I once wrote an article called "Branding is the only power artists have."
I now slightly regret using the term "branding" and I'm going to correct that oversight here. Artists are human beings, not brands and it diminishes the depth and sovereignty of a true human to refer to one as such. Even in the original article, I hesitated to use the word "branding" because it's so overused and misunderstood. Most sentences with the word "brand" in them are bullshit, and most marketing coaches offering "branding packages" or courses are wasting your time.
When I used the word "brand", in relation to an artist's career, I wasn't talking about what people normally mean when they talk about "branding." I was talking about brand power in a specific way with a specific definition. I'm using the term "power" extremely narrowly and as defined in the book 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer.
Since artists, as humans, aren't a brand I'm going to expand upon what Helmer discussed and call this concept Reputational Power.
What is Power?
In business strategy, "power" is defined as this: the set of conditions creating the potential for persistent differential returns.
In plain English that means: You can charge more money than your competitors because you possess a power that they do not.
There are several types of business power including the following: economies of scale, counter-positioning, switching costs, and process power.
But of all the powers available to artists, I realized that the only one available to artists is what I am calling Reputational Power. (One could also perhaps argue that artists possess the potential to utilize the "cornered resource" power Helmer talks about, but that wouldn't be worth much until the artist's reputational power is solidified anyway).
Reputation
Reputation, in the sense of being a true business power, is defined much more narrowly than the way most marketing people use the term.
Reputation as a power exists because you've created three conditions around your art and your business:
1. Goodwill. The built-up associations with your brand elicit good feelings about the offering, distinct from the objective value of the good. This first condition is why piling up the "magic moments" I discussed in the previous section are so critical to art marketing success.
2. Uncertainty reduction. A customer attains "peace of mind" knowing that purchasing a product from you will be as just as expected.
3. Pricing Power. Conditions 1 and 2 allow you to charge a large price premium over competitors. (Without this you have no actual reputational power)
Helmer claims that these three conditions can only be created by providing a consistent and extremely high-quality product over a long period of time. Typically a period of time spanning years or, more likely, decades. In other words, you have to pile up years of "magic moments" with your customers to create these three conditions of brand power.
Once a company has spent decades building their brand, the power comes specifically from condition #3: the ability of a branded product to charge a large premium price over what competitors are able to charge. And for artists, their "brand power" is their reputation.
Additionally, only certain types of goods can benefit from reputational power. This type of power tends to accrue only to luxury goods and further, only to goods that are highly associated with one's identity. Products like high end clothing, watches, wines, and....art.
The example cited in the book is Tiffany. Tiffany can charge nearly double the price for the same diamond ring you can buy at Costco. This premium price can be charged due to the promise behind the powerful Tiffany brand. And it's taken decades for Tiffany to build that brand (they started in the 1800s).
To illustrate the difference between marketing "branding" and "Power Branding" consider this: Coca-Cola's power doesn't come from "branding" because, while Coca-Cola may be the world's most well-known "brand", you won't pay a large premium for Coca-Cola over Pepsi or other colas. In short, you wouldn't pay $50 for a can of coke. (Coke's power stems more from its powerful distribution network).
Developing Reputational Power as an Artist
Here's where things get interesting for us: the type of goods that can benefit from reputational power reads like a list of attributes associated with original art.
Let's go back through the attributes of a product that can develop such power:
1. High end good
Original art, especially by well-known, "powerful" artists is expensive.
2. Associated closely with identity
Art buyers associate closely with the art they purchase and the artists whom they purchase from. In their social circles, art buyers are often known as "the art person." Art associates with identity, possibly even more than watches, wine or Louis-Vuitton bags.
3. Quality Guarantee/Uncertainty reduction
If I purchase a David Leffel painting, I have no question about the quality I'll be receiving. Newer artists haven't created that reputation yet.
4. Years to decades build the brand
Again, I have good feelings associated with the "David Leffel" brand. It's taken him literally a lifetime to create that. It takes years - even decades.
I recall working with a young artist, whom I call Sarah (fictitious name). Sarah had studied with David Leffel. Sarah's paintings were excellent. In many ways, I liked some aspects of her work even better than Leffel's. However, Sarah's work sold in the range of $3,000 - $7,000 each. Leffel's works sold in the range of $30,000 - $90,000 each.
That's literally a 10X price premium for a Leffel. That's power.
That's the power of branding. And that's the only power you, as an artist, have available.
How to Develop Your Own Reputational Power
1. High End - Work to develop a high end / luxury vibe around you and your art. Be careful not to rely too much on price, as pricing power comes from your reputational power, not visa-versa. But you can project a high-end vibe with the way you conduct business, your marketing materials, the quality of your frames, etc. As a small example, visit the websites of high-end goods such as Rolex, Louis Vuitton, or Tiffany. Notice what they do NOT do: they do not put annoying popups in your face, and they don't splatter "save 20% on your first order" banners everywhere. They are clean, elegant and sophisticated.
2. Create deep connections with your clients and fans - Remember reputational power comes partly from the sense of Identity that clients have with your art. The fastest path for fans to identify with your art is for them to identify with their relationship with you.
3. Longevity of career / # of interactions with clients/fans - Developing Reputational power takes years, if not decades, there's not much you can do about that. However, you can also think of it not as years, but as how many great interactions you have with clients. The more, the better. So to accelerate the development of your reputation, interact with people (positively!) as much as possible. And for goodness sake don't get in arguments on social media! Stay above the fray!
4. Consistency of quality and service - Make sure every artwork you ship is high quality and every interaction is easy and positive for the client. Build up those "magic moments." - this addresses the component of reputational power that reduces uncertainty on the part of the client.
Do the above four things consistently over a period of years and as each one of them increases, your Reputational Power will slowly but surely accrue, and you can use that power to raise your prices.
Until next time, please remember that Fortune Favors the Bold Brush.
Sincerely,
