Art Without Labels
Bacardi
Issue 46 | March 2018
Agency
BBDO New York
Creative Team
Creative Chief Creative Officer BBDO Worldwide David Lubars Chief Creative Officer BBDO New York Greg Hahn Executive Creative Director Danilo Boer, Marcos Kotlhar Associate Creative Director Art Director Joao Unzer Associate Creative Director Copywriter Roberto Danino Junior Copywriter Phung Do Junior Art Director Brian Kim
Production Team
Production Executive Producer James Young Producer Michael Ritchie Production Company Lobo Production Services NB Content Media Agency Nickel Media
Other Credits
Other Account & Planning Team Monisha Lewis, Ali Goldsmith, Steven Panarielo, Joshua Goodman, Meghan Wood, Rachel Passman Music & Sound Audio Production House Mophonics
Date
October 2017
Background
Most people had a limited vision of the art world. They usually only saw artwork created by renowned and established artists. Their eyes rarely ventured elsewhere. The Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series was an international art competition that wanted to change that by giving emerging artists their fair share of the spotlight. The challenge was to prove that the art world could be a much richer place when people opened their eyes to emerging art.
Idea
Art Without Labels levelled the playing field between established and emerging artists by placing emerging art next to established art in the same gallery. And to strip away any preconceptions, all the artwork was exhibited without labels. As guests walked through the gallery, they had to focus on the art that they found most appealing rather than just focusing on the name of the artist.
Using eye-tracking technology, everyone's eye movements were measured in an unobtrusive way. An interactive experience also allowed people to take part in the experiment online using the same eye-tracking technology. The data collected from the experiment showed that when the labels were removed, emerging art was looked at 5% longer.
Results
Art Without Labels was one of Bombay Sapphire's most successful digital campaigns. It was the brand's most viewed YouTube video of all time, driving a 67% lift in brand interest. Over 30,000 people tried the experience online. But more importantly, eye-tracking data showed that when labels were removed and quality work from emerging and established artists shared the same wall, beauty was truly in the eye of the beholder.
Our Thoughts
What's in a brand name, eh? On pages 42- 43 a picture that was only worth $10,000 a few years ago sold for four thousand times that when it had the name of Leonardo da Vinci attached to it. I watched a tourist in Florence's Uffizi Gallery go from painting to painting, looking at the labels. If it was a Botticelli or a Raphael he stepped back, took a photo. If it was Filippo Lippi he moved on.
We love the insight (no pun intended) behind this idea. Most of us don't know what we think so we need the labels to help us. Even then, what we are doing is applying commercial value to the pictures rather than any aesthetic appraisal.
Here's Bombay Sapphire asking us to take time to reflect on the real worth of art in our lives. I'll drink to that.