Art-inspired activations: the benefits of businesses being hand in hand with creative culture

For many, it can be draining to be constantly exposed to advertisements detailing how you should buy this or do that. Art installations, however, are spectacles that open eyes and capture imagination. In the visitor’s afterglow of the experience, the company sponsoring the project become associated positively with the content. The vibrancy of the event becomes an extension of the brand’s identity, highlighting their strengths and capabilities.

Art-centric marketing events step away from conventional advertising modes that rely on ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing.’ It is an engaging form of brand promotion where goods and services are placed in a real world context and showcased in physical spaces.

A fantastic example of this is tech company Adobe’s Passport to Creativity campaign as well as HP’s Panorama music festival. Digital immersive art installations act as a vehicle to highlight the efficiencies of the company's tech tools. It is also a way of keeping audiences up to date with what the company has to offer and sharing what they have been working on in recent months.

It is no stretch to say that this approach to art-based, experiential marketing is highly memorable. Immersive installations call on all of a visitor’s senses. It shifts the experience of merely being a spectator to being actively involved, leaving a lasting impression and forging lifelong memories.

A strong example of this is the Unforgotten Soldiers project (2016) by agency DDB New Zealand and the History Channel. They staged live re-enactments of real soldier’s experiences of WWI in the streets of Auckland. There have been efforts in recent years to make sure memories of WWI are not confined to black and white photographs, and art and performance inspired activations hit a different note than your classic blockbuster film. The incongruity of the the re-enactments and the modern urban environment was striking - transferring these historical perspectives onto modern memory. This activation was reported to dramatically increase community contributions to the Returned Service Association. With the annual appeal reported to have tripled in one day, we can see how initiatives such as these can be designed to meet specific measurable objectives.

Not only do audiences experience these kinds of installation in real time, but they also take photos and share with a network of family and friends via social media. In this way, art-inspired activations can easily reach people that are not physically present. It almost avoids the necessity of conducting paid ad campaigns on social media platforms when attendees can promote and share the work through their own individual social channels. This increase in exposure can be a contributing factor to more customers and wider brand recognition.

From enhancing individual and community wellbeing to delivering economic rewards where it is needed, a lot of good can come from art-inspired activations and brands being hand in hand.