Dutch Masters of Light
Philips Benelux
Issue 35 | June 2015
Agency
Ogilvy & Mather Amsterdam
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: Darre van Dijk Art: Taco Zuidema, Marius Pedersen Designer: Esra Buyukdoganay, Geertjan Tromp, Robbert Duin Copy: Sascha Walstra Strategy: Bart ten Tije, Heleen Hidskes Account: Zilla Smith, Pauline Landa Digital Producer: Arabella van Aartrijk, Yorick Wolf
Production Team
Production Company: Wenneker Digital Production Company: A Friend of Mine RTV producer: Melissa Nieveld Music: Dennis Alfarez Social seeding: We are First
Date
March 2015
Background
Philips has been a Founder and lighting provider of the new Rijksmuseum since 2001. In an intensive partnership with the museum, Philips has set a new standard in the visual experience of art through light. Still, not everyone is familiar with Philips’ lighting phenomenon in Holland’s national museum.
This year, the Rijksmuseum presented an overview of the late work of Rembrandt, known for his portraits and brilliant use of light. During this exclusive exhibition, Philips had the opportunity to emphasise their sponsorship of the new Rijksmuseum. This reinforced public awareness of Philips as a leading provider in innovative lighting solutions.
Idea
The idea was to connect Rembrandt and Philips as both being true Dutch Masters of Light, by giving people the opportunity to feature as the biggest portrait in the Rijksmuseum. Immense portraits, painted entirely with light were showcased in the first ever Night Exhibition. This exhibition was unique in that it was visible to all passers-by, and in that it opened when the museum closed.
The general public needed to be reminded of Philips’ sponsorship and innovative lighting systems. Besides the museum visitors exposed to the exhibition, the brief was also to reach the rest of the Netherlands. Working within a small media budget, content was needed that would spread organically.
A teaser film was produced, inviting the public to upload their self-portrait, or “selfie”, to use popular terminology, via a dedicated microsite. The film was seeded amongst art, culture, entertainment and design blogs and advertised on Facebook. Traditional media outlets were also partnered with, such as the press, with a media release announcing the first ever Night Exhibition in the Rijksmuseum.
There was nationwide participation, but only 20 “selfies” were selected. During the exclusive opening night of the exhibition, a specially trained light painter revealed all the portraits by live painting all the selected images.
After the opening night, a film was released showcasing the grand reveal of the selected portraits, and the reactions of the crowd. The film and billboards, located near the Rijksmuseum, inspired people to go and see the Night Exhibition after the museum closed in the evening.
Results
The two films generated 810.000 views in less than two weeks. The success didn’t go unnoticed; Google chose the teaser film as one of the leading ads in March 2015. The Netherlands started talking about the Night Exhibition by sharing photos and tweets, while media outlets widely reported on the campaign. Through all the coverage, a ROI on the media budget of 528% was achieved and it reached 5.1 million people online within 3 weeks. For context, this is more than double the annual number of visitors to the Rijksmuseum. The extent of the organic and paid reach translated into a measurable and successful campaign, placing the real Dutch Masters of Light in the spotlight.