MKTG 1208: Analyzing P.T. Barnum's Integrated Marketing Success

This essay examines the integrated marketing communications (IMC) techniques employed by P.T. Barnum, highlighting his innovative use of advertising, public relations, and event promotion to build his business empire. It details how Barnum leveraged various media channels, including newspapers and public stunts, to create buzz and attract audiences to his museum and circus. The essay further discusses Barnum's understanding of media coverage and his ability to generate publicity through staged events and press agentry. It concludes by suggesting that social media marketing would be the most appropriate medium for his business if it existed today, given its capacity for widespread communication and audience engagement.

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Introduction to Marketing
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Phineas Taylor Barnham, an America born entrepreneur, is considered the greatest
entrepreneur of his day. Barnum was born in the year 1810, and he is well known for expanding
the concept of the “circus.” According to the Network for Entrepreneurs (2007), Barnham was
incomparably famous and was named the Kris Kringle of America by president Garfield. All this
fame was as a result of his business endeavors. In order to stay relevant and grow his business,
Barnum had to evolve and pivot his business strategies. This ensured success and growth. For
example, in 1842 to 1865, Barnum opened a very successful Barnum American Museum that
featured various exhibits such as the world’s first aquarium (Oleck, 2017).
Also, from 1850 to 1852, Barnum promoted the first Rockstar tour across the country.
Barnum also aligned himself with James Bailey a famous circus veteran. This pivot in Barnum’s
business model brought in great success. Besides, the business model mixed Barnum’s skill in
marketing with Bailey's knowledge in circus hence bringing to life the Ringling Bros and
Barnum & Bailey circus (Noller, 2019).
Barnum was a savvy advertiser and understood the role marketing had in establishing his
businesses. The fame and popularity of Barnum & Bailey circus/museum were as a result of
effective marketing strategies. For example, in promoting the Fejee Mermaid show at his
American Museum, Barnum got newspapers to write and run illustrations of the mermaid shows
(Burgeson, 2010). This got people interested since through the illustrations he made them believe
that the creations had some form of scientific credibility. According to Mary Witkowski, the
director of Bridgeport History Center, Barnum was the king of advertising.
Phineas Taylor Barnum employed public relations and advertising as basic integrated
marketing communication tools through various means including; event promotion, event
planning, and media coverage. Barnum understood the importance of media coverage and even

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introduced a popular phrase “there is no such thing as bad publicity” (Foster, 2017). For
example, in promoting the American Museum, Barnum would drape buildings in outsized
banners to promote new attractions in the Museum. Horse wagons were also sent through New
York with posters and signs for the purpose of promoting the museum (Burgeson, 2010).
Barnum employed various tactics of advertising and public relations to market himself as
a business hence gaining a lot of coverage. They include; media tours, publicity stunts, press
agentry, and newsworthiness. For instance, with publicity stunts, Barnum profoundly understood
the power of staged events since his circus activities could attract commuter’s attention. As a
result, newspaper reporters came to write the story of the circus events (Foster, 2017). In
addition, media tours spread the word on his “products” to the public. Barnum also went directly
to reporters with news on his events and this relationship with the media promoted his business
highly. The strategies brought a lot of success due to how efficiently Barnum applied them. One
similarity of these strategies was that they were able to attract the attention of the public highly.
In case the business still existed today, social media marketing would most appropriate
medium to employ. This medium defines the way people communicate and also provides a huge
amount of traffic. Therefore, the business would get massive attention.

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References
Burgeson, J. (2010). P.T. Barnum: Master of advertising and promotion. [online] ctpost.
Available at: https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/P-T-Barnum-Master-of-advertising-and-
promotion-565330.php [Accessed 5 Feb. 2019].
Foster, A. (2017). The End of a Publicity Era: How P.T Barnum Affected Marketing and PR.
[online] Big Communications. Available at: http://bigcom.com/2017/01/pt-barnum-marketing-
and-public-relations/ [Accessed 5 Feb. 2019].
Network for Entrepreneurs. (2007). Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum - Entrepreneur's Hall of
Fame. [online] Available at: http://www.ltbn.com/hall_of_fame/Barnum.html [Accessed 5 Feb.
2019].
Noller, S. (2019). The Greatest Business Lessons from P.T. Barnum | Missouri Business
Development Program. [online] Missouribusiness.net. Available at:
https://missouribusiness.net/article/the-greatest-business-lessons-from-p-t-barnum/ [Accessed 5
Feb. 2019].
Oleck, J. (2017). In His Day, P.T. Barnum Was More Popular Than Gates, Musk and Jobs,
Combined. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306269
[Accessed 5 Feb. 2019].