Blog

There is a pervasive myth that marketing people keep spreading about art.

It's part of what I call The Marketing Guru Myth.

This particular myth is this:  that to discover what makes your art unique that you should start by considering what your customers want.

With most products this is true.  In fact, startup accelerator YCombinator's  mantra is "Make something people want." 

However, art isn't most products.  And, unlike other products, with your art, if you want it to be unique, you shouldn't "start by considering what your customers want."

With art, you start by considering what you want.

In fact, I'd argue if you start by considering what your customer wants, then it's not really "art" in the purest sense of the word.

Art should be about what the artist has to say about the world.  Art should be about what make your art unique. 

And in fact, sometimes what makes you art unique might be counter to "make something people want". 

Because sometimes, an artist needs to say things that people don't want to see or hear. 

Sometimes the most powerful art makes statements not about what people want but about what people need to understand.

Until next time, please remember that Fortune Favors the Bold Brush.

Sincerely,

Clint Watson

BoldBrush/FASO Founder & Art Fanatic

PS - You're probably wondering if you start with what you want to say, what does that do to marketing and sales?   You create art that is uniquely yours and then, like the Grateful Dead, you find those true fans who love what you do.  Those fans may be young, old, rich, poor, women or men and will be a mix of all of those.  That's why you don't start with a "target customer" you start with your art and then find the fans.  The great news is that , unlike when the Grateful Dead did it, the Internet makes finding fans globally simpler than it's ever been in history and, importantly, the internet rewards those people with unique things to say.