Interesting marketing technique!

[Pres]

I saw this today while perusing a google page. I wonder how interaction of the  recipients is going, also wonder if it is generating any sales? 

https://mymodernmet.com/kim-press-sailing-adrift-studios-free-pottery/

best,

Pres

[Callie Beller Diesel]

I don’t know if it directly generates sales, but it can sure generate visibility and engagement with your customer base! It’s a really fun way to engage with your local community as well as the travel locations that artist seems to be focusing on.

There is a miniature artist in my city who makes tiny items, and hides one of them somewhere about town on a specific day every week. He spends the week making the item and posting on instagram so that people get invested in it. When it’s done, he posts an image of the item in its surroundings with enough of a visual clue that if you know the city a bit, you know where to look. Usually the piece is found within a matter of an hour or two. I think he does sell a few items, but he usually only makes 2-3 pieces at once.  But he did wind up on the Best in Miniature show on CBC Gem. It’s like the British Bake Off/Pottery Throwdown/Blown Away,  but you build a miniature house with all the accoutrements.

Note: while most of his stuff is food/kitchen/tiny furniture related, he did make his own pottery wheel and mini kiln. The resulting mugs and dishes the size of my pinky nail were among the items that got dropped off around the city, so there’s the pottery tie in!

[Babs]

@Presbeats me leaving my rejects i e. Not what I liked, or clearing shelves stuff on fence posts around my area!

It is picked up In a flash!!!! And I dont live on a highway.

I also left a crumb trail on a kayaking trip. Little spoons which hooefully were picked up...bit of guilt setting in in old age...humans making their mark on nature thoughts:-(

[Roberta12]

I have done a version of that.  Rather like @Babs  Things that are definitely usable, have life left in them.  I think my neighbor and I are going to plan an art drop.  He's a photographer.  We want to see if we can get other local artists to do it, just for fun. 

[JohnnyK]

Judging by the quality of the pieces and the amount of time to make them, and the randomness of the pick-up, I'd say that, off-hand, not the best marketing idea. However, if the artist gets a bunch of exposure through YouTube and makes a corresponding amount of sales, then it would have been a valuable move...

[Bam2015]

Perhaps it has nothing to do with marketing, and the pottery is just a kind person trying to share some joy? 

Betty

[Callie Beller Diesel]

What @Bam2015said! Sometimes it’s just fun to do things.
Being the business section, I do tend to frame my responses here within a business context. But why be in this line of work if you can’t have some fun too? It can be difficult to be creative without a sense of abundance or expansion, and as people we need that. 

[JohnnyK]

I agree with Callie & Betty...Pres threw out the marketing idea...

[Bam2015]

But perhaps Pres is correct and it is a marketing idea?  I appreciate that you started this thread Pres, it is interesting to ponder this.

Betty

[Pres]

Years ago, I left about 100 raku pots on the back porch that faced an alley. We lived in a 3 room apartment back then, and the first two nights with the grad work pots from a summer course with Dontigny kept us up at night with the pinging! By the end of the second year the pots were gone. Some times later I would be in someone's house looking at a corner, or a fireplace mantle to see on of those old raku pots. Disconcerting in a way, but you always had to smile at one persons trash another's treasure. I hated those raku pots, as I was told to loosen up my throwing, and the pots all turned out looking like Dontigny seconds. Raku for me had been a bad experience all summer long. worn knuckles of my right hand with open sores the entire summer from the sandy clay body, frustration with the throwing, but enthralled with the fire and the smoke and the surfaces from copper to greens and whites with crackling. They spoke a part of me that loves surface.

best,

Pres

[grackle]

i saw that article, was fascinated by it.  as Callie described, there is a similar movement with tiny works of art where they use little boxes on stands, much like the tiny libraries.  probably best if you live in an area with more people, but i guess it depends on whether you post clues.  My husband makes beautiful wooden boxes and sells thru etsy, but he is reluctant to post anything new on facebook or pinterest, and does not sell many.  we are retired, so no real worries--i sell a bit of ceramic work here and there and give a lot away, but have to admit being intrigued by the idea of leaving pieces here and there.  traveling from texas to montana this summer and camping along the way, and may just do that!!

[HW Design]

Some actions aren't made to directly increase the number of sales but just to increase the visibility. I think here it's the same situation. However, I am curious how well these methods work now since I haven't tried it for several yers already.