The relationship between arts and business is centuries old: one need only look back to the Renaissance to see how the largesse and might of leading businessmen of the period enabled some of the world’s most renowned artists to create art of extraordinary beauty and longevity.
But over the last few years we have seen a shift in the kinds of businesses that are engaging with the arts and a proliferation of the ways in which that relationship is evolving. This can be attributed to two key factors: the explosion in interest and engagement in culture by the general public – the democratisation of art, if you will, and secondly, by the development of a series of new ideas and thinking around marketing and branding which place a significant emphasis on the role of art and culture as a powerful way of rendering authenticity within brands.
These two factors together mean that for a growing number of consumer facing businesses, the arts cannot be viewed simply as a marketing fad, but can potentially play a transformative role at the heart of their brand and marketing development.
Cultural branding, for us, then represents this shift towards using art and culture as a way of developing a meaningful dialogue and engagement between consumer and brand. It is examples of this – good, bad and indifferent, that are the focus of our discussions.
So what does cultural branding look like? An immediate – and obvious starting point is the Arts & Business cultural branding award – launched this year and designed to showcase and celebrate businesses who recognise that a depth of engagement with culture – beyond straightforward sponsorship badging is clearly the way to go. From a field of more than 40+ entrants – a record number for any category – the shortlist reflected the fact that when it comes to a depth of engagement, it is not only the big chequebooks that count.
Sponsor of the Cultural Branding category, Old Mutual, have been making their own steps into the realms of cultural branding, rejecting the familiar banking territory of the gallery sponsorship and instead choosing to support up and coming curators Illuminate by becoming the principal supporter of their Drift Exhibitionthe first contemporary art festival on the River Thames – images of which have been flashed around the world and spread virally – creating an iconic representation of the brand for Old Mutual which can be shared by employees globally.
Old Mutuals’s tagline is to ‘push beyond boundaries’ and so in many ways the exhibition was an exemplary fit – beyond the realms of a conventional sponsorship, outside the confines of a fixed exhibition space, unique and distinct from many other financial service brands. Furthermore, one of the art works – the Keith Bowler laser bridge shown above, was created in Old Mutual’s corporate green.
