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Client: ArtCanadiana.com
Sector: Information and communications technologies |
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| Challenge |
| At a time when the soundness of business to consumer (B2C)
e-commerce was being severely tested, a successful launch campaign for
a Canadian-based global art gallery proved the effectiveness of public
relations in Internet marketing. ArtCanadiana.com, (www.artcanadiana.com)
the first fully e-commerce facilitated Internet art gallery operating from
Canada, launched on 27 October, 2000, and has since sold hundreds of original
paintings and prints to collectors throughout North America and overseas. |
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| Strategy |
| An extended media relations campaign, reinforced by a
global Internet communications strategy, enabled ArtCanadiana to establish
a permanent presence as one of the most-visited online art sites. The campaign’s
objective was to create awareness of ArtCanadiana.com and bring prospective
buyers to the site. It also had to establish credibility for the site creatively
and commercially, confirming the professional credentials of its artists
and satisfying consumer concerns about credit card security, reliability
of delivery, and return policies. |
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| Tactics |
| The two principals of ArtCanadiana, the president and
the curator, served as spokespersons in a series of virtual media tours
that generated national TV, radio and print coverage. Key messages were
that ArtCanadiana was the only web site selling exclusively Canadian art
and that through the Internet, art is now available to those who do not
have access to art galleries or do not feel comfortable visiting the traditional
gallery environment. The security and safety of credit card purchasing
on the Internet was also emphasized. |
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| Results |
| Some ten million Canadians were reached through media
exposure during the campaign, leading to thousands of visits and hundreds
of sales being recorded by ArtCanadiana.com. The site continues to offer
the work of 150 Canadian painters, print makers, photographers and sculptors. |
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