Portraits - Corporate Sponsorship
Art Gallery Society NSW
Issue 23 | May 2012
Agency
Wunderman Sydney
Creative Team
National Executive Creative Director: Matt Batten ; Copywriter: Theodora Gerakiteys ; Art Director: Amanda Glover ; Account Managers: Katie Oslizlok, Rebecca Mastersonl ;Client Services Director: Eithne McSwiney
Production Team
Producer: Paul Hayes ; Retoucher and Artist: Aaron Sutter, Seamus Fagan
Other Credits
Corporate Development Director, AGNSW: Mark Manton
Date
April 2012
Background
The Art Gallery NSW, Australia’s premier art gallery since 1874, has always relied on donations and corporate sponsorships.
They wanted the key decision-makers of major Australian corporations to attend the gallery to hear about corporate sponsorship and convince them to become a sponsor.
They also wanted to do better than their usual 5% response rate and 0.6% conversion rate.
Idea
The Archibald Prize is Australia’s largest annual portraiture competition. Usually only celebrities and politicians have the honour of having their portraits entered.
This year, though, the target audience found themselves similarly recognised.
Photographs of each target were sourced and digitally treated to look painted in the style of different masters such as Van Gogh, Münch, Durer, Rembrandt, Monet, etc.
They were then mounted on canvas, stretched over wooden frames and varnished to create the impression of real brush strokes.
The finished pieces looked so genuine, even gallery staff thought they were genuine oil paintings.
The targets were mailed individually and invited to view and collect their portrait from the famous Archibald exhibition in the prestigious gallery.
The intention was that the experience of art in this way would make them more receptive to the idea of sponsoring the gallery.
Results
The direct mail piece had a 34% response rate (nearly seven times the average).
Those who attended the event were delighted to see their personal portrait displayed in Australia’s most prestigious art gallery. This generated an acquisition rate of 14% (over 23 times the average) resulting in the largest increase in annual sponsorship in decades.
Our Thoughts
Seeing oneself as the subject of what appears to be an oil painting would definitely have big impact; and, of course, all the more positive if wrinkles and age spots have been touched out. The idea here of feeding the ego of CEOs in such a relevant way was picture perfect.