Outakes: Damien Whitmore on a new direction for advertising at the Tate Gallery
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.`We are opening a new Tate Gallery of Modern Art at Bankside, and relaunching the Tate Gallery of British Art at Millbank, so we need to double our audience by the year 2000. Advertising plays a key role in attracting new audiences. But we felt that our usual advertising - just an image and a name, which is what most art galleries use - wasn't enough to attract them.
And so, with the agency BDDP-GGT, we've come up with a strategy of attracting people we call "cuspers" - people who are on the cusp of visiting, but just need a bit of persuasion and need to see that the Tate is a gallery which is accessible, friendly, doesn't take itself too seriously, and is an experience - not just about looking at pictures hanging on the wall. Art buffs will come anyway, but the cuspers are much more tricky a bunch to get hold of, because we're competing against shops, sport and other leisure activities for their attention.
Our new campaign fits with the overall marketing strategy for the gallery, which includes press and promotional partnerships, like the range of paints we've just launched with Habitat, and the "Cezannewich" we did with Pret a Manger earlier this year. These are all ways of talking to new audiences, and letting them know the gallery is accessible and friendly.
It's been a very interesting experience working with an advertising agency. I think art galleries tend to be a bit isolated, and I think what BDDP- GGT have helped us do is realise that there are lots of people out there who we aren't talking to, and they're helping us talk to these people and invite them in.
These ads are really about objects you see every day, about looking - what you do in a gallery. I think these images are saying that visiting the Tate can literally change your view of the world. You can come to the gallery and look at fantastic works of art in an environment that's friendly, and helps you make sense of what you see. You will leave enriched, will see the world in a new way, and everyday objects will take on a new beauty, a new dimension.' Scott Hughes
Damien Whitmore is head of communications at the Tate Gallery
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments