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Pablo Picasso created about 20,000 art objects over his lifetime. Picasso was extremely prolific and despite the large number of art items that he created, he was able to command premium prices vs his competitors. Elmar Wiederin from the Boston Consulting Group argues that not only was Picasso an art genius, but he was also a shrewd businessman who understood key luxury marketing fundamentals like:

• Exclusive distribution (only via Gallery Kahnweiler)
• Differentiation (leveraged the use of African art styles)
• Smart Cultivation of critics “in the know” (he did portraits of collectors and “taste makers” of the day)
• Strong emotional affiliation

So for Wiederin, Picasso was not only an art genius, but also a marketing master who was able to command premium prices vs. contemporaries over an extended period of time.

Several brands have taken a Picasso approach over the years, and have reaped the benefits of super premium pricing (Porsche, Rolex, etc.)

Alessi is a brand that has been able to command premium prices over a fairly long period.  A few weeks ago the McKinsey quarterly ran an article on Alberto Alessi–the CEO of Alessi–a leading Italian design firm.   I thought  Alessi’s discussion in the article on his “Picasso-style approach, ” where he uses a network of “little Picasso” designers and then “humbly mediates” between them, was very interesting.  Alessi also talks about how he hates typical market research and looks down on what he calls the “car company design process” that relies heavily on market research:

When a car company sets out to make a new car, what do they do? First of all, the top person asks for market research to understand what the customer is thinking. So market research people go around asking the consumers, “What would you like?” And what do the customers do? They look around at the existing cars and say, “OK, I like this part of that car,” or, “I like this part of another car.” And so on. The research people put all this together in a shaker. They shake. Then they pour out the recipe for the new car design and give it to the car designers.

Then Alessi provides an example of how Pablo Picasso might have started to create one of his masterpieces:

Our way is closer to the way of Pablo Picasso. Imagine Picasso waking up in the 1920s on a nice, sunny morning in a village on the Côte d’Azur and feeling strongly the wish—the need—to start painting. So he starts painting. But he’s not asking himself, “To what target customer will I address my new painting?” Picasso shows us a completely different approach: starting from yourself, as a creator, and using your sensibility and your intuition in order to touch other people’s hearts or sensibility or intuition. And by the way, he also built an interesting business.

I’m not saying that we are like Picasso. Not at all. We are simple, humble mediators. But what I want to say is that all the designers working with us are like little Picassos: their creation process starts from intuition, not from market research.

I am personally a fan of Alessi design and applaud their efforts in coming up with a continuous stream of fantastic designs.  And, of course, I don’t want to reduce Picasso to a mere marketer.  However, Picasso definitely had a flair & understaning for business–unfortunately a skill that many of his talented art contempories sorely lacked.

Have a look at the Interesting Alessi case in the McKinsey quarterly (free online if you register).

Hat tip to Elmar Wiederin for the excellent BCG presentation that provoked this post.

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• Interview with Alessi (ambidextrousmag.org)
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• Picasso notebook worth millions stolen (thestar.com)
• Picasso sketchbook vanishes from museum (cnn.com)