Is Marketing about the Consumer or the Product?<\/a>\u00a0Really I had.<\/p>\nWe recently bought new pillows. Not expensive ones, mind you. Just basic pillows. The photo accompanying this post is of the bag the pillows came in. Who out there can now write the next few paragraphs for me?<\/p>\n
What consumes well over the half of available space? You are correct. A picture of someone using (and enjoying\u2013in all likelihood a greatly exaggerated enjoyment to be sure) the pillow. OK, I’ll also acknowledge the obvious. The pillow user is an attractive young woman, but this is pretty plain vanilla consumer marketing in the U.S.A. We’d hardly expect much else.<\/p>\n
So, Marketing 101. Pictures = good. (Ditto few words.) Pictures of people happy about the product = better. And the second equation is baseline stuff, not a brilliant new horizon in advertising.<\/p>\n
What do we not see on the package? Copy extolling the inherent virtues of the pillows. The following are words describing attributes the purchaser (me) might (and does) find personally attractive: “Allergy Protection Pillow,” “Firm,” “2-Pack,” and (arguably) “Jumbo.” We’ll leave the logo and product names aside. The only other copy is “100% Organic Cotton Fabric.” That could be interpreted as self-aggrandizement since it’s about the wonderfulness of the materials. At the same time, “organic” is popularly understood as a positive thing and “100% . . . cotton” rides the “natural” train in a time when natural is a widely valued trait.<\/p>\n
Real arts marketers have discussed the lessons to be learned here far better than I ever could. I’ll just say,\u00a0when you compare arts promotional materials with this pillow package, consider the impact of the faces of dead composers\/playwrights\/painters, imperious conductors, and otherworldly\u00a0looking performers on potential “consumers” of the product\u00a0as opposed to this pillow user on a rest\u00a0deprived purchaser of sleep aids.<\/p>\n
Engaging Matters<\/em> will be taking the week off next week recovering from Memorial Day<\/p>\nEngage!<\/p>\n
Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Successful marketing focuses on the benefits to the end user.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Pillow Talk: For whom the ad is written","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[12,13,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-4936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-community-engagement","9":"tag-marketing","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1hC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4266,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/11\/fracking-and-arts-marketing\/","url_meta":{"origin":4936,"position":0},"title":"Fracking and Arts Marketing","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"While we are developing the relationships that will support us in the long term, better marketing is a great way to help us get from here to there.","rel":"","context":"In "Customer-Client-Collaborator Series"","block_context":{"text":"Customer-Client-Collaborator Series","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/customer-client-collaborator-series\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FrackingRig","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/FrackingRig-e1438015074754.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1706,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/06\/the-words-we-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":4936,"position":1},"title":"The Words We Use","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Visitor, audience Customer, consumer These are some of the words that we in the museum and performing arts world use to describe those who take advantage of the work we offer the public. 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