Gallery Marketing

Brand Building With Size

A couple of weeks ago a new gallery asked me what I would suggest they do to build their brand quickly. When I asked "who do you most want to be perceived like (competitor) and what do you want to be perceived as," the owner told me of a major gallery he hoped to model. He said that he hoped that in 10 or 20 years he would be considered as important. Of course I asked, "Do you have 20 years?" His answer was, "no, we have three years to make it or break it."

"What if I showed you a strategy to build your brand and prestige quickly and overcome the 20 years?" He was all ears.

I started out saying that nothing can overcome time and heritage, however branding is a gradual process which not only requires repetition and a powerful message (ad design, copy, headline, artwork). But I can help you leap several years forward with this strategy. Advertise frequently, advertise bigger than your targeted competitor, and advertise deeply (more places) but only if you can afford to dominate in each publication to get noticed.

I believe author, marketing expert and dear friend Roy Williams will tell you that the small sends a small message, big sends a big message, giant sends a giant message. People who want to be perceived as giants need to APPEAR as giants. Of course this is not always possible and many have to start small, build business gradually and build from there.

The first important principle of any advertising is FREQUENCY. Be there often. I would rather have 6 issues in a row of 1/2 pages than 1 or two full pages. Frequency builds brand.

Secondly, size sends a message. Not to diminish the smaller advertisers, but its a fact. An advertiser with a bigger ad presence seems like a bigger company. A half page advertiser looks more important that a quarter page advertiser (unless you blow it with poor design). A full page advertiser looks more important than a half page advertiser.

Pay close attention to the companies you know as big brands or those you perceive as "owning" a brand position. One advertiser I know of is perceived as the leader in the illustration category. It's not unusual to see 4 or 6 pages in every issue from this advertiser. How can anyone appear bigger? It is not easy.

So, what did I recommend to the gallery owner to build his brand as big, important and speed the process? I recommended a 20 page spread of ads. You cannot NOT get noticed. Everyone will immediately be impressed, even the hard to impress people. You will stand out above all others and you will have a perception of being bold, of having a deep financial war chest, of being confident, and of being big. As long as the content of the ads support the message of quality. So, I recommend 20 pages every issue for a year, and if possible for two years. By the end of the second year, as long as the content and the product (quality of artwork offered) and follow through (customer service, personnel) match the projected quality, this gallery will own a top 10 position within 2 years. By following the normal course of action, which is a single page per issue, it would take 10 years or longer to build a solid presence and yet the perception of big would never occur to the same extent.

So, if being perceived as bigger and better is important, fake it till you make it. It works.

Changes in Our Business

Its three AM. I awaken and my mind is racing. Things to do, business to conduct. In the old days I'd awaken, make my list and return to sleep because I could not implement my work until morning. Today I awaken, delegate some projects by email and return to bed. Sometimes I use this time to focus on things I need to do, which I cannot accomplish during the day. On-line travel, purchases, etc.

A few weeks ago I was told of a product I wanted to purchase. I went to the website, which said "download a pdf of our catalog." They did not have an on-line catalog to view the products, they did not have an interactive pdf so I could click to purchase. The site said, "Once you determine the items you wish to purchase call our 800 number and we'll take your order. CLICK. I'm gone.

Sorry to be so impatient. Weeks have passed and I have not purchased the product. Once I returned to the web in hopes something had changed. It had not. Of course I Googled the product in hopes of finding it elsewhere, but I did not. If I wanted this product I was forced to buy from them... by picking up the phone. No such luck. Time passed, I forgot.

I'm sorry to admit I have become impatient with anyone who cannot fulfill my needs via the web. I have become so accustomed to purchasing on line, gathering research, finding needed information that when I encounter someone who does business the old fashioned way I don't like it. AND because my life seems so busy and complicated, I often don't buy. Maybe I intend to eventually but picking up the phone has become a major inconvenience.

OK..so how does this relate to you? Dealers tell me they still expect the phone to ring, yet it is happening less in less in response to advertising (in any publication). Advertising is not less effective, people are simply less interested in the encounter.

Start your timer...now.

- Look up the number: 20 seconds
- Ring: -20 seconds
- "Hello, welcome to XYZ Gallery. My name is Melissa, how may I help you." 25 seconds.
-"Hi Melissa, how are you today? My name is Eric and I saw a painting in a magazine and I would like to find out a little about the painting." 25 seconds.
- "Sure Eric, let me connect you with someone who can answer your question." 20 seconds.
- Hold music. 3 minutes.
- "Hi, how may I help you. My name is Patrick." 10 seconds.
- "Hi Patrick, how are you today? My name is Eric and I am interested in a painting I saw featured in a magazine. Can you help me?"- 20 seconds
- "Sure, I'd be glad to Eric. Can I ask you what magazine and the date of the magazine so I know what painting you're referring to?" 20 seconds.
- "Of course, it's Fine Art Connoisseur, page 45, the August Issue. Its a painting by John Singer Sergent. 20 seconds.
- "One moment please. Shuffling of papers. 2 minutes."
- "Oh, here it is. That painting is called "Mountain Fog." it was painted in 1866 and it is a 30x40 in oil. It came from the collection of the collector William Harris." 2 minutes.
- Great, Patrick. How much is it? 10 seconds.
- Eric that painting is $1 million dollars." But, hmmm, let me see, oh that painting is sold. 20 seconds
- OK, thanks Patrick.  5 seconds.
- Yes, Eric. Are you interested in this artist? I can take your name and address and call you if I get another. 20 seconds.
- That would be nice. My name and address are..... 30 seconds.

Whew. Compare that dialog with going to the website, clicking on the image, gathering the information, seeing the price, finding out its sold or not, entering my info (one click with auto fill) and I'm in and out in 1 minute. Compare.

Many dealers tell me they force people to call. Of course they wish to capture the lead and try to sell the prospect. That makes perfect sense, but fewer people will call and therefore if your Internet strategy is not easy, fast, and does not require too much information you will get a lot of business. Plus they can browse at 3 am, like I do, point and click to own, and ship anywhere in the world.

I may be wrong but I know my own patience is tested by the phone and I need to save time. Many dealers do not list price. I personally think that may be a mistake. One dealer I know sold a $600,000 piece from his website because he listed the price. It was shipped outside of the US. Others insist on forcing a phone call. Time will tell what the right strategy is.

At 3am one night I found a painting I had to own. I clicked, purchased it, gave my paypal account and it arrived about two weeks later...from Russia, which was the only reason for the delay because it was too big (5ft x 6ft) to ship overnight and it had to pass customs. In another case I emailed offering a lower price, danced by email for a day and ended up purchasing the work at a reduced rate. Again, from Russia. 

We all have to tune into a revised strategy. My 80 year old parents are on-line and on email, shopping and not wanting to pick up the phone. Younger people who are the Internet generation will not buy unless you're on-line and make it easy. If we're not there for them we may loose their business, even if we have a one-of-a-kind painting. Therefore its time to adapt to these changes. Advertising works, exposes artworks and brands your gallery, and it is also an excellent tool to drive traffic to your site with qualified collectors. If you make it easy and let me shop on my schedule, even at 3am, I'll buy from you.

Trust Me?

Imagine being a collector, seeing a painting on ebay for $100,000 and bidding on it. In spite of the documentation demonstrated on the ebay page you find out that you've been sold a fraud.

Though web marketing is a powerful tool, which increases your reach and potential customer base, there are pitfalls. Trust is the biggest pitfall.

A collector spending a high price (or not a high price in many cases) needs to feel comfortable that they are dealing with a legitimate, known art dealer who will not sell them a fake, and who will stand behind a purchase. This is true whether buying in person, by phone or on the Internet. TRUST is a critical factor with buyers.

If a potential buyer sees your advertisement of a painting she wants to own she will not respond to the advertisement to buy the painting unless she is convinced you can be trusted. Its not unlike family and friends. You would not meet someone new and ask them to babysit your kids until you got to know them. It is not until several meetings and interactions that you form a bond of trust with an individual. To some extent the same is true with the collector-dealer relationship. Trust is built through multiple impressions. If they have seen you multiple times trust begins to build. A SOLID BRAND mostly represents trust. Do you trust Graff Diamonds more than XYZ Diamond company? I do. Its about brand, about hearsay (people talk), and its about frequent impressions.

I had this discussion with a dealer who had been in business for twenty years. He said, "Everyone in the art world knows who we are. We don't need to build trust, we already have it." He was not wrong. Yet I was consulting a collector who wanted to purchase a specific painting. This man had been collecting for five years and when I took him to the gallery for a visit he told me he was not aware of them and wondered about their reputation. I assured him of their reputation and they ended up doing business.

I mentioned this story to the gallery owner and his response was, "I thought everybody knew us. This must be an exception." When I asked him how they had built their reputation he mentioned that they used to advertise consistently, however their business was doing well, so they stopped heavy advertising a few years back and only advertised for special events. Obviously this new collector had entered the market after their campaigns ended.

I remind dealers that an established brand can ultimately be diminished without consistent visibility. I also remind them that attrition is the enemy. Old collectors die and new collectors are always entering the market. Do the new collectors know their brand? Don't assume they do. I have met scores of new collectors as a result of the magazine. Most lack history and knowledge of the art world.  I had a collector I consult recently ask me if I thought Warren Adelson was a good dealer. He was thinking of buying a painting. Of course I told him Warren was one of the world's leading dealers yet this mega-millionaire had no clue and did not know if Warren could be trusted. I assured him he could. This man only recently had the free cash to begin his collecting and in his first year of collecting has spent about three million dollars on art works, yet he did not know about most of the dealers who had been established for generations.

I also tell dealers that each publication has some shared readership and some exclusive readership, meaning they have readers who do not read other publications. If you have been advertising in one place for 20 years then only the shared readership portion of the audience will know of your brand, the others may not. This is why I advocate frequency and consistency. Ultimately its about trust. Do they know you, do they trust you. If they cannot trust you they won't buy. Of course once you get them on the phone you can probably give them testimonials or find ways to increase their trust, but if they don't call because they don't know you there may be no sale.