Perception
What are your priorities?
Do you sometimes feel like your life is moving at a million miles a minute, you don't even have time to enjoy some good music, can't stop and smell the roses? Recently, an interesting story bringing these very thoughts to my mind circulated through the Premise office:
On a cold morning in January 2007, a man took out his violin and played six Bach pieces in a subway in Washington D.C. for about 45 minutes. During that time, over a thousand people came through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about three minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later: The musician received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. (We are always rushing to one place or another!)
At 10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. He stopped to look at the violinist again, but his mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. Several other children did the same, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
At 45 minutes: The musician played continuosuly. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $200 each for people to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
This experiment raised several questions and observations:
- In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
- If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
- Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
- Several children stopped to listen to the music, should we follow their lead and take a moment out of our busy days to appreciate more things in life?
For anyone who has taken public transportation before, this is a familiar scene. Having done so in Boston for five years, I know that if someone was playing music while I was waiting for the T to arrive, I occasionally stopped for a moment to enjoy. Unfortunately, more often than not, I was rushing to work, home...it didn't matter where I was going, I usually couldn't be bothered to stop, even for a minute.
If people do not have even a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...
Why would they have time to read or watch or even glance at your advertising and marketing efforts? In this busy world, it is important to take a moment, pause and not rush through every second of life. However, the likelihood of every person taking those moments, especially directing those moments to your marketing efforts, is slim. Marketers need to focus on getting through to all of their busy, on-the-go consumers who are burying themselves in social media, with iPod headphones in their ears, and the DVR set at home.
-Jocelyn Fielding, Account Coordinator/Gen Y Contributor
Lunch Today: A Wahoo Bowl from...Wahoo's!
Comments
| Benjamin Leis
May 12, 2010 |
Great post Joceylyn. Thanks for sharing this story…love hearing these anecdotes. Another lesson learned here is the other side of this marketing tale…Identifying the people that love classical music (the beachheads) and delivering product to them (the Boston Theater). So often we see brands do this social experiment, but with real dollars and lots of them…they take their products, many times in the form of advertising into unloving territories and hope to convert the unconverted. |
| Ben Leis
May 12, 2010 |
Also, Boston has an incredible street music scene from the subway to the Commons…The most distinguishing fact that stuck out to me about the city on a recent visit. |
