May 10, 2010

 ACE Newsletter

The Value of Branding and Repetition

Hi Friend

Below is an article which at first glance may leave an artist scratching his head and wondering, "What do pigeons have to do with art?" Well nothing and everything!

The idea of using an animal, reptile, bird or fish as a mascot or brand is nothing new. After all there is now a huge industry of horse figurines based on the "Trail of Painted Ponies" after its modest beginnings as a life size statue painting competition. Look at the Geico Gecko. And who could have imagined the industry that would grow up around a cartoon mouse named Mickey?  But pigeons?  

There's a lot of great information here about branding, promotion and marketing that an artist can put to good use. If you take the time to not only read articles such as these, but actually study them, you will be able to see features that YOU might be able to incorporate into your art business! 

Need a hint? Think back to our ACE article about business cards. It IS branding and it is all about your unique product being used on your business cards to help form an identity in peoples minds. Don't you think there is a pigeon on the business card of the people involved in this campaign? Another hint is displays. These pigeons, to be effective can't just be in one location. They are everywhere! So too must you have physical as well as Internet displays that your prospects see over and over! The magical number is 5!  Sales experts agree that 5 is the average  number of times a prospect must encounter you and/or your product before a sale is made. So you can bet Calgary has its campaign pigeons EVERYWHERE!   

So enjoy this article and think where your  town,  art district  or your studio could use an all out branding effort!

Calgary's Cultural District focuses on pigeons in rebranding effort
Internationally known advertising agency, TAXI, aids in public relations effort
By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald May 10, 2010
 

Melissa Kushnir, marketing specialist for Calgary Cultural District, with pigeon cut-outs that will be used to promote the cultural offerings of the downtown, and beyond. The pigeon is the mascot of the publicity effort.
Photograph by: Dean Bicknell, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

They're the Rodney Dangerfields of the avian world, blamed for everything from spreading disease to possessing an uncanny ability to aim droppings squarely on the shoulders of expensive suits or the windshield of a just-cleaned car. 

Humorist Woody Allen once described pigeons as "rats with wings" -- which, by the way, reportedly upset a few rat lovers -- and he's not alone in his loathing. 

Others have called them gutter birds, sky rats and, my favourite, flying ashtrays. 

One clothing manufacturer in the U.K. did a brisk business recently with a line of "I Hate Pigeons" T-shirts during a controversy over the feeding of pigeons in Trafalgar Square.

There's even an official term, peristerophobia, for those with an extreme fear of pigeons.

Soon, though, Calgary's downtown will be awash in the bird with a bad reputation.

But these ones won't be scavenging garbage cans or leaving white bombs on unsuspecting pedestrians.

They'll be directing citizens and visitors alike to some of the city's most beloved institutions, everything from the Epcor Centre and the Grand theatre, to Art Central and Glenbow Museum.

This new refashioning of the pigeon as patron of the arts is the brainchild of the Cultural District, in partnership with Calgary Arts Development.

A newly unveiled campaign designed to invite more people to partake in our city's cultural offerings -- theatre, dining, to name a few -- features the pigeon as the official mascot.

Its blue image is emblazoned on free cultural discount cards (available at Art Central and other downtown locations) and signs directing people to various venues.

"I feel like we're helping the bird," says Melissa Kushnir, marketing specialist with the Cultural District ( CulturalDistrict.ca)and one of the people behind the increasingly popular First Thursday, a monthly arts and cultural festival.

"We're rebranding the image of the pigeon."
The pigeon is also rebranding the organization, which Kushnir sees as a win-win situation.

"We've been trying to make the Cultural District of Calgary more accessible, and invite people to come," she says of the downtown neighbourhood with one of the biggest concentrations of arts and culture venues in the country.

"We want to make it friendly and fun, inspire people to take part, and I think the pigeon is fun and decidedly different."

Elevating the pigeon to celebrity status, Kushnir explains, was the result of a process that included board meetings and the help of an internationally known advertising agency, TAXI, whose Calgary branch first floated the idea of using the bird in its new campaign.

Once it was decided that the pigeon idea might fly, so to speak, local illustrator Byron Eggenschwiler was recruited to create a pigeon that Calgarians could fall in love with.

"As an artist, I loved the fact it wasn't the most obvious choice," says Eggenschwiler, who has made a name for himself working for everyone from The New York Times to BusinessWeek since graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design five years ago. "And like most illustrators, I really enjoy drawing birds. They're such interesting creatures."

After seeing Eggenschwiler's artistic interpretation -- this pigeon is indeed a cutie -- I could understand the method to the madness. In various images, the bird is shown holding a guitar, sporting an opera-style wig or carrying a bucket of popcorn; in one, he's even wearing high-top sneakers while balancing a boom box on his shoulder.

"The idea is to have a bit of fun, without people cringing," says Eggenschwiler. "It was a fun challenge, taking a bird many people don't like, and helping to give him a new image."

Despite a good majority's disdain for the bird, there are a few people who would likely approve of Calgary's winged version of Extreme Makeover. The Canadian Pigeon Fanciers' Association has been trying, since 1902, to educate Canadians on the virtues of this bird that is said to have been domesticated in Egypt 6,000 years ago -- and that has often been blamed for, unfairly they say, being more germ-ridden and disease-carrying than other birds.

Then again, it wasn't so long ago that pigeons were put on a pedestal. In earlier times, they were popular as pets, and were credited with saving lives in the two world wars, thanks to their ability to carry vital communications. Even Darwin saw the value in pigeons: his extensive study of them helped in his forming of the theory of evolution.

Maybe Kushnir's on to something, then, as she glowingly describes the pigeon as the "ultimate urban explorer, that will give us a bird's-eye view, and find the hidden gems in our downtown core."

vfortney@theherald. canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Until later,

Theresa and Steve