"Experiential Marketing": How Really Old School Makes a Comeback

There has been a lot of buzz these days about "Experiential Marketing". Ad Age published an article on May 2nd entitled Agencies Ready for the 'Year of Experiential':Why Stunt Marketing Has Become the Next Big Thing.

What the heck, you may ask, is Experiential Marketing? It is quite literally the new "Bandwagon".

I'll start with a foray into Architectural 3D projection, and and live outdoor marketing experience Samsung created in 2010 to introduce their NEW 3D television. In Architectural 3D projection, you basically make a computer model of a real building, create computer generated video images that are mapped onto the surface of the model, and then project those images onto the actual building. It probably sounds more complicated than it is, but the results can be stunning. Here's Samsung, projecting their video onto the side of the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam:

Most recently, I came article about a promotion for Star Trek: Into the Darkness. It was coordinated with Earth Hour. The event was done in London because the movie takes place partly in futuristic London. This is cooler than cool. Note the applause at 1:38. Audience reaction is an important ingredient of Experiential Design.



So... what was that I said about a Bandwagon?

You probably first heard the phrase "Getting on the Bandwagon"  your "Introduction to Marketing" class. Basically, it is a marketing message that encourages you to do what other people are doing. Dr. Pepper most blatently used it in the "I"m a Pepper, he's a Pepper, she's a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?" commercial with the pre American Werewolf in London David Naughton.

This version of the commercial start out with a VERY interesting and relevant sound:

"What sound?" you might ask? Well, the sound of the Steam Calliope! Traveling steam calliope were used by circuses to announce their arrival into town. A keyboard was connected to train whistles of different pitches. I've read the sound could be heard 12 miles away. These calliopes later became "automated" similar to the way player pianos were automated.

In my introduction, I compared Experiential Marketing to the "Bandwagon". Well, the invention of the Calliope was simply applying steam technology to an already used marketing practice. Live bands would play on mobile wagons as a siren's call to see the circus.

from: http://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/circus/id/4137/rv/singleitem/rec/1

So... Bandwagon leads to Calliope lead to "follow me advertising" exemplified by the David Naughton Doctor Pepper commercials. Leading to...?

How about a Doctor Pepper flash mob at the New York Stock Exchange?

Boycotting Charity Art Auctions

Here's an interesting article I read in the Huffington Post by Mat Gleason on why artists should cease and desist donating art to charity art auctions:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/charity-art-auctions-_b_872953.html


Mat says that:

Instead of tossing away another great artwork to a good cause, join the good cause of boycotting charity art auctions. When you join this cause ...

•You stop taking revenue out of the art world
•You stop shifting art collector dollars to the bottomless pits of recurring annual Beg-A-Thons
•You don't contextualize your art as being a synonym of pretentious panhandling
•You don't announce that your art is worth low bids
•You don't risk that your work will be publicly seen getting no bids
•You don't empower strangers to devalue your artwork
•Most importantly, you stop publicly proclaiming that you give your art away

I don't know about you, but I agree with him entirely. I've been preaching along these lines throughout this blog.

Mat makes a lot of great points. Among them:

Suppose you want to at least deduct a donation of your art to the charity, guess what? The law only allows an artist to deduct the cost of materials. Meanwhile a collector can buy your work for the minimum bid, have it appraised at its full retail value and donate it to some other good cause for that top dollar amount.

As for the merits of the infinite number of good causes out there, what is the value in giving up a painting that would sell for a thousand dollars retail in order to see it raise 50 Bucks for that cause? Pick one charity, donate generously and keep the collectors assuming that the price you ask at the gallery is the best and only price they are going to get.

I have seen many cases where work of art was auctioned off for less than the cost of materials in the piece. The artist would have been better off just giving the charity some money, instead of throwing away their art.

Thanks Mat, for letting me know I'm not alone!

Saturday's the Polar Plunge!

In a few days I'll be jumping into the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach to raise money for the Special Olympics. Low Friday, 14 degrees. High Saturday, 48 degrees. I'll be a popsicle!

Here's my page if you'd like to donate some money to a great cause!

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ArthurBrill/2013polarplungeVA

Special Olympics Polar Plunge

On February 2nd, I will be jumping into the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach to raise money for the Special Olympics. This if my first time doing that sort of thing, and I don't even want to think about how cold the water is going to be.

If you want to donate $10 (or more or less) to the Special Olympics, so that there is actually some point to me freezing my patootie off,  please visit my fundraising page:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ArthurBrill/2013polarplungeVA

If you are brave and daring, join a team yourself and take a dive! Here is some youtube footage I found from past years:

Yeah... I'm gonna do that!

Be Sure and Vote Today!

I voted this morning about 10:30 am. My district has a little over 1300 registered voters. I was voter number 539. Not a bad turnout for the morning so far!

Working Artists and the Greater Economy

Got this in my email today:

Marion Von Osten: Be Creative! With responses from Andrew Ross +plus+ new developments in W.A.G.E. Certification

November 8, 2012 at Artists Space : Books & Talks

For this talk, originally scheduled for March 27 2012 and the third in a series of public forums contributing to W.A.G.E. and Artists Space's Research Partnership, curator, artist and writer Marion von Osten will give a presentation on the current conditions of artist labor in relation to the formation of creative and cultural industries. Von Osten has produced numerous texts and projects plotting the evolution of artists' work as a model for neo-liberal economies, including the exhibition Be Creative! The Creative Imperative (Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, 2002); the research and event based project Atelier Europa (Kunstverein Munich, 2004); and the recent text "Unpredictable Outcomes / Unpredictable Outcasts: On Recent Debates over Creativity and the Creative Industries" fromCritique of Creativity (Mayfly books, 2011).

Following her presentation, von Osten will be joined by Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. Ross's research analyzes contemporary labor, the urban economic landscape and the organization of work. His books include No-Collar: The Humane Workplace and Its Hidden Costs (Basic Books, 2002), Low Pay, High Profile: The Global Push for Fair Labor (New Press, 2004) and Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times (NYU Press, 2009).

Marion von Osten and Andrew Ross will be preceded by a brief presentation by W.A.G.E. summarizing recent developments in the conception of W.A.G.E. Certification, an initiative that will 'certify' nonprofit organizations and museums which follow an established best practices model, and pay artist fees meeting a minimum payment standard. The presentations and following discussion will look to locate W.A.G.E's advocacy for the payment of artist fees by non-profit art institutions, and the research into the establishment of best practice models, in a broader discourse around the economies of creative labor.

For more info, go to www.wageforwork.com

Pumpkin Witch House

Happy Halloween.

Here's a project I worked on with my friend Ronda Loyer.