An Auction Based On Emotions

Background

Kosta Boda had once had a strong position in the art world, particularly among the younger generation.

The challenge was to reclaim that place.

The strategy was to create an event that had the potential to become part of the ongoing art discussion and make it accessible both online and offline.

Idea

Influencers and opinion-formers were invited by direct mail to an art auction in Stockholm. A campaign site was launched with a teaser movie to get people to participate in what was going to be a very different sort of sale.

If they could not attend the event itself, they could watch online as the auction unfolded.

Art glass worth a total of €25,000 was put on sale. But instead of bidding with money, the bidders participated through their emotions.

Shown a piece of art glass, their emotional response was measured with a combination of GSR technology and heart monitors.

The three people who displayed the greatest emotional response won the artworks.

The auction aimed to fuel a debate about art and to help Kosta Boda start building relationships with influential people in the art world such as bloggers, artists and journalists. The goal was to create 100 million impressions for the auction and Kosta Boda.

Results

Over 300 people participated in the auction. The event was covered both by national and international media, such as the BBC and the Swedish National Radio. To create content for traditional media and social media the auction was documented in a film. The auction has so far generated 345 million media impressions and has had a social media reach of 45 million, a substantial part of this in art related medias.

Our Thoughts

It looks so easy, doesn’t it? Arrange a stunt and thanks to the interweb, 45 million people will get to hear about Kosta Boda and a few may even search for it, like what they see and become owners and fans. The trick is to make sure the stunt is interesting. And not as insane as some we know about.

One retailer had the brilliant idea of inviting people to drink a lot of water. The last one to wee won a Wii.

My favourite, though, comes from Singapore, where a razor company dressed a guy up in a bear suit for some unfathomable reason and shot a fuzzy film of what looked like a wild bear raking through garbage bins etc. Concerned citizens sent armed police in to shoot it with tranquilliser guns.