Since October 1, Banksy, the secretive British Street artist
has taken walls, delivery trucks and existing graffiti from across New York City and turned
it into a phenomenon that just about everyone is talking about online and off.
Using MuckRack, our
favorite tool for keeping an eye on what journalists are talking about on
Twitter, we took a look to see what’s being said about Banksy and by whom:
Neal Mann, field producer at the Wall Street Journal:
This has to be Banksy on top of a Banksy in NYC, otherwise it is absurd: http://t.co/ovVCOoxQZc
— Neal Mann (@fieldproducer) October 19, 2013
Julie Hyman, senior markets correspondent at BloombergTV:
in my ‘hood! RT @jawnsbrand: Photo: LES 10.9.13 Banksy / #banksy #newyork #streetart #manhattan #LES #banksyny http://t.co/pXfXuXPbZS
— Julie Hyman (@juleshyman) October 9, 2013
Jordan Zakarin, entertainment editor at Buzzfeed:
Artists Set Up Fake Banksy Stand in Central Park, Sell Out in an Hour http://t.co/zsFdNpnL5x
— Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) October 21, 2013
New York Magazine:
“I suddenly got what the reaction to Banksy is about: It’s being part of the reaction to a Banksy.” http://t.co/nazZpNReva
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 21, 2013
Alex Fitzpatrick, homepage editor, TIME:
If street art gets protection from other street art, is it still street art? http://t.co/PyZzB9ywCg
— Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) October 21, 2013
Michael Paulson,
politics and religion editor for the metro section of The New York Times:
Hey @deBlasioNYC — this is a Banksy, on West 79th. #UWS #banksyny pic.twitter.com/NHGOi1NTac
— Michael Paulson (@MichaelPaulson) October 20, 2013
Pedro da Costa, economics and Federal Reserve reporter for Reuters:
Graffiti artist Banksy sells works at N.Y. pop-up stall for bargain priced http://t.co/e3DoL5eS3y
— Pedro da Costa (@pdacosta) October 14, 2013
Peter Hamby, CNN political reporter
of course @SharonBYang is quoted on Banksy and “social media” http://t.co/rESWoqEZSg …
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHambyCNN) October 20, 2013
So for all of my fellow PR people, let me recap who Banksy
is getting attention from: everyone, from local New York beat reporters to CNN
Political Reporters to the LA Times.
When you drill it down to figure out why Banksy is creating
such buzz, it’s actually pretty simple:
Banksy knows how to
tell a visual story – You don’t have to like graffiti to love Banksy.
There’s something so human and raw about his work that all of us can relate to,
no matter our age, income, race or religion.
Banksy’s art is
experiential– It is not enough for us to see our friend’s taking photos of
Banksy’s artwork around the city. We have to go see it for ourselves.
The “Banksy” brand
has history – From documentaries like Exit
Through the Gift Shop to Banksy’s legendary work across the globe, the
unique work of Banksy has a reputation that precedes him.
Banksy has a knack
for being newsworthy – There’s a reason so many people “get” Banksy’s work.
It is relevant to the here and now.
Banksy is mysterious
– We never know where and when a Banksy piece will pop up, but when it
appears, no
matter where it is in the world, we hear about it somehow.
Banksy breaks the
rules just enough that we still tend to look the other way – Even though
Mayor Bloomberg may think that “Running up
to somebody’s property and defacing it” isn’t art, most of us don’t and
wouldn’t mind. (Banksy: consider that an
invitation to decorate my walls… some would call it property damage. I call it
rent control).
Banksy will go down as one of the legendary disruptors of
our time, much like many artists who shook the norms of the past. As brand
marketers, taking note of what works when marketing is not at the core of a
campaign is sometimes the best way to plan our next disruption.
Move over Miley… October is the month of Banksy.
