Unpopular culture and how to sell it

This article argues that the way to get new audiences involved in the arts (and other 'unpopular' culture) is to start from the assumption that people are not interested.

Unpopular culture and how to sell it

Brian Millar

There are some parts of the marketing world that ad agencies rarely get a chance to see. One is fashion: the world of watches, perfume and luxury handbags. The other is the arts. I don't know anything about fashion, as my wife can testify. I have found out a bit about arts marketing in recent years, though.

Something that started as a fun sideline has turned into an occupation that now takes up about half of my time: selling unpopular culture. I've done brand campaigns for the British Museum, Southbank Centre...

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