I’m a woman. Like (almost) all of them, one day, I’ll have children.

What does it mean?

Seeing those little human beings growing, taking them to their first day of school, teaching them how to make a lovely bouquet of flowers, having great…

STOP!!

Because it also means, staying stuck at home, giving up work for at least a couple of months, meeting and seeing less people….

That’s what some new event organizers, travel agencies, marketing specialists and companies want to change. Why can’t mothers go on business trips and attend company events while the father stays home?!

Thus, 8 years ago, the company BlogHer (a blog portal mostly for women) organized its first event to gather its users for a few days in the Silicon Valley, and help these women ‘escaping’ from their kids to think about something else. It was a huge success, and was renewed every year from that moment.

These events are highly supported by several brands, because it lowers the price for the women to come, and strongly advertises their name and products. As women are the main buyers of everyday use products, they are key customers that those brands need to attract. Their marketing mix is highly focused on a very specific target market: women with young children, who stay at home most of the time, and are looking for social interactions with other women in the same situation.

Even if this positioning is very clear, it doesn’t mean that it’s not expensive. Sponsoring these events costs a lot, but in the long term, and notably with the lifetime value of

customers (the women in the first place, and then their whole family and friends afterwards), these investments might be (are expected to be?) highly profitable.

The brands don’t only sponsor the events, but also create product “ambassadors” out of women attending the event, which is a doubly profitable strategy: these women get the possibility to sell some of the brands’ products, which both gives them a new source of income (totally adaptable to their role as mother’s), and advertises the brands for a negligible cost.

However, money is definitely not the main goal for these women, but only an added value to their renewed social life!

[Source: http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2013/07/03/maman-est-en-voyage-d-affaires]

We often link marketing to brands, and companies… But are they really the only users of marketing? What about politicians, ministry, NGOs, and culture? They use it as well!

To prove it, I will base my post on a singular exhibition which is taking

place in the streets of New York City, during the month of October.

The famous street artist Banksy (whose identity is still unknown) is using the streets of New York revealing a new painting every day, in a different place, for the whole month. He based this idea on a quotation of Paul Cezanne:

“All the pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside”

This principle is strongly related to his own story, because he started as an unknown street artist, to become one of the most famous of them, and whose paintings are now sold for several hundreds of thousands dollars on auctions (some reached more than $450,000). He wants to give back his work to the street, where it belongs originally.

And that’s when marketing enter the game.

By doing that, he’s creating a new interest to his work. People look for the paintings, spread word-of-mouth, then newspapers relate it, it goes on internet, and the rumor is set.

Banksy doesn’t earn money on his actual paintings, but thanks to his books, movies and exhibitions, that’s why this marketing operation is very subtle.

He doesn’t target anyone in particular, because it may appear anywhere in the city, but just anyone how is walking in the street, which means everyone.

This outdoor and free unique exhibition may continue to increase his popularity, by attracting new fans, and making the old ones even more interested in his work.

I really appreciate this idea, that even if he became world famous, he wants his work to stay where it belongs, in the street, right in front of everyone’s eyes. I also think that thanks to all the buzzing created by this October ephemeral exhibition, people will widely spread the news, and in the end, advertise Banksy’s work for free.

Isn’t it much better and much more efficient than spending several millions of dollars in a 45 seconds TV add?!

Sources:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2013/10/07/banksy-fait-des-rues-de-new-york-son-nouveau-terrain-de-jeu_3490926_3246.html?xtmc=better_in&xtcr=1