Harry Houdini Marketing Lessons

Posted on November 4, 2019 by peter

 

Was checking out a new book on Harry Houdini today…

‘The life and afterlife of Harry Houdini’

A lot of it’s about what a marketing legend his was (way before his time).

Here’s some interesting stuff he used to do:

Gave away lots of free short promo street events to drum up interest in his upcoming paid shows…like giving free access to his escape shows on the street where he might hang upside from a building in a straight jacket or something mental like that.

Escaping from handcuffs while naked in Scotland Yard prison cells…and getting permission to sell the story to the Newspapers of how not even Scotland yard could hold him prisoner.

Constantly surrounding himself in mystery. Even 50 years after his death-no one really knew where he was  from-as he span so many stories about his early years.

Niched himself as an ‘Escapologist’ to find success-(he was previously an unknown card trickster in a super crowded market place of card trick guys)

He kept adding ‘excitement value’ to his escapes shows- making them more and more dangerous and setting himself apart from other guys in the business who were too scared to try his tricks.

Might be some food for thought there…