The San Diego Museum of Art: Art Alive

Challenge:

At a time when most people saved their dollars and donors reduced their gifts, The San Diego Museum of Art desperately needed to make its yearly Art Alive event a revenue-generating success.

Strategy:

With a single-minded message, reintroduce this great event to people in a new way. Rather than adopt a theme, visually marry the notion of “art” and “alive” in such a strong way that it becomes the focus of the campaign. Design marketing materials publicizing floral designers that create live arrangements inspired by works in SDMA’s collection. Maintain the sparse but iconic look and feel across all media. Keep the vibrant “Art Alive” messaging consistent throughout media relations and social media (Twitter and Facebook) programs.

Results:

Incredible paid and unpaid media coverage, including over $145,000 in negotiated donated media. Pre-event local coverage was secured in nearly all local publications, including NBC, San Diego 6 CW and KUSI. Publications that photographed the event were Riviera, San Diego Magazine, Gente Bien, SDNN.com and La Jolla Light.