Thus began the marketing techniques that Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey practices today: publishing a road schedule,
sending advance press releases to pertinent media sources, and
announcing the exact train schedule so that people could gather
with their “children of all ages” at train stations along the route to
watch the circus cars roar by. Their target markets were not just
the destination cities but also the public at large.
They included every town en route. Today, you can find Web
sites with photos posted by people who take pictures of the train
as it passes through their communities; such is the power of imag-
inative target marketing. People who could not attend the circus
performing miles away could at least be a part of it as it graced
their town by just passing through. This was a brilliant marketing
strategy, designed to attract national attention despite the fact that
it was essentially a product that was offered locally. And then, to
gain even more publicity, their producers staged a parade from the
train station to the circus site, bringing throngs to see the animals,
costumed performers, and clowns up close—even before the first
tent had been erected. To this day, this combination of street
“stunts” and parades attracts the attention of millions, most of
whom cannot attend the event itself.
In many ways, the theories that the Ringling Brothers and P. T.
Barnum began developing in the 1800s are even more effective to-
day. Never could they have dreamed of the new technologies that
we take for granted, making even more productive the marketing
concepts they practiced then—entertainment, excitement, and en-
terprise, and an understanding of target markets. This marketing
strategy quilts a fabric of awareness not just on show site but
throughout the countryside, and creates a warm and fuzzy con-
sciousness of earlier, more carefree times.
And that is what P. T. Barnum and the Ringling Brothers had
in mind in the first place.
GEORGE PRESTON MARSHALL
Marketing genius is found in those who take fledgling enter-
prises and through innovation and customer involvement build
hugely successful products. George Preston Marshall was such a
marketer.
In 1937, he purchased the old Boston Redskins professional
Chapter 1 Introduction to Event Marketing 7