View Full Version : The marketing buzzword "artisan"
.....is getting pretty ridiculous. In yesterday's mail alone, I had ads for artisan bread (fresh out of the bread machine at the grocery store), artisan pizza at Domino's (I guess they get a special pizza journeyman to come in and make those?) and artisan egg sandwiches at Wendy's (I got nothin' there). What's next? Artisan toilet paper?
Does anybody actually fall for terms like these? I suppose they must work, because their use keeps increasing. Doesn't their use dilute the true artists out there -- the people who've been making cheese, bread, anything by hand for many years, developing their skill? I'm an escapee from the marketing industry so it doesn't surprise me and doesn't ruin my life, but it is so laughable sometimes that it makes me wonder who's buying this stuff and thus keeping the trend going.
Off to have some good artisan oatmeal with my artisan coffee. It makes me feel so creative.
I suppose true artisans will have to come up with a new word to describe their product. Marketing people are so good at co-opting words like that to help sell products that don't really fit the accepted definition of the word. I mean really, an artisan sandwich at Wendy's???
Personally I hate shopping so I'm not particularly swayed by marketing pitches since that would require actually going shopping. Our CSA farmer produces fantastic, local, organic produce. But his success in getting us as customers wasn't because he used fancy buzz words. It's because I read several back issues of his newsletter on his website and it became quite obvious that he was passionate about farming and healthful food.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/05/artisanal-reluctant-branding-pioneer-dies-age-474/52969/
Artisan tunafish sandwiches, anyone? Artisan dryer sheets? Artisan mouse pads? Artisan scotch tape!
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/05/artisanal-reluctant-branding-pioneer-dies-age-474/52969/
funny!
my favorite line, 'fresh-popped free-range kernels dipped in bathtub-brewed caramel sauce'
Between this and 'Authentic' (authentic self, authentic Colorado, authentic outhouse)... I don't know which makes me roll my eyes more!
If there is going to be a fad though --- thoughtfully, meaningfully made by people that give a dam seems like a good one.... maybe it might introduce the concept to people that might not otherwise ever consider it?????
Sure beats the pants off of 'Low Fat' - I think that food fad seriously contributed to our country's expanding waistlines.
That really is funny! I started my own market research consultancy in 2008, and the first name I thought of was "Artisan Insights"--because I wanted to really convey the idea that this wasn't SurveyMonkey data--it was market insights that were crafted with skill and knowledge, much as an artisan would do.
Thankfully I did my own market research on the name and wound up rejecting that one. It's funny how our collective consciousness hones in on these kinds of things.
(Now, if I could have done good predictive market research in 1985 when I named my daughter Brittany WELL BEFORE the flood tide of Brittany/Britneys that emerged in the late 80s and 90s...oh well.)
Hilarious! Thanks, Square Peg.
After I saw this post the other day I noticed an "Artisan Dental Laboratory" in the area...geez.
Marketing buzzwords and terms have always been a pet-peeve of mine!
ApatheticNoMore
6-4-12, 2:01pm
I probably do, I think I'm the target market, but I'm a bit of a foody (not completey out of control though - no cavier or anything for me - organic older breeds of strawberries and so on though yea) and I love thinking I'm getting quality food (I can't imagine thinking that from Wendy's though - way too snobby for that - but I mean really that's patently ridiculous!). But someone at the farmer's market could probably sell me a jam or mustard marked artisianal or something though and I'd be all over it :).
'fresh-popped free-range kernels dipped in bathtub-brewed caramel sauce'
wait is this the same bathtub they bathe in? That's really kinda gross to think about .... not pleasant imagery at all.
Between this and 'Authentic' (authentic self, authentic Colorado, authentic outhouse)... I don't know which makes me roll my eyes more!
Authentic is really SO 70s. But really it is. It's the whole human potential, encounter group, EST, etc. etc. vibe.
Originally posted by Mtnlaurel.
Sure beats the pants off of 'Low Fat' - I think that food fad seriously contributed to our country's expanding waistlines.I couldn't agree more!
After I saw this post the other day I noticed an "Artisan Dental Laboratory" in the area...geez.
In defense of the Dental Artisan....
I always went back home to go to the dentist. He did all of his own lab work, made his own crowns, etc. I didn't realize that most dentists send their lab work out and he was a dying breed.
He was a funny man and a dentist that I trusted thoroughly.
When he finished with his work, he'd say, "Now go take that to one of your big city dentists and show him how it's done."
Sadly he's retired. :(
The other term I hate is "house made" in restaurants. Everything is house made this and house made that. Ok. I get that using "home made" isn't quite accurate because it isn't a home. But it's usually not a house either. Whose house is this stuff being made in. And every time I see something like "house made sausage" I envision the housekeeper of some rich person being made into sausage.
Originally posted by Charity.
The other term I hate is "house made" in restaurants.Ditto, that!
The other term I hate is "house made" in restaurants. Everything is house made this and house made that. Ok. I get that using "home made" isn't quite accurate because it isn't a home. But it's usually not a house either. Whose house is this stuff being made in. And every time I see something like "house made sausage" I envision the housekeeper of some rich person being made into sausage.
I could see why this could be annoying, but as a customer, I appreciate seeing those words because it means the food wasn't made in a factory and trucked in frozen on a Sysco truck. And "house" is a standard term in the restaurant industry to mean exactly that, made *in* the restaurant from ingredients, instead of being bought pre-made.
Totally on-board with the ridiculousness of "Artisan" anything at Wendy's and Dominoes, et al.
Kara
On a slightly related note, when someone actually does make the piece, whether it's jewelry, pottery, painting, baked goods, baskets, etc. what words should they use to identify it as 'not machine made'?
The word "handmade" (which Etsy uses) always tells me exactly that - but I can only imagine there are some ways to twist that word too! (as in "handmade by a thousand orphan children locked in a sweatshop in Wherever-stan") For now, that is what I look for in goods if I'm interested in buying something made by an artisan, and then research from there. In foodstuffs, it's probably harder. I have no objection per se to buying baked goods made in a grocery store...just don't pretend you've got some wizened baker in the back making each loaf by hand LOL
I also don't mind "house-made," as it differentiates something from the stuff that comes in 5-gallon buckets from Sysco.
On a slightly related note, when someone actually does make the piece, whether it's jewelry, pottery, painting, baked goods, baskets, etc. what words should they use to identify it as 'not machine made'?
We've never once called ourselves 'artisan' but 'artist'. Everything I send out says "(DH's name, glass artist) and the description says he's been making glass since 1986, works solo, every piece is made from start to finish by him in his studio just 12 steps from the back door of his house in the Missouri ozarks. Then it further describes the glass process and states 'no molds or presses'.
There is always a battle going on on Etsy between handmade/home studio and 'me and my 600 relatives across the boarder'.... I do tag every item on there as handmade and OOAK (one of a kind).
Charity, I had to laugh because everytime a restaurant toots 'homemade' DH always asks for the manager and then asks 'exactly whose home is this made in and is their kitchen clean?'. Sometimes I just can't take him out in public.
dado potato
6-4-12, 4:54pm
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board has promoted "artisan" cheese for several years. They refer to cheese that is handmade in small batches.
Info at
http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/wisconsin/artisans/default.aspx
I can't say that it's frugal, or that it's particularly sensible for the overweight to include in their diet, but... artisan cheese is one of the finer things of life.
IMO, "house-made", equates to opening up not one, but two (or more) packets of pre-packaged anything, pouring packets into bowl, and mixing. Viola! Wow... suddenly you got... hold on... wait... HOME-MADE! Yay!
ApatheticNoMore
6-4-12, 7:57pm
IMO, "house-made", equates to opening up not one, but two (or more) packets of pre-packaged anything, pouring packets into bowl, and mixing. Viola! Wow... suddenly you got... hold on... wait... HOME-MADE! Yay!
Yea, that's what I'm thinking of restaurant's "house made", like ok maybe it's not entirely pre-packed from Sysco, but how many of the ingredients are?
IMO, "house-made", equates to opening up not one, but two (or more) packets of pre-packaged anything, pouring packets into bowl, and mixing. Viola! Wow... suddenly you got... hold on... wait... HOME-MADE! Yay!
ROFL, Mrs. M! Probably so true in a lot of circumstances.
On the bright side, we found a new pizza place that makes their own dough from organic local flour, makes their own mozzarella, sources their toppings locally (including their own mini-farm's produce)......and the word "Artisan" doesn't appear anywhere on their menu! They make up for a lot of B.S. :D
Exactly, ApatheticNoMore!
Puglogic. In my experience, when one happens upon a quality restaurant or food outlet, patronize them for all they are worth, because true honest-to-goodness quality food services run few and far between these days.
treehugger
6-5-12, 10:58am
IMO, "house-made", equates to opening up not one, but two (or more) packets of pre-packaged anything, pouring packets into bowl, and mixing. Viola! Wow... suddenly you got... hold on... wait... HOME-MADE! Yay!
Just curious, have you ever worked in a restaurant? Because this is definitely not my experience with the term housemade.
Kara
crunchycon
6-6-12, 10:17am
Don't forget Tostitos Artisan Recipe chips - straight from the artisans at Frito-Lay:doh:
I've enjoyed Daniel Harris' book about this - Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumerism. He talks a lot about the trend in advertising to acknowledge the distrust of the consumer. Our nostalgia addiction, which is clear in things like the marketing of artisan bread and a preference for other "authentic" stuff - homes with character, buying new stuff that looks like old stuff, etc. - is just a commercialized version of the things we say we prefer.
Harris feels scorn for people (affluent ones, I assume) who try to achieve authenticity in their lives by buying more of the right kind of stuff. And I get how that won't work - but he's a little hard on them, and especially on the not-so-affluent people who are caught up in the same mindset. Some in my family have a real hunger for the past and no way to satisfy it, except by way of a consumerist fantasy. My mother-in-law would have loved to have a stately Tara-type mansion to live in and to pass down to her kids - but the mansion isn't there, and it never was.
If the wonderful things of the past have gone by the wayside, what else is there to do but revive them imaginatively? And if people want to pay for items that make them feel they have a part in a comforting fantasy, what's so terrible? (He veers into discussions about bad taste that make him sound like a real prig with his panties in a bunch. Entertaining reading, but I wouldn't want to have a chardonnay with the guy)...
Don't forget Tostitos Artisan Recipe chips - straight from the artisans at Frito-Lay:doh:
Aaaaaaaaaaagh! :~)
If the wonderful things of the past have gone by the wayside, what else is there to do but revive them imaginatively? And if people want to pay for items that make them feel they have a part in a comforting fantasy, what's so terrible?
Nothing's terrible, except I feel personally that it's not just a fantasy, it's a lie. I suppose you might call it a "manipulation," much like using the unregulated word "natural," whatever that means these days. The wonderful things of the past have not gone by the wayside. The choices are still there, perhaps even more than there were before. There is still fresh local produce, furniture and goods made by local craftsmen and women (see Etsy, even, or Novica) and food products sold by producers that have a conscience; it just rankles me sometimes when soulless mass-producers try to elbow their way into this category through deception. Tell me Tostitos are crunchy, delicious, and addictive -- it's TRUE, and it will get me to buy them (well, maybe not me). But to refer to them as "artisan" ? Ludicrous. Pushes my grumpy button. But now I'll forever think of that obituary when I get grumpy, and will laugh instead :D
"He veers into discussions about bad taste that make him sound like a real prig with his panties in a bunch."
I know the type, and I don't like it much.
If, Rodney Dangerfield, was still alive, what I'd give to hear what both, him, and Don Rickles, had to say about "artisan"! LOL!
Originally posted by Kitten.
I've enjoyed Daniel Harris' book about this - Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic: He veers into discussions about bad taste that make him sound like a real prig with his panties in a bunchLMAO!
Miss Cellane
6-7-12, 10:46pm
http://www.breadarmor.com/
Artisan bread bags.
Not artisan bread.
Artisan bags for storing your bread.
My brain is now officially broken.
LOL, Miss Cellane!
We had an Old World European Bakery a few years back that made the best bread and pastries! All done (by scratch), and the bread baked on stones in ovens. Unbelievable! By all accounts, the owner was a true Artisan, yet he never would have stooped to such a level to let it be known, through advertising (or other).
IMO, Artisan goods, reflect "Artisan", so there is no reason to advertise such. True Artisan goods (by Artisans), speak for themselves, sans advertising.
Mine too, Pug!Grumpy button - love it ;)
It just rankles me sometimes when soulless mass-producers try to elbow their way into this category through deception. Tell me Tostitos are crunchy, delicious, and addictive -- it's TRUE, and it will get me to buy them (well, maybe not me). But to refer to them as "artisan" ? Ludicrous. Pushes my grumpy button.
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