THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY'S BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER MAKES A BANG
Vancouver, December 21, 2007—It’s official: The Vancouver Art Gallery’s Monet to Dali: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art is the most popular exhibition in the Gallery’s history. Marketing materials befitting summer’s biggest blockbuster came courtesy of Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design.
Between June 11 and September 16, 220,000 visitors–20,000 more than the Gallery originally predicted–took in the 80 works by such seminal artists as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Paul Cezanne. The exhibition generated nearly $2.9 million in admission revenue which puts the Gallery on target for raising $3.5 million by the end of the year. The previous record for admissions was $1.96 million during the Gallery’s anniversary year.
Record numbers were drawn to the Gallery not only because of the quality of the art but also because of an expanded sponsorship and marketing campaign. The marketing campaign, which included posters and passes, billboards and banners and an advertising campaign, was developed by Kaldor.
“Our mission with the Monet to Dali marketing materials was to create a signature look for the exhibition that would not only inspire people to attend the show but would also ensure that an exhibition of this calibre became distinctive to the Vancouver Art Gallery brand,” said Sally Douglas, Kaldor’s principal.
Kaldor understood that the sheer number of big-name artists would be the immediate selling point of the exhibition and incorporated them into the design. The line “100 years, 80 works, 1 gallery” was used to further reinforce this idea in the minds of gallery goers. The concept and design proved to be compelling enough to implement across other Monet to Dali-related projects like the exhibition space design (including wall treatments and paint colours) as well as merchandise (including t-shirts, buttons, totes, mugs and mousepads).
The Monet to Dali advertising campaign directly targeted potential gallery goers outside of BC with online ticketing. According to the Gallery, more than 30 per cent of the 21,000 tickets sold online went to people living outside the greater Vancouver area.
A client since 2005, the Vancouver Art Gallery has commissioned Kaldor on a number of marketing projects including its 12-month 75th anniversary advertising campaign in 2006. Kaldor followed up the Monet to Dali exhibition with marketing materials for the Gallery’s next major exhibition–Georgia O’Keeffe: Nature and Abstraction, on view from October 6, 2007 through January 13, 2008.
About the Vancouver Art Gallery
In 2006, the Vancouver Art Gallery marked 75 years as one of Canada’s most important cultural institutions. With more than 300,000 visitors annually from across the country and around the globe, the Gallery is western Canada’s largest art museum and the third largest in the country, providing national and international exhibitions of work by a range of artists, from groundbreaking contemporary visionaries to historical masters. The Gallery’s permanent collection is by far the most significant in British Columbia, numbering some 10,000 works, ranging from the world’s most significant collection of Emily Carr works to the recent $3.5-million acquisition of photo-based art from Toronto collectors Alison and Alan Schwartz.
About Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design
Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design is a leading independent brand strategy and communication design firm. Comprising a team of designers, writers and critical thinkers, Kaldor understands the power of questioning and utilizes up-front thinking to ensure all its clients’ marketing communications are based on sound business objectives, not creative whim. With clients such as the Vancouver Art Gallery, Coast Capital Savings and UBC, Kaldor boasts the experience of a high-profile marketing communications firm, with a personalized, client-driven approach.
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Contact:
Kristina Bandic
Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design
604-736-1714
www.kaldor.com
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