Becoming a branded artist like Jeff Koons is probably as much about marketing strategy and marketing appeal as it is the quality of their work. For Koons, his marketing is all about being a “controversial figure” who has a great instinct for “self-promotion” (Thompson 73,80). He does not hide his desire to market himself or his work; he candidly says that he wants to increase his “market share” by placing work in many galleries. He openly says that his target market is “really rich collectors” (Thompson 82).
Here is a picture of Jeff Koons:
(Looks more like a businessman than an artist; he used to be a commodities broker) 
As a sculptor who uses the factory model, he has created some controversial, but still popular pieces of modern art. His works include a sculpture of Michael Jackson and his pet monkey, a porcelain sculpture of the Pink Panther in the arms of a buxom blonde, which he promoted as being about masturbation, and a 10 foot tall steel Balloon Dog (pictured below).
A 10-foot-tall version of Jeff Koons's “Balloon Dog” sculpture on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 
As a marketing strategy for his work, he places the first in a series with a museum or branded collector – thus creating appeal in the work. He then uses that placement to market subsequent works in the series by saying that a museum or famous collector has one. This kind of marketing makes a lot of sense; as long as you can afford it, it’s nice to have something that you can say to yourself or other people is also in a museum.
His marketing appeal is not only seen in how he promotes his work, but also how he promotes himself. A self-described “median man,” he advertises his gallery exhibitions by portraying himself as a rock star. He has autograph signings like a movie star or big time celebrity. He says things that are controversial, if not offensive, but still importantly create attention, like “abstraction and luxury are the guard dogs of the upper class.” His marketing strategy is basically that controversy is good – it’s what the people want – it sells modern art. And given his success, it seems that his marketing appeal is working.
Here is a video from Sotheby’s about his Pink Panther Sculpture:
The question that comes to mind after reading about Koons and the other artists, is can you become successful in the modern art market, as an artist or dealer, without some type of public relations? Unless you are a great promoter of yourself and your artwork, I think success will be hard to achieve without public relations people working for you.
Here is a link to his webpage: http://www.jeffkoons.com/
Here is a link to an interview with Koons: http://www.jca-online.com/koons.html
Here is a link to some of his work on display at the MoMA: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=6622