the Pioneer Saloon in Sun Valley. GrayHawk's been there. Done that.