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Product Mix Examples

Product mix is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Every artist has their own aesthetic, their own fans and customers and their own competitors … Which means that every artist faces their own unique circumstances when trying to decide what to sell, where and for how much. But while circumstances may differ, we can still find meaningful ideas and answers in the product mix strategies that others choose to take up.

The Black Keys Musicians

The Akron-based band The Black Keys have come a long way since they formed in 2001. Their first two albums were recorded on an 8-track tape recorder in drummer Patrick Carney’s basement. Since then, The Black Keys have recorded an additional 5 solo albums, participated in 1 collaboration album and developed a national fan base. Over time, the group’s exposure has allowed them to develop a number of different product lines – from live performances to album sales to posters and apparel. With their Grammy-winning album Brothers, they bundled a number of items together as a “deluxe” edition, including a 56-page hardcover book, the CD, a digital download of the full CD, a lithograph of the band (some of which were autographed) and two mp3 downloads.

Key Takeaways:

n The band has expanded their product offerings incrementally as they’ve developed more of a following. If they had spent a lot of money upfront, developing a deluxe edition of their first album, it would likely have been a lot more difficult to move them.

n The deluxe edition bundles together a number of different items that might not generate a lot of sales on their own. Lithographs and hardcover books might not be the first items a customer is considering buying, but when they’re packaged with the music and offered together for $30, they drive interest.

n The deluxe edition also advanced an exclusivity strategy. It was targeted to a portion of album buyers – those listeners who wanted the music in advance of the album release date (since they received the digital and mp3 downloads in advance) and those listeners who are passionate enough about the band to want the lithograph and book. The mere fact that the product is “exclusive” (i.e. they were only available on The Black Keys website, which allowed buyers to access the music before the album was formally released) created insentive and a sense of urgency to buy.

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Thomas Kinkade Painter

While his name might draw grimaces from fellow artists, Thomas Kinkade was wildly successful in understanding what his customers wanted, building a brand that appealed to these customers and developing a wide range of products that addressed their desires. The artist was able to segue his work on the instructional guide The Artist’s Guide to Sketching into set design opportunities and then into release of his own paintings. Over three decades, he built a financial empire around his painting work, leading to the establishment of the Thomas Kinkade Company. Kinkade’s style was designed to be accessible to a broad base of consumers, ranging from idyllic landscapes to commemorative paintings of the Indianapolis 500 to depictions of Disney cartoon imagery. His work ranged from original pieces to limited editions to open editions, and he successfully licensed his work to Teleflora, Hallmark and Warner Books. His work was so sought after while he was alive, that he developed an additional product line – galleries paid him to represent his work (Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries, for instance, had to place annual orders of at least $50,000 of his work).

Key Takeaways:

n You don’t have to like Kinkade’s aesthetic or brand image to borrow lessons from his product mix strategy.

n Kinkade knew what his customers like, and his range of paintings reflected the type of art he anticipated they’d be willing to buy.

n Kinkade was thoughtful about how customer demand might allow him to negotiate favorable relationships with galleries and even to “sell” his name and brand image to new galleries, virtually a new product in and of itself.

Irena Kagansky Writer

Irena Kagansky has used leg braces since she was a child. Doctors are not sure the cause for her mobility issues, but they believe it may be the result of an early spinal injury. Kagansky appears to have made a conscious choice to separate her experiences with mobility disabilities from her work as a writer. While she has participated in the Abilities Art Festival, her website and other distribution points for her work make no mention of her physical impairment. She works in a variety of forms, self-publishing a book of her poetry through Blurb, providing freelance writing services for corporations and nonprofits, developing personal copy for weddings and funerals and writing journalism pieces for multiple publications. Kagansky is also a playwright and a founder of the theatre company Toronto the Good, which seeks to tell the stories of Toronto residents through the words of residents themselves.

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Key Takeaways:

n Kagansky’s personality plays a seemingly small role in the overall brand image of her work; compared to some of the other artists featured here. Her bio is short, and it does not seem that she’s actively promoting her name or image as a component of the work outside of her LinkedIn page. The advantage of this may be that she can offer a wide variety of products without creating brand confusion (e.g. You likely won’t know that she wrote a funeral speech in the morning and a news article in the afternoon).

n On the other hand, her customers may not feel as personally bonded to her as to artists who focus more extensively on personal relationship, and by offering such a wide range of products, it might be difficult for Kagansky to focus this brand image or to prioritize what type of work she will offer in the future.

n Kagansky has chosen not to focus on her mobility disability. How much to incorporate personal experience into overall brand and the products you choose to offer (e.g. “Having grown up with disability issues has led me to a journalistic and literature focus on the experiences of people living with disability”) is a personal decision but could weigh into your overall business strategy.

Olly Moss Designer

At 23, graphic designer and illustrator Olly Moss had already developed a variety of products and been very successful in seeing them purchased. Best known for his re-designs of famous book and movie posters, his design work had been used to promote the TV series Lost. His illustrations were featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, GQ and regularly in Empire Magazine. He is a Threadless staple. Moss also launched Make Something Cool Everyday, an online Flickr group that encourages artists to post at least one creative piece of work every day of the year. If that weren’t enough, Moss broke into the video game market designing cover art and partnering with notable game designers.

Key Takeaways:

n His Threadless success and the Make Something Cool Everyday initiative have put Moss in front of large crowds of design lovers, opening the door for potential customers.

n Moss has been able to diversify his product offerings without confusing his overall brand. His end users (magazines, television production staff, gamers, t-shirt buyers) are different enough that he can be irreverent in t-shirt designs and polished and crisp in work-for-hire.

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Skewed Visions Theatre Artists

Skewed Visions is a Minneapolis, membership-based experimental theatre group that specializes in the development of site-specific works. The locations (abandoned warehouses, street corners, the front seats of moving cars) play a direct role in shaping the content of their work. Because many of these pieces relate to a very specific place, they may be difficult to distribute these works more broadly. But these limitations have led to some innovative strategies for what types of products the theatre offers in the first place. As the organization has matured, many of its pieces now have long runs at particular sites, allowing more exposure for audiences. The group developed a piece that functions like an audio-tour, role-play mystery – audience members listen to audio tracks on their phone as they are given clues and instructions to uncover the story. Their effort, cubicle, was designed to be watched online while at the office.

Key Takeaways:

n How you distribute your product can shape what type of products (and how many and to what audience) you offer. In the case of Skewed Visions, the group successfully adapted a site-specific model into one that can be visited over a longer time-span or watched online or listened to at their leisure.

n The adaptation of the theatre model has influenced the work produced. The audio tour encouraged the group to explore how experimental theatre can adapt to an audio format, while the themes raised in cubicle have been shaped by the fact that they’re being geared toward online viewing (the group is encouraging people to watch in an office setting, which continues to promote their site-specific focus without having to take place at a specific site).

n Increasing income may be possible by offering things for free – there are no charges to view cubicle, for instance, but it has reached an entirely new audience who may now attend events. The risk and innovative thinking is exactly the type of work that could bring in funding support to keep the arts alive.

Sharon Montrose Photographer

Sharon Montrose uses her photographic skill primarily to capture images of animals, a strong passion in her personal life. Despite the relatively narrow theme of her work, she has been able to develop a range of products, from books to prints to consulting gigs. Her clients include some obvious partners such as Whiskas, Purina, Iams, Pet Max, but she also has some very large, but much less obvious clients like Burger King and The Sir Elton John Photography Collection.

Perhaps most impressive is how Montrose’s pricing strategy has made her work accessible to a broad variety of target audiences.

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Next to her major corporate clients, you or anyone in most countries can pick up an original print on her site. Her animal-inspired coffee table books are available on Amazon.

Key Takeaways:

n Even though Montrose’s work is similar in content, a lot of other elements are affecting perceived value of the items. In the examples above, she has found ways to drop price points on her work with material (cardstock v. fine museum quality prints), size (7” x 10” v. 24” x 30”) and packaging (framed v. non-framed).

n Scarcity also increases the perceived value of a piece. Montrose is able to charge a commanding $1,000 per piece when it is in an edition of just 10 prints.

n Lower price points on some products do not necessarily negatively impact your ability to sell at high price points on other ones. Montrose is able to sell $6 books and still command $1,000 on prints and secure lucrative advertising contracts with businesses like Nikon and CBS.