Anthropology and Marketing (by Johnny Coleman II)

Photo Credit: Harvard Business Review

Anthropologists have been used to produce marketing campaigns for many years.  This is news for some.  Why is this so?  The reason is that anthropologists study culture so they are valuable to helping businesses understand the culture of the consumer. Knowing the culture of the group you are selling to is key to staying in business.  This is true not only for ethnic groups, but other groups like teenagers, seniors, women and college students.  Many groups are often misunderstood and marketing campaigns fail because the advertiser failed to understand their culture.  

By culture let's use the words: entertainment, values or interests.  Let's go further and ask questions like: what does you 'target market' group do for fun?  What do they believe in spiritually?  What books or newspapers or websites do they read most?  What are their favorite foods?  How do most of them earn their income (money)?  These questions help you in reaching your group better.  Without knowing the answers to these questions you lose valuable time and opportunities.

In March 2014 Harvard Business Review produced a wonderful article written by Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel B. Rasmussen titled "An Anthropologist Walks into a Bar..."  The sub-title is: To understand what makes your customers tick, you have to observe them in their natural habitats. This article highlighted the importance of anthropologists to the marketing world and also the work they have done.  

In the article a European beer company wanted to understand how their sales dropped. So they hired anthropologists to visit bars in European countries where their beer was sold.  They did this after frustration using traditional marketing research.  The observations produced information that resulted in a better marketing campaign.  The list of major corporations seeking the help of anthropologists is growing. Some of the names mentioned in the article were Lego and IBM. 

The article goes on to say:

"MOST PEOPLE in business associate the human sciences—anthropology, sociology, political science, and philosophy—with academia, and for good reason. The work of scholars in these fields is notoriously difficult to understand, and the insights they offer often seem to have little practical relevance in business.  But that is changing rapidly."

We look forward to you and your company also joining that list and making that choice. 

President Jomo Kenyatta, Anthropologist (by Johnny Coleman II)

"To Moigoi and Wamboi and all the dispossessed youth of Africa; for perpetuation of communion with ancestral spirits through the first for African Freedom, and in the firm faith that the dead, the living, and the unborn will unite to rebuild the destroyed shrines."

--Jomo Kenyatta

The Dedication to Facing Mt. Kenya 

"Anthropology begins at home"

--Bronislaw Malinowski

Introduction to Facing to Mt. Kenya

Did you know that Jomo Kenyatta was an anthropologist?  He is remembered as Kenya's first prime minister and first president (1963-1978).  

Born Kamau son of Ngengi, in 1929 Jomo Kenyatta left Kenya for London.  His goal was to lobby for the human rights of the Kikuyu people.  

To support himself he worked and took classes in the:  University College London (UCL), then the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and finally at the London School of Economics (LSE).  

His contribution to anthropology scholarship was "Facing Mt. Kenya: The Tribal Life of the Gikuyu," the title of his Master's thesis.  The Gikuyu are better known as the Kikuyu.  Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya is the second highest in Africa. It is over 17 thousand feet tall.

Photo Credit: Mount Kenya (World Atlas)

His book gave a human image to African people by showing them to have their own history, culture and traditions.  The book also dealt with sensitive topics such as female genital mutilation and applied anthropological functionalism' (taught by Dr. Bronislaw Malinowski).  Functionalism in anthropology is intended to describe the different institutions of an ethnic group.  Then to explain their social function and show their contribution to the overall society.

Photo Credit: Bronislaw Malinowski (LSE)

Malinowski made a career as a serious ethnographer and is called the 'Father of social anthropology.'  When he met Kenyatta they became friends and he welcomed him because he wanted to support the work of an indigenous student and is quoted to say: “one of the first really competent and instructive contributions to African ethnography by a scholar of pure African parentage.”  As an anthropologist who traveled and wrote about other people Malinowski was not part of the groups he wrote about like Kenyatta.  During that time Kenyatta's work was revolutionary.  

Kenyatta's thesis was later published by Vintage Book publishers.  It challenged Europeans and 'white' Kenyans who firmly believed that the indigenous Kenyans were "primitive savages" who needed whites in order to be civilized.  

Once published, the book received positive reviews.  When the book was sold the cover showed Kenyatta in his traditional clothing, a skin cloak, and carrying a spear.  This was also the first time he used the name Jomo Kenyatta; Jomo means burning spear.  This was Kenyatta's way to show pride in his traditional culture, with no shame or need for explanation.  

Jomo Kenyatta is one of the world's great anthropologists!

A Pan African Community in Washington, DC (by Johnny Coleman II)

"Our histories are connected!  We are acknowledging our African connection.” 

---Marquett Milton

the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, DC

[This blog post was originally written and published in March 2020.  It is presented to you as an example of ethnic marketing for the good.  Images may be subject to copyright.]   

A great example of ethnic marketing was demonstrated by the late Professor Hari Jones, the former curator and assistant director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, DC.  Every March 1st African Americans and Ethiopians gather to honor their African ancestry and identity with a wreath laying at the African American Civil War Memorial commemorating the victory of Adwa, Ethiopia on March 1, 1896.  

Hari Jones (1958-2018)

A LIVING HISTORY

A living history historian, event organizer and familiar face in the Shaw community is Mr. Marquett Milton. A student of the late Hari Jones, Milton works in U.S. Civil War uniform representing the United States Colored Troops' legacy. Every year he leads the wreath laying. He portrays Mr. Andrew Green who was born enslaved and freed under the D.C. Emancipation Act, which came before the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation made it legal for Andrew Green and men of African descent to legally fight in U.S. military uniform and free themselves and their families. Having organized this event with Professor Jones, Mr. Milton shared that "Our histories are connected! We are acknowledging our African connection.”

Mr. Marquett Milton
Credit: Johnny Coleman II

Below is a portion of a video I recorded in March 1, 2020. It features Marquett Milton explaining the significance of he wreath laying. Behind him you will see new construction on the museum which is just across the street from the memorial. Please excuse the sound quality, we had to battle the wind that day [Credit: Johnny Coleman II].

Next, is a portion of the same video. A few people arrived to start the event, and more arrived later. Every year has been a multi-cultural crowd. The video shows Mr. D. Overby representing soldiers of Afro-descent throughout the Americas. He symbolizes the legacy of Afro-descent soldiers in the U.S. military. It is important for you to also know that U.S. Civil War veterans knew of the Adwa victory.

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL

The memorial remembers the lives and legacy of the United States Colored Troops also known as the USCT.  According to Thomas Morris Chester, the only African descent U.S. Civil War correspondent, the USCT were the the first of the U.S. government forces to enter and capture Richmond, Virginia the then capital of the Confederate forces on April 3, 1865.  Their victory set the grounds for the end of the Civil War with the signing of surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865.

Credit: African American Civil War Memorial

Credit: African American Civil War Memorial

THE ADWA VICTORY

The Shaw community in Washington, DC is Pan African with cultures and ethnic people groups, of both Africans and Afro-descendants from throughout the Americas, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Ghana and more.  The memorial, the museum, Howard University and Little Ethiopia are all located in the Shaw community.  The wreath laying event is a community celebration with individuals and organizations following the leadership of the museum, and Little Ethiopia.  Over the years notable faces have attended the wreath laying event.  The wreath is decorated with the colors of the Ethiopian national flag.  The Shaw community is named after U.S. Civil War Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.  

U.S. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863)

Howard University in Washington, DC
Credit: Derek Morton

LITTLE ETHIOPIA 

Credit: Popville

Little Ethiopia is located on 9th Street, NW in Washington, DC between U Street, NW (on the north) and T Street, NW (on the south)--NW stands for northwest) and may one day extend further south, and made official in December 2020.

When it comes to modern borders what we now call Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibouti was all once called Abyssinia or Habesha.  Over time the idea of Habesha was reduced to the modern country of Ethiopia, and the ethnic Amhara people.  But the battle and victory at Adwa included everyone from the original Abyssinia map.

1896...AND THE GLOBAL REACTION

In 1896 the victory at Adwa was reported in newspapers all over the world, with quotes from leaders around the world.  Those leaders did not think Ethiopia had a chance to resist Italy.  Many African Americans were proud of Ethiopia resisting colonization and felt an affinity to Ethiopia.  Since then, Ethiopians worldwide celebrated the Adwa victory.  

When we think on Adwa we must know that the First Italian-Ethiopian War was sparked by the words of a treaty between Italy and Ethiopia.  Ethiopia's copy of the treaty read different from the one written in Italian.  The treaty positioned Ethiopia to be a protectorate of Italy and stated that they had to inform Italy of any contact they would have with another nation.   

After discovering this the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II and his wife Empress Taytu Betul united Ethiopia for the fight.  Empress Taytu was famous for her taking the battlefield along with her husband (seen in the painting below).  The deciding battle in Adwa was fought for two days.  Their unification of all the ethnic groups to unite and fight resonated around the world.  This is why the victory is called a Pan African victory.   

Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu
Credit: Amhara Kings

The Battle of Adwa

THE AFRICAN CONNECTION IN THE USA

In the past what we call the U.S. Civil War was called the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865).  When men of African descent joined the war, it was 1863 and they helped to outnumber the Confederacy and turned the tide of that war.  In fact, men of African descent made up ten percent of the Northern Army, or what they called the Union Army.  

During legal enslavement and since, African Americans held a deep affinity to Africa, its politics and people.  They named their institutions Africa or African.  Examples are the African Lodge, the African Free School, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and more.  

It is a myth created by slave owners that enslaved Africans accepted or wanted to be enslaved.  However, both enslaved and free Africans in the Americas resisted enslavement using violence, non-violence, diplomacy, pamphlets and so much more.  This was seen in the lives of Prince Hall, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Keckley, Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, David Walker, Maria W. Stewart, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Phyllis Wheatley, Martin Delany and many more.  

This was also seen in the work of the Underground Railroad.  A network founded by African Americans that included people of many nationalities who believed in freedom and liberty.  For many of that generation their work not only to end chattel slavery, but to become full American citizens in league with the United States Constitution. 

Thank you Professor Jones.  We are forever grateful!

The Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters And Maids Changed America Forever! (by Johnny Coleman II)

 [Portions of this article were originally published in 2017]

"At the banquet table of nature there are no reserved seats...And you can’t take anything without organization.”---A. Philip Randolph

Asa Philip Randolph
Credit: Public Domain

Sculpture of Mr. Randolph
in Union Station in Washington, DC
Credit: Public Domain

The late A. Philip Randolph said the Civil Rights Movement should be called the "Civil Rights Revolution."  He is the founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, a labor union, also known as Pullman Porters.  Mr. Randolph was also the mastermind of the famous March on Washington in 1941 and again in 1963.  The second march on August 28, 1963 is the same event where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  Today in Washington, DC within Union Station near Capitol Hill is an impressive statue to the memory of A. Philip Randolph.  There is another also in the Back Bay train station, in the Boston community of Back Bay.

THE PULLMAN PORTERS

George Pullman was a railroad car manufacturer.  A man of European ancestry, Pullman's corporation intentionally hired African Americans as  porters and maids on his new line of sleeper cars because of their ability to provide the best customer service.  However, Mr. Pullman was resistant to workers unionizing.  

African Americans in most industries were not allowed to join organized unions due to racial segregation.  They also faced other other injustices after being hired. The railroad was a battlefield during the "Civil Rights Revolution."  Despite being rejected for what they looked like they reminded America of its principles of liberty and justice for all.  Through many hardships and threats a labor union was created to organize African American railroad workers.   

RAILROAD LEGACY

In their time the members of the Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters And Maids were highly respected within their community for being well read, stock market investors and well traveled.    To remember this great history an organization was created, Railroad Generations.  

Railroad Generations will soon to be the largest social organization for African American transportation workers, their families and friends.  I was invited to work with them because of my past work in ethnic marketing and tourism.  I was shocked to learn that many people throughout the world have a Pullman Porter railroad story.

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS

Photo of Isabella Wilkerson
Credit: Random House Publishers

"The Warmth of Other Suns" written by award winning author Isabelle Wilkerson is another great contribution to remembering the history.  The book is a great read and was chosen as recommended reading by Railroad Generations.  

The book tells the lives of African Americans during the time of what many now call 'The Great Migration,' the time during Segregation when many fled north to escape injustices.  The book shows how important the railroad was for African American families in moving from towns filled with violence, hatred, racism and abuses.  If you read one chapter of this book, you will not be sorry!

FROM SUPERMAN TO MAN

Book cover
"From Superman to Man"

The Pullman porters and their effect on the American people started in a book much earlier.  In 1917 the book "From Superman to Man" by anthropologist J.A. Rogers was that book.

The book description states: "Joel Augustus Roger's seminal work, this novel first published in 1917 is a polemic against the ignorance that fuels racism. The central plot revolves around a debate between a Pullman porter and a white racist Southern politician."  

The book is a fictional conversation between a sleeping car porter and a high ranking U.S. politician discussing real issues in race, history and politics.  It quickly earned respect worldwide for the hard work of African American women and men on the railroad.  Another and detailed description was done by Amazon.

The Amazon Book Review says: "A fearless and penetrating discussion of America’s Greatest Problem The most debated points of the race question as the relative mentality, physical and facial beauty, sex instinct, chastity, odor, truthfulness, health, honesty, of negro and Caucasian; as well as politics, the slavery of white people in Colonial America and elsewhere, intermarriage, religion ancient Negro civilization, race attraction and repulsion, lynching and other aspects all scientifically dealt with in an interesting argument between a southern United Sates Senator with pronounced views and a polished, well-educated, universally traveled Negro when the two happen to meet under peculiar circumstances."

The Black Past website says: "Rogers died in 1966 and in his lifetime he belonged to the Paris (France) Society for Anthropology, American Geographical Society, and the Academy of Political Science.  He was multilingual, mastering German, Italian, French, and Spanish. He had no formal education."

Photo of J.A. Rogers.
Credit: Public Domain

The battle for justice in the USA was often done in the arena of transportation, whether it was Rosa Parks and buses, or the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids and the railroad.  Their voices changed America forever!

The 'Re-Mix': A Vocabulary Lesson (by Johnny Coleman II)

"Re-mixing is a way of thinking as well as a way of doing.  It is best understood by those that understand the culture of their audience. "---Johnny Coleman II

[Portions of this article appeared in a previous blog post by Coleman from 2015.  Images may be subject to copyright.]

MARKETING SOCIAL JUSTICE

Can one truly market social justice?  Social justice is the desire of those in pain, it is not viewed as an exciting marketing campaign.  Amazingly America is seen internationally as a wealth of information on how to do this.  Many Americans may not realize how much social justice marketing surrounds them.

1961 FREEDOM SUMMER

Social justice marketing was arguably at its height in the United States in the early 1960s. One example is the Freedom Riders and the Freedom Rides of 1961. In 1961 the Freedom Riders were a group of 13 activists who challenged segregation by riding buses from state to state in the South (southern United States) to challenge laws and customs of segregation.

Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial groups, or skin colors, along with their daily activities; work and play. Racial segregation was in some states a law and in others custom. Racial segregation is the branch of the modern "concept" of race; see the 1998 statement by the American Anthropological Association. That same year the world witnessed the Freedom Riders ride further into the southern states and experience violence, beatings and arrests.

Dennis Johnson (left), and Freedom Rider John Moody (right) 
Photo credit: AP Photo by Connor Radnovich

FREEDOM RIDES RE-MIXED

Re-mixed and re-branded, the Freedom Rides returned once more to America with a protest by those who practice Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa.  

In a 2015 article in an Internet article published by Lifegate.com titled: "Ride to Freedom, youngsters ride through the U.S. against Falun Gong persecutions"  The Freedom Rides were re-mixed and re-branded.  "Twenty young people rode from Los Angeles to New York to rescue five Chinese children threatened with persecution because their families followed the practice of Falun Gong.  Almost fifty kilometres riding from coast to coast throughout the United States, from Los Angeles to New York, to raise awareness globally about the persecution of those who follow the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. This is the aim of Ride to Freedom, a group of young people who decided to spend their summer participating in this social initiative."

For me the Freedom Rides are how an ethnic community is able to gain allies using non-violence and simple everyday activities.

THE ORIGIN OF THE RE-MIX

Although it is rarely seen as a natural cosmic law, the law of the 'remix' is real and works for both new and old brands.  Remixing works for companies and individuals seeking to launch, grow, change and improve their brand or image.  Most important, you must know your audience!

To understand its origins we must go to Sean "Diddy" Combs. In May 2014 Mr. Combs ,also known as Puff Daddy, and P. Diddy, received an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University. His speech was admired by onlookers worldwide. Mr. Combs, now Dr. Sean Combs, will be remembered for many great accomplishments. He is a dancer, actor, music producer, brand builder for Rock the Vote, Ciroc vodka, and REVOLT TV and more. He has also been seen in numerous music videos, several major movies, and even Broadway plays. However, one of his most memorable accomplishments was the 2002 album "We Invented the Remix."  The album reached the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for a week and was later certified platinum for over 1 million copies shipped. That feat made the word 'remix' a household word.

REMIXING THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Remixing is often defined as telling your own story using new lyrics over the music of an older tune/song, the new and old are blended to tell a new story.  Now almost every artist has a remix song or songs, and uses the remix method as a natural progression, or right of passage if you will, towards gaining their success.  Remixing revived songs that were heard long ago combined old artists with new artists.  It also allowed new musicians to be seen as successful as the older established artists and to receive some of the attention that the older musician once did.

If you were born in the early 1970s you probably are familiar with the children's television show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.  It is documented that 8% of US households tuned into this show on PBS at its peak in the early 1980s.  The show was the creation of Fred Rogers.  Mr. Rogers was a composer, a Presbyterian minister, an educator and believed in an honest approach to television for children.  Fred Rogers died in 2003.  Then in 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood was launched. Daniel Tiger is none other than the animated version of Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is now Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Mr. Roger's theme song was remixed to bring us the theme song for Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  Again this was a combination of new lyrics to an old tune. If you are between the ages of one and five-years old at the writing of this blog article then you are probably a fan of Daniel Tiger.  Reports by Google Analytics by 2015 show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood received 45 million video streams on all digital platforms making it the number two show within the PBS KIDS network.

"Why Tourism?," by Johnny Coleman II

People ask me how did I connect ethnic marketing and tourism?  

The answer is anthropology.  I visited archeology sites in Egypt, I interned in the Smithsonian museums---just to give you a glimpse.  Over time these things transformed organically.  

Photo of Howard University.  Property of Getty Images.

After graduating from Howard University with my degree in anthropology I focused on marketing to ethnic groups.  I became an ethnic marketing consultant.  To get started I worked for free and did it with joy because I love my work.

Photo of Chadwick Boseman.  Property of Getty Images.

Everyone has ethnicity.  Some have a variety of ethnicity in their family.  Ethnicity is not skin color.  By applying my knowledge and skills in what is called cultural anthropology I was able to do proper research and build a real marketing campaign to reach an ethnic community.  I also advised ethnic communities how to properly promote their products or services: festivals; books; and health campaigns.  These things are important to know and do because if a person or organization does not understand the culture of a consumer or consumer group they will cause that person or group to hate their product or service by sending them the wrong message.

Photo of AMNH. Property of AMNH.

When I was 6-years old my first-grade class at P.S. 7 in Harlem New York City took a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (AMNH).  When 

Photo of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Property of AMNH 

I saw people working on a dinosaur exhibit and I knew at that moment what I wanted to do. I asked them who they are, and they said they are archaeologists; they were excited.  I remember that moment as if it just happened.  I then read anything I could on archeology, dinosaurs, geology and fossils.  I then read more books on world history, Native Americans and African ethnic groups; lots of National Geographic.  

In high school, I devoured the writings of by J.A. Rogers.  Rogers was the late anthropologist, historian, and a major contributor to newspapers nationwide during the Harlem Renaissance.  He was a member and invited speaker to the Paris, France Society for Anthropology (BEROSE).  He became famous after publishing From Superman to Man (1917).

Photo of J.A. Rogers.  Property of the Public Domain.

That is the same book that got me started.  For me, Rogers made anthropology simple to understand.  In college, I was a study-abroad student in the American University in Cairo, Egypt for a year and a half, learning the history and languages of Egypt; ancient Egypt until now.  When I returned home I attended Howard University in Washington, DC to earn the degree in anthropology.  

After graduating from Howard University I took my degree in anthropology and became an ethnic marketing consultant.  I worked as a broker to market products and services about or for ethnic communities.  This allowed me to travel and meet great people.  Those times were like a training for my work today in tourism.  I pursued promotions for ethnic groups whether I was paid or not.  

Here is a short list of examples:

• Promotion of coffee farmers, and coffee from Ethiopia, Kenya and Haiti
• Successfully raised money for coffee farmers in Haiti to fight the coffee tree fungus La Roya 
• Studied perma-culture design on an organic demonstration farm near Chicago, Illinois that was created to teach sustainability to people of African descent
• Celebrated sustainability and the environment at the Tesla showroom in Washington, DC 
• Publicly observed the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23rd

A major turning point is when I brokered a meeting with the Embassy of the Bahamas in Washington, DC  to support a client's tours created for people of African descent.  These things grew into a desire to share with the world positive stories and history using the heritage sites in the Shaw community surrounding Howard University.  This transformed in a food tour in the Shaw community.  At first it was international foods, then soul food.  Many have called unhealthy, fattening and dangerous.  Some even think of it only as the trash made into cuisine by enslaved Africans.  A deeper look into the origin and history of soul food proves otherwise.  

Photo of Colonel John C. Robinson.  Property of the Public Domain.

In 2021 I traveled to Ethiopia to build a tourism program for Afro descendants founded on the life and legacy of Colonel John C. Robinson (Father of Ethiopian Airlines).  This was my greatest combination of ethnic marketing and tourism!

"Going All-City: A Vocabulary Lesson," by Johnny Coleman II

 "Going all-city is the same as branding."  

---Johnny Coleman II

Portions of this article were originally published in 2014.  The story below is an example of how an ethnic culture, and language, expanded and transformed into a global popular culture.

VOCABULARY

Anthropology teaches that language is the seat of culture, it also teaches that language is how an ethnic community expresses itself and connects with and also to other communities in healthy and positive ways. Anthropologists understand ethnic people by learning their language or select words. And now you can understand early hip-hop culture with the words...going all-city.

The spray-painting graffiti culture of African descendants in New York City witnessed highly talented artists whose work is now sold and or auctioned in the millions of dollars. The culture soon included men and women of other nationalities all speaking one culture: hip-hop. What is of importance when understanding the culture and its origins are that it began with African descendant youth.

The culture's origins are African American and also others of African descent (meaning those of African descent not in the USA).

With its origins was more than the desire to party and have fun but also resistance to oppression and injustice. You should also know that the graffiti writers of old were part of the the larger hip-hop culture that included break dance, rap (originally called 'rhyming'), turn-table scratching or scratching and also distinct fashion. This culture also had its own code or language.

In 2013, the painting shown above center called "Mecca" painted by Jean-Michel Basquiat (he is shown on left) was purchased by Jay-Z (shown on right).  [Photo Source: Unlisted]

HIP-HOP CULTURE

During the 1970s graffiti began to consume New York City.  It was an expression of hip-hop culture and crossed ethnic boundaries as graffiti writers soon came from all walks of life, languages, incomes, ages and cultures.  In the graffiti community there were two types of people; the writer and the tagger.  

Writers saw themselves as true artists, passionate, committed to the culture, telling stories with their paint, and activists.  Taggers were ironically seen by most as vandals and having no respect for property.  They too had a message but they operated as disruptors, and were not the 'color in the lines' graffiti artists.  However, those spending a fortune repainting walls, buildings and subway cars completely disagreed with all of them.  

'GOING ALL-CITY'

In time individual graffiti writers became known for their tag or brand name.  Some writers worked alone and others worked in groups.  Breaking the law, and entering the train yards, tags were put on New York City subway car trains using aerosol spray cans.  The goal being that as the train traveled throughout the city it would be seen by all, traveling from station to station, and from borough to borough.  New York City has five boroughs and when a writer or tagger wrote on trains that traveled through all five this became known as "going all-city."  Soon the art was seen by millions.  That is how the world came to know the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat.  Basquiat's work is now valued in the millions and is collected by leaders of business and culture.  Being seen all over New York City is STILL the desire of so many artists around the world.  

MARKETING WISDOM

Going all-city was the same as a branding campaign.  The techniques used by the graffiti writers were impressive to marketing experts and created for each individual artist a branding campaign that catapulted them to success.  Their bold and outlandish work included 'wrapping'  train cars to get attention.

A few words on branding...branding is when a company brands its service or product brand name into the minds of the public.  This is done in various ways.  The  motivation is vanity.  Yet the statement is that the brand is the best, the preferred, the one to be desired above all.  Branding campaigns also put into the minds of the public values, such as...saving you time...saving you money...giving you more.  These values make consumers return to that brand time and time again.  In the world of marketing when branding your company's products or services the first question you must ask is: who is my audience?  You must be specific!  Some suggestions are to start by defining their age, location, and income. 

Most important, you must know the culture of your audience...what they like, what they value, what they believe in.  When knowing these things your message will reach your audience immediately.  In a crowd of words, your message steps out and communicates.  Knowing the culture of your audience will also determine if you should advertise on radio, television, or through text messaging.  Knowing the culture of your audience gives you a personal connection, and very soon your brand goes all-city in the minds of the public.

FROM THE STREETS TO SOTHEBY'S

Finally, very few graffiti writers can claim all-city fame on the caliber of Jean-Michel Basquiat.  His story is legendary.  Born in Brooklyn, New York Basquiat's art fame began first as a graffiti writer, writing with a group.  Over time his work went from the streets, to galleries and also museums worldwide.  Basquiat died in 1988 at the age of 27.  In 2013, fellow Brooklynite and music mogul Jay-Z purchased "Mecca" by Jean-Michel Basquiat for millions of dollars in a Sotheby's auction further adding value to Basquiat's legacy and paying homage to an early leader of hip-hop culture.