I notice how show organizers promote how they keep similar styles or categories apart. I spoke to one show organizer last week and she said that the artists don't want to be adjacent to similar "competitor" artists. I just don't get that. I may not be well versed in art shows but I do have over 30 years of business and marketing experience. This separation is harmful to sales.
Here's why:
When people shop - they have some idea of what they want. Jewelry, pottery, wood, paintings, etc. There is the occasional impulse buy but when you boost the quality and price to a professional or juried level that factor diminishes. When a show has 150 - 200 booths, the shopper has to search out their "category" preference and it is unlikely they will find all that fit.
In reality a sale comes down to two things - whether they like the product or not and the price. Believe it or not, cheapest does not always win and sometimes a price too low can kill a sale. Sorry, I digressed. Essentially, you think you have enough variety but when you step back your prices are consistent (within a range) and your work has your style.
Take away the isolation aspect and place another artist (same category) adjacent to you and now you have a true difference. What really happens - you now have a potential (even likely) buyer who is no longer in a "yes" or "no" situation; and placed them in an "either" "or" situation. It is now more likely that at least one of you will make a sale.
This is why more new car dealerships carry more than one line of cars. The red versus blue is just not enough and the lowest price isn't the real issue, it is what they believe is value.
Tell me if you (pardon the pun) buy into this strategy or not, and if not, why not.
Comments
I apologize for not responding to posts after Barrie's - I had to buckle down and do my taxes which were submitted at 11:39 PM on the 15th - thank God for Turbo Tax. Now to get back on point. I have tried to digest all of these comments to see if I could get to the root. BTW Michael, I don't think that your comments are restricted to craft shows and I appreciate your thoughts.
Here is what I have boiled all this down to - right or wrong - this is about product differentiation not so much saturation. The mall comment was interesting (without the anchor thing which I don't think has much relevance) because when you enter a shop in the mall you find items that fit a certain category - That is grouping isn't it? Yet the shop will likely have some variety within that group so the customer have a choice. If I am looking for shoes and go into one of these shops, I know I want shoes and am more likely to select a pair if there are some choices that match the style or type that I want.
I am coming to the conclusion that the best shows will have a limited number of booths (for more reasons than just this topic) and think that more than 200 or 250 is probably too many.
I also think that paintings (or let's say 'hanging fine art') for example can be grouped allowing the differentiation to come from mediums and styles. If a show has more than one very similar style then those artists should be separated (or maybe one juried out). I will yield to the American Academy of Equine Art's exhibits to make the point. In some cases, maybe more true in jewelry - the price points may well be the differentiation. Higher priced jewelers need not panic, lower prices won't kill your sales if the products themselves are different enough. Kathleen makes a good point - the jury must do more than what we experience in most shows and make the effort more inline with the Academy's process. While I don't have a lot of confidence that we will see that much of an effort as long as it is the booth fee that drives the event - It might for a show that was driven on a commission basis.
I want to thank each of you for your comments. I think our team has what it needs to formulate a great show format. Now we can only hope to make it happen. If you have more thoughts, please feel free to post them - this is a work in progress : )
Responding to Len's comment about juries being able to screen for artists who have similar or very similar work, with jewelry it is an exceptional jury who actually recognizes more than gross differences in jewelry styles. That is compounded by the necessity for the jeweler to show that style difference in 3 or 4 photos of, usually, very small items.
As someone who worked corporate retail too many years ago fresh out of university there are so many issues that many have stated here already that I won't rehash. I am going to cover the "mall" theory which is the base principle of any well designed show.
You have anchors for a reason - they are the big mothers that "hold" down the fort in-between all the smaller niche shops. Anchors are in prime locations and pay for that honor. At an art-show, they are the more established, highly sought after, well-known artist. Or they have one heck of a display to attract people into the location.
The over-saturation of putting similar next to each other would have any artist with an ounce of "location" knowledge up in arms, it's NOT competition, it's becoming faceless - nameless by sameness. Too many choices that lower the value of the offering if they are all grouped together. It's overkill. A well run event will not do "like" businesses next to each other, so that each can stand on their own merits without being overshadowed by the appearance of being similar. It hurts every person practicing in the same medium and lowers the overall value of the event.
Next time you enter a mall that has full occupancy - take note of who is where. Has one of the anchors gone out of business? How does that make you feel walking by it? Do you really want to make the effort to go into that darkened area to seek a shop that is open? Most likely not. It's the same as walking into an abandoned run down neighborhood. It's a silent message being sent - stay away it's not safe. So, if you see a bunch of clothing shops all bunched together, it's become a row of the same. While it benefits the customer seeking a bargain, the likelihood of anyone seeing value of an item that is definitely worth more is -0-. Distance phychologically helps the brain to not become overwhelmed by similar products.
I have decided to go back down to a single booth as I have chosen to go solo and a double is simply too much for me to handle. Because of that, I have given up my feature location at one of my events. I was the double endcap - entrance into the event in "the" prime location. The show organizers were disappointed because my display was the lead-in on purpose. Will it effect my sales - you betcha - will it make someone else ecstatic - most likely - but doing it solo opened me up to theft, becoming a robot, and never being able to take a break. Yes, I know I could have hired someone to booth sit - but they wouldn't have my knowledge or the ability to sell...they would just be a warm and fuzzy. So...we will see...I have now rejoined the ranks of possibly being next to others with same...which means I have to work extra hard to make that 10X10 really shine and become the destination spot it easily was when I was the 1st booth that no one could miss. I will report back on that to see how that move affects my sales. Hopefully it won't since I have historically done this event for 8 years. I am still close enough to the original location, just not prime. But so much is all about the merchandising and display along with an outstanding product not lost among similar but less.
Hi Barrie, I did enjoy Gulf Breeze - fun and profitable. I appreciate your comments and you added a point that I (we) almost missed so thanks to you that is being incorporated into this show strategy. I will soon post an update that absorbed these comments to formulate an altered layout strategy to bounce around some more.
I think that it would be interesting to group types of work. At the recent ACC show in Baltimore, "home decor" work was pretty much set up in one portion of the convention center and jewelry and clothing, accessories, etc, was grouped as well in another section. Last year, everything was mixed and I felt that I was on the first floor of Macys, as everywhere I looked from my booth was jewelry, purses, and women's furnishings. I never noticed patrons at that last show expressing the opinion that they had "discovered" me while searching the aforementioned booths. It is my impression that folks come looking for specific categories of items, and pretty much stick to those. Grouping works by category shortens the search for such persons. My comments are really applicable to craft shows, I guess. But so many craft shows are in actuality combinations of art and craft that it would make sense to group them, especially where the show is large- 250 or more booths (the ACC show had about 800). As an exhibitor at this year's show set up by category, I enjoyed it more myself.
Hi, Len. We had fun in Gulf Breeze, didn't we? A little windy, but plenty of buyers and buying energy.
I am somewhat comfortable with the answers given on page 1 regarding the original topic of Len's thread. Mixing the mediums throughout probably creates a better opportunity to surprise patrons as they stroll.
Of course, if we never try the grouped mediums approach we'll probably never know how the approach will work. But I'm not sure that most patrons won't just go ahead and do the courtesy walk throughout the rest of the show. After all, they know there's the possibility of getting surprised at an art show since it's probably happened to them in the past. And if they make a quick decision about one thing they might not be able to make a quick decision about another. If it's a new person to art fairs, they'll most likely want to see what everything's all about throughout the show. I'm not sure that mixing mediums throughout keeps patrons at the show for a longer period of time. Eventually, everyone gets wrapped up with information overload and can't process the excitement any more.
One problem that might occur with grouping things together is that too much of one medium at one time might create so much competition for a buyer's decision making process. That will send them home with nothing since they'll not want to make a purchase. Really, having 25 jewelers in one section would be way overbearing even for the most excited shopper. I think that setting it up this way would ultimately be the wrong decision. It would be like a grocery store, right? Someone else said it would be like a department store. But I think it would be worse than that. Those environments are even cleverly arranged. I know. I worked for Dillard's Corporate in Little Rock, Arkansas before getting into art full time. Store Planning is a huge part of the biz.
Anyone read Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill? I certainly did and every now and then I re read it. CHECK IT OUT ON AMAZON HERE.
Most patrons who impulse in my booth do so because they've been struck by my lightning. I don't usually see impulse buyers in my print bin, though. No. The impulse buyers are spending $1,250 or more. About half my big ticket sales are these.
I'm not so sure they're really impulse buyers, though. They're folks who have the money to spend and will do so when they see something that speaks volumes to them. But what also comes into play in my booth is that each big ticket item is drastically different than the other. So one or the other won't do. They have to get the specific piece that speaks to them, or risk losing it by walking away and coming back later. It happened several weeks ago in Fairhope, AL. Too bad I didn't have a second one just like the one that sold earlier that day. But everyone knows we don't repeat the same art and frame like that. Something different is up and coming.
Hey Robert, I am bouncing your idea around with some of the others involved in this endeavor. One of the crew is working on a variation of your idea and once it is drafted I would appreciate your take as well as the opinions of others.
Hi Alison, I have a similar situation with giclees. I see artists do prints using their jpeg photos and home computer/printer while my prints are professionally done from tiff files that are multiples in size compared to jpeg image and cost me much more to produce. My method of dealing with this is to have a write up hanging in my booth that explains how mine are made without taking shots at the competition. This information alone stimulates questions when these people go to the nickle and dime reproductions - they are equipped to ask, Why so cheap? If they want cheap "poster" art and a picture, that's fine with me. They are not my target market. Try putting up a small sign that points out the extra's that you do - there are people who are interested in quality and don't want to be "taken" because of their ignorance. I don't know much about photography but I certainly appreciate artists who will not sacrifice quality for price.
Candace - just to be sure we are on the same planet - what was the highest price that you spent on a work of art? It is strange that you think a "couch painting" or swatch match would be the factors that would require more than one visit. I have a sculpture cast in bronze that cost ME well over $4,000 for the molds, casting and granite base, not to mention the 4 months to create the model in clay. Buying one of these has nothing to do with a couch painting or matching colors. It has a lot to do with price and laying out a sizable hunk of cash. If you spent 35 years in marketing I would think that you would acknowledge that price is a factor. I have sold two of these castings and the purchases were not made on an impulse. In bronze sculpture there is the one-third rule of thumb. Equal sharing between the gallery, foundry and artist. Most people have spending limits. I would like to drive a Lamborghini, but I settle for something less.
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