LECTURE 6: STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD

Question 1

‘Dilemma of Democratization’

- what does it prevent?

Answer 1

Declining entry barriers create fierce competition and ‘dilemma of democratization’ curtails the ability of cultural producers to command monopoly rents for their ‘unique’ goods and services

Question 2

As a result of the ‘dilemma of democratization’, the burden for global and independent producers of music and fashion has shifted from __ to (2) in order to ___

Answer 2

production to promotion and developing strategies to ‘stand out in the crowd’

Question 3

How many songs on Spotify have never been played once?

Answer 3

4 million songs

Question 4

Now in a taste-driven economy, the imperative to ____ is well established

Answer 4

‘singularize’ products

Question 5

Andy Pike

“Branding relies upon…

Answer 5

the identification, articulation, and representation of signs and symbols inescapably entangled with their spatial context and connotations.”

Question 6

literature also suggests that geographical differentiation is often combined with (3) to generate (2)

Answer 6

• manufacturing, organizational and marketing strategies

- distinction and value

Question 7

although these cities occupy different positions in the global marketplace and feature different institutional regimes, the exclusivity-based strategies being used in these locations are

• Noteworthy finding given the geographic preoccupation with (2)

Answer 7

…remarkably similar

local specificity and uniqueness

Question 8

3 common ways that the concept of ‘exclusivity’ can be operationalized

Answer 8

1) Tapping into the individualization of demand
2) Integrating consumers into the production and promotion process
3) Manipulating physical and virtual space

Question 9

Selling the stage

1) Reference
2) About

Answer 9

1) Hracs and Jakob (2015)
2) Look at examples from craft and think about how value is not only created by manipulating space but also time and the temporal dimensions of consumer experiences and relationships.

Question 10

Grabher quote of intense competition

Answer 10

the contemporary marketplace for cultural products features intense competition between producers and volatile demand from sophisticated consumers

Question 11

According to Harvey, previously the value of cultural products was protected by

Answer 11

barriers to their replication and sheer scarcity in the marketplace

Question 12

1) In the 20th century, however, several important economic, social and political trends transformed
2) During the post-war boom, the middle class became

Answer 12

1) the niche status of cultural products in Western Society
2) satiated with durable goods and directed a growing share of their disposable income to the consumption of cultural products

Question 13

1) As demand increased, cultural occupations became… (2)
2) At the same time, Western governments reinforced the integration of cultural occupations into the mainstream labor market by…(2)

Answer 13

1) more socially acceptable and the number of cultural producers grew dramatically
2) promoting and regulating the education and employment of these individuals

Question 14

the professionalization and industrialization of cultural production would not have been possible without…

Answer 14

a concomitant shift in consumer behavior

Question 15

Fashion is the ____ of class and the way for elites to _____

Answer 15

fashion is the quintessential signifier of class and way for elites to distinguish themselves from the masses

Question 16

Shopping has become the primary strategy for (2)

Reference

Answer 16

• creating value and way for individuals to define who they are and what they want to become

Zukin and Maguire (2004)

Question 17

Developments of shopping creating value has been influenced by the twin processes of …(2) through which Lash and Urry argue …

Answer 17

societal de-traditionalization and individualization

“social agents are increasingly ‘set free’ from the control or monitoring of social structures in order to be self-monitoring or self-reflexive”

Question 18

What 3 are mutually reinforcing and driving the symbolic properties that cultural products imbue into everyday life?

Answer 18

1) individualization

2) self-expression 3) consumerism

Question 19

Value is increasingly determined by (3) rather than by (2) therefore Klein argues that companies across the spectrum are ___ while ___

Answer 19

• aestheticization, branding and marketing
• material and labor inputs
• cutting the cost of manufacturing
  while exorbitantly expanding marketing budgets

Question 20

Thus, the fundamental equation of contemporary markets remains unchanged but digital technologies…(2)

Answer 20

… accelerate consumerism and choice

Question 21

The Long Tail

1) Reference
2) Argues

Answer 21

1) Anderson
2) the tools of production have been democratized and new and more accessible technologies are drastically reducing entry barriers and facilitating the production of an unprecedented number of cultural goods

Question 22

Beyond simply democratizing the production process, digital technologies also enable the.. (3)

Answer 22

democratization of consumption, distribution and promotion

Question 23

Technology reduces the need for ____ and allows producers to ….

Answer 23

physical retail space and allows producers todisplay and sell their products to wider audiences at much lower costs.

Question 24

The largest off-line music store typically offers ___, Apple’s iTunes store lists ___

Answer 24

• 15,000 albums

- millions

Question 25

So internet access ___ and ___ on demand ___ and ___ omnipresent

Answer 25

facilitates and encourages on demand consumption and social media programmes such as FB, Twitter etc make branding and promotion omnipresent

Question 26

Wall Street Journal blogging fact

Answer 26

According to the Wall Street Journal, close to half a million Americans used blogging as their primary source of income in 2009.

Question 27

E.g. of web portal SecondLife.com

Answer 27

3D virtual world where users create ‘residents’ that socialize, create and trade virtual products like real estate or fashion, transport Veblen’s concept of conspicuous consumption into the realm of sheer simulation and imagination.

Question 28

just as showrooms must be located on the right street to connect with the right set of consumers, geographers have argued that virtual spaces also need to be…

Answer 28

…. localized and that they often reproduce rather than challenge geographic space

Question 29

Ultimately, digital technologies have spurred the ___ but consumer demand has also become (3)

Answer 29

• industrialization of cultural production

- reflexive, sophisticated and volatile

Question 30

The ‘hyper- commoditization’ of culture saturates the marketplace and makes it difficult to

Answer 30

attract and retain the attention and patronage of fickle consumers

Question 31

As a competitive strategy, exclusivity entails …

Answer 31

… exploiting the desire of sophisticated consumers to signal their individuality by finding and consuming unique products

Question 32

1) Difference between exclusivity and branding products local, green, ethical or authentic?
2) Instead of restricting supply and raising value, these strategies introduce… which contribute to…

Answer 32

2) These competing quality schemes do not address the core challenge facing producers of cultural products
2) a bewildering number of labels and alternatives which contribute to oversupply and consumer confusion

Question 33

exclusivity-based strategies are specifically designed to (2) through ___

Answer 33

reduce supply and garner attention and value through scarcity

Question 34

Simmel’s observation in the Philosophy of Money -

Answer 34

Consumers desire objects that are not merely given but attained by the conquest of distance, obstacles and difficulties

Question 35

as long as some consumers perceive a good, service or experience to be exclusive and unique, they will pay more for it because…

Answer 35

exclusivity is more difficult to test

Question 36

3 mechanisms through which indie musicians and fashion designers operationalize the concept of exclusivity

Answer 36

1) Exploiting the desire of sophisticated consumers to avoid or subvert the mainstream
2) Involves enrolling the consumer into the production and promotion process

Question 37

E.g. of designers using materials rare or difficult to replicate

Answer 37

use of recycled and reclaimed materials such as former advertisement tarps and banners for the production of handmade bags and purses

Question 38

Independent musicians also circumvent their mass-produced competition and generate value through…

Answer 38

.. traditional artisanal production techniques and exclusivity

Question 39

By emphasizing the limited number of units that are produced and available musicians are actually turning

Answer 39

Their inability to afford larger production runs into a source of value

Question 40

Because consumers must display high levels of cultural and social capital to find and obtain unique products, they are…

Answer 40

…willing to pay a premium for the select company that owning these products puts them in

Question 41

Based on the literature and our own findings, the motivation that consumers want to get involved stems from two kinds of non-monetary rewards

Answer 41

1) On one hand, there is the intrinsic satisfaction of being creative
2) On the other hand, there is an extrinsic desire to gain status from social groups.

Question 42

In developed societies where basic needs are met and ‘free time’ is increasing, individuals take on creative side-projects.
Especially the case for…

Answer 42

…students and individuals who find their primary occupation unfulfilling such as routine service workers

Question 43

Literature associated to the rise of the experience economy suggests that

Answer 43

experiences allow contemporary consumers to create unique identities, display social status and pursue self-actualization through learning, doing, trying and making.

Question 44

Although sophisticated consumers endeavor to be unique individuals they also…

Answer 44

… crave recognition from wider social communities

Question 45

the cultural capital associated with being the first to discover a new band or designer can only be converted into social capital when…

Answer 45

that discovery is shared with others.

Question 46

So joining a creative project allows individuals to.. (2)

Answer 46

1) Attach personal narratives to their consumption behavior

2) Enhance their status within scenes and communities

Question 47

The main challenge for independent entrepreneurs is … with limited ….

Answer 47

completing an expanding range of creative and non-creative tasks with limited time, energy, economic resources and specialized skills

Question 48

Instead of labouring under the inefficient DIY model and trying to do everything on their own, more strategic musicians are…

Answer 48

…getting help and creating a new division of labour on the open market.

Question 49

Free labour is often supplied by… who are willing to trade their…. for the….

Answer 49

‘hipsters’ who are willing to trade their time, energy and money for the social and cultural capital that volunteering on a creative project grants them

Question 50

Consumers helping complete tasks with indie producers is a win win:

Answer 50

Indie producers get vital assistance and consumers earn intrinsic and extrinsic psychic rewards for their troubles

Question 51

Second challenge for indie producers = once products are made, they must be…

Answer 51

promoted

Question 52

digital technologies provide a range of new promotional tools and access to global distribution and marketing for the first time but indie producers struggle to…

Answer 52

balance their time and energy between production and promotion

Question 53

1) What results in the ‘corrosion of creativity

2) Reference

Answer 53

1) Tension of indie producers to balance time between promotion/production and need to multi-task
2) Angela McRobbie

Question 54

1) ‘Living billboard’ strategy description

2) e.g. of Stockholm

Answer 54

1) In fashion, where free clothes are given to selected individuals with local prestige and credibility such as bartenders and musicians
2) e.g All the bartenders and waiters in this Stockholm club wear our tshirts and that’s no coincidence

Question 55

Consumers not only help spread the word through posturing but help to…

Answer 55

promote and sell merchandise at the show

Question 56

What kind of forms of marketing are more effective than what?

Answer 56

these free, local and dare I say authentic forms of marketing are often more effective than traditional capital-intensive campaigns

Question 57

n an era of in your face advertising, sophisticated consumers seem more interested in… (2)

Answer 57

• Word of mouth curation

- Advice from well connected and well respected members of local cultural scenes

Question 58

3rd challenge for indie producers:

Answer 58

Monetizing creative content (given the oversupply of substitutes)

Question 59

So in the saturated marketplace how do indie producers infuse their goods and services with unique and valuable qualities that convince consumers to pay more for them?

• How?

Answer 59

Found that producers commodify the creative experience itself

• consumers are invited to participate in the creative process but must pay for the privilege

Question 60

Radiohead example

Answer 60

2008 - gav ether album away for free as a digital download from their website
- But to make money they created a REMIX CONTEST
- So radiohead fans were given the opportunity to purchase the different instrument tracks, for the songs, and were given a time period to remix the tracks
- then @ end of contest, all of the remixes were uploaded onto band’s website and rated by the fan community and the band itself
SO Radiohead not only deterred the illegal downloading of their songs but were able to sell 6 tracks at 99 cents instead of one to fans who were eager to interact with the band and express their own creativity.

Question 61

In fashion, independent designers generate value and brand loyalty by…(2)

Answer 61

1) hosting workshops where consumers pay for the materials, training and experience of making their own clothing
2) Playing exclusive ‘salon’ style shows that are limited to 25 people

Question 62

1) How to ‘salon’ style shows work?

2) What does this strategy enable them to do?

Answer 62

1) Using their websites, musicians arrange small private shows at the houses of fans and charge around $30 per ticket. The fans are invited to arrange the space and contribute to the actual performance by requesting songs and singing along in a very small and intimate setting
2) Tour across the world earning over $500 a night, which is impressive given that most indie musicians are lucky to earn $50 for a show in Toronto

Question 63

Currid argues that fashion shows, music venues and art galleries are…

Answer 63

pivotal social settings that valorize cultural products and the identities of audience members, indie producers intentionally limit access to physical spaces such as parties, clubs and sales events

Question 64

DaWanda example, Berlin

description

Answer 64

An online retail platform for indie designers hosts exclusive promotional events for handmade items

Question 65

How does DaWanda generate exclusivity?

Answer 65

DaWanda restricts the number of consumers that are allowed into the building thousands of people are left lining up outside

Question 66

1) willingness of people to wait for an hour in heavy wind and rain generates
2) Perception that ‘overcoming the obstacle’ created…
3) Associated reference

Answer 66

1) Buzz from onlookers
2) a greater sense of satisfaction and exclusivity
3) Simmel

Question 67

In New York, music venues, secret bars and dance clubs are popular spaces of nighttime consumption and it is the allure of (2) that provides the attraction via

Answer 67

secrecy and exclusivity

via signage/require secret passwords from their patrons

Question 68

Secret places represent an additional layer of geography in which economic capital is trumped by …(2)

Answer 68

… the SOCIAL capital of ‘who you know’ and the CULTURAL capital of ‘what you know’

Question 69

Musicians encourage consumers to keep purchasing their songs and attending their live shows by offering them…

Answer 69

… bonus items that non-members do not get access to

Question 70

Although consumers can never be sure how exclusive virtual spaces and digital content are, their willingness to believe constructed myths suggests that…

Answer 70

… imagined exclusivity is a powerful promotional tool

Question 71

branding products as from ‘New York’ or ‘Toronto,’ or better still ‘Williamsburg’ or ‘Queen West,’ provides a…

Answer 71

spatial signifier of cutting edge consumption and differentiates these products from those produced in the periphery

Question 72

Jansson and Power suggest what about branding??

Answer 72

That ‘origin branding is not enough on its own’ and must be incorporated into a more complex scheme of differentiation

Question 73

1) To enhance the distinctiveness and value of cultural products and experiences, producers can blur the boundaries between ___ and
2) however, the staging of space is being combined with… (+ e.g.)

Answer 73

1) physical and virtual space

strategically grant or limit access to specific settings

2) the strategic choreography of time - so e.g. events and festivals may be for one night only or even for a few hours

Question 74

The idea is that value can be generated by not only making things one of a kind but also…

Answer 74

one time only

Question 75

temporal and spatial elements can be layered to..

Answer 75

generate even greater authenticity and value

Question 76

E.g. of laying of temporal and spatial elements

Answer 76

‘pop-up’ shops that can be erected in both crowded and secret locations in many neighbourhoods within New York, Berlin, London and Toronto

Question 77

Case study of Etsy.com opening first ever retail space in SoHo, New York

1) when and as what?
2) Description

Answer 77

1) Pop-up sop for 10 days during xmas season

2) Shop provided an environment curated by nine star designers and stylists that also changed every day as new artists made work within the shop for daily display
- continuously offered various events including talks, discussions, concerts, performances, tastings and workshops.
- also gives opportunity for f2f interaction rather than purely virtual

Question 78

1) Quote from consumer about getting involved in making process
2) Reference

Answer 78

1) “You feel like this is a place where artists can flourish and you can actually see their work and make a connection with them”
2) Quoted in Etsy (2013)

Question 79

However, effectiveness of one-of-a-kind events??

Answer 79

While short-term spectacles are certainly exclusive, their authenticity, appeal and strategic effectiveness may decrease as one-of-a-kind events ‘pop up’ on every street corner

• Also unique designs/techniques stolen and duplicated by ‘copycats’??

Question 80

Due to eroding effectiveness of pop-up, musicians and craft makers are also developing…

Answer 80

longer-term and repetitive experiences for consumers that generate value through personalization, trust, loyalty and repeat business

Question 81

What is vitally important to building a stable client base and surviving the volatile marketplace?

Answer 81

creating conversations’ and making ‘meaningful emotional connections’ with consumers, also dubbed ‘friends’ and ‘fans’

Question 82

1) Due to saturation of social media sites with info, keeping consumers engaged requires…
2) In some cases, producers resort to… and for this and other reasons, info online may be judged to be..

Answer 82

cultural producers to constantly update their creative and personal content and this requires more and more time, energy and aesthetic labour

2) using scripted templates.. less authentic and valuable than experiences that transpire through face-to-face interactions

Question 83

Durham Craft market and consumers regularity

Answer 83

• Craft makers report that the market’s regularity - every Saturday morning from April to November - fosters a continuing relationship with consumers who regularly visit to buy but also to chat about new products and life in general
• Through these interactions, producers learn about their consumers’ tastes, their favorite forms and colors and intimate details about their lives including where their kids go to college and where they spend their holidays.

Question 84

Over time through repeated interaction between consumer and producer… which allows producers to…

Answer 84

trustingelationships are forged and maintained which allow producers to develop personalized, and thus more valuable, products for an increasingly loyal group of consumers

Question 85

Ocejo (2012) examinedimilar relationships between bartenders, barbers and butchers and their customers and noted that;

While building ‘trust’ over time allows…. building ‘confidence’…

Answer 85

Consumers seek high-touch experiences in public places to acquire knowledge and goods that transcend the everyday experience of shopping and leisure consumption

• Building trust over time allowed workers to serve someone a new drink they’ll like or suggest a new hairstyle or different cut of meat
• Building confidence allows workers to integrate cultural knowledge, technical skill and interpersonal communication into their work and to take control of the production process to create the ‘right’ product and service.

Question 86

So whereas short or limited time horizons heighten the perception of exclusivity for fickle consumers, sustained interaction over time can…

Answer 86

… build more trusting relationships and meaningful experiences for ‘regulars’

Question 87

building a base of loyal friends and fans helps independent producers to…

Answer 87

weather the cyclical trends and volatility in the marketplace

Question 88

hyper-competition in the global marketplace forces cultural producers to…

Answer 88

… constantly refine and hybridize their competitive strategies

Question 89

Informed by Hodkinson’s work on trans-local Goth scenes we also found that…

Answer 89

Fashion designers from Berlin and Stockholm travel to New York to promote their own products while at the same time learning from other designers

Question 90

When touring, musicians not only discuss social and creative topics with others but use these encounters to

Answer 90

learn about new competitive strategies

Question 91

Competition intensifies the importance of ____ but it also produces a fear of ____

Answer 91

networking and monitoring local buzz but it also produces a fear of creative and strategic theft that serves to pit cultural producers against one another and reduces their willingness to share information, ideas and support.

Question 92

What exacerbates the ‘dilemma of democratization’ ?

Answer 92

The endless cycle of surveillance and piracy across space, scale and industry

Question 93

As Molotch argues, “once others gain access to what you have …

Answer 93

… new stuff has to be acquired in an endless cycle of unhappy waste”