Since the 2000s, there are more and more brands that call on artists. Art is no longer compartmentalized in museums or galleries, it is everywhere! The emergence of Instagram and unconventional traffic levers is pushing companies to innovate and engage the services of personalities, other brands, influencers or artists. These are the assurance of a unique campaign that stands out, they bring depth and unprecedented thinking.
How to make a Collab?
Since the 2000s, there are more and more brands that call on artists. Art is no longer compartmentalized in museums or galleries, it is everywhere! The emergence of Instagram and unconventional traffic levers is pushing companies to innovate and engage the services of personalities, other brands, influencers or artists. These are the assurance of a unique campaign that stands out, they bring depth and unprecedented thinking.
How to breathe an artistic note into your marketing, communication or event strategy? Thanks to a collaboration and here are some elements to put it in place
The role of the brand in an artistic Collab?
Getting into an artistic collaboration is often the fruit of a long reflection for a brand. But Collab Factory sees this decision as the start of a new world. By opening up your strategy to collaboration, you are now an actor in French cultural creation: you support art by developing your visibility.
The role of the brand is a bit like that of a patron. By funding a collaboration, you participate in the development of creation and the existence of new artistic productions. Bringing art into marketing is your role as a brand, here are the steps to complete such a project.
FIRST STEP: CHOOSING THE ARTIST
Before the start of the collaboration, it is necessary to clearly define the desired objectives and the criteria for choosing the artist. Your role is to give us as much information as possible about your brand image so that our preselection is as relevant as possible. This step is the basis for a healthy and effective collaboration thereafter. With a precise idea of the message you want to convey through your collaboration, we will know which artists to propose to you. After your final selection, the collab can begin.
A good artist is not necessarily a community manager. The talents visible today can be ephemeral, and we must be attentive to the potential of the gallery, whether or not sustainable over time. The brand should therefore not be seduced by the number of subscribers of an artist alone. You are welcome to ask us even if you already have an idea of the artist with whom you want to collaborate. Our dual expertise in art and marketing allows us to help you in every area of a campaign. Your role is therefore to find the point of balance between a defined framework of action, and let go when it comes to creation!
SECOND STEP: COLLABORATION
Understanding and trusting the artist’s work: this is a work of art, so letting the work and the artist live is essential for the rendering to be unique. Once the keys to the project are in hand, the artist will consider you as an advisor: your opinion in the creation process is necessary but be careful not to hinder his work. Collab Factory streamlines this relationship and takes care of all the contractual aspect, so your role is focused on creativity. The authorship of the work will always be with the artist.
THIRD STEP: ACTIVATION
Once the product is finished, this is just the start of your campaign. You choose the distribution modes and scale and Collab Factory takes care of producing content for you to keep this Collab alive over time. Videos, packshots, motion designs, interviews, press releases, it’s a whole storytelling job that we offer to save you precious time. Your role is only to distribute this content, the artist therefore becomes a brand ambassador and brings you a unique image.
The role of the artist in a collaboration with a brand
An artist is an expert. He has been working on his subject for years with his own technique. It is a universe that is both unique and open, he seeks to create in each of his projects while keeping a common thread all of his own. Each work is the result of several spatio-temporal and sociological factors that interact with the artist’s sensitivity: it is a unique creation. Having it integrate new symbols like those of a brand is a fundamental adventure and influences the artist’s choices.
AN INVITATION
The artist’s role is to invite you into his world, but also to give the brand the benefit of his seasoned eye. If a brand chooses it, it is because it relates to a universe, but also because it complements it. The artist must bring the brand to another dimension of which only he has the keys. Its technical expertise but also its sensitivity become levers of inventiveness for a brand. The artist must engage the brand in his work, he brings it into his studio as he brings inspiration. For the duration of a collaboration, the artist integrates a new component into his creative process.
A CO-CREATION
Thus, the brand and the artist navigate from one hull to the path of collaboration! The opinion of a brand matters to the artist and he must soak up his identity in order to stand out in his creativity. The artist has the task of going beyond the role of provider. He will build an idea with the wishes of the brand. The relationship must be fertile. The brand conveys its desires to the artist who offers them lines of thought. Several round trips are necessary to fully understand each other’s challenges. The artist can and should discuss certain directions, to make sure that the final work will be perfect.
Because “the triumph of art must lead to something other than oneself” (Simone Weil), the artist must see himself as a brand ambassador.
The more he.she communicates about his work, the more impactful the campaign will be, because the success of a project is only possible if a person embodies it and carries it with conviction. The target audience must feel, in addition to being innovative, a real connivance between the brand and the artist, as if they have been working together for years. This is why dialogue between the two entities is essential, if the artist is confident with his subject, he will surpass himself.
A COLLABORATION
The finished product is only one step in the entire collaborative campaign. Bringing this collab to life over time is also one of the artist’s roles. The latter obviously has the choice of giving his image or not, but he can grant visibility otherwise, through interviews or derivative visuals for example. In addition, a collaboration, as unique as it is, is intended to be renewed. The artist can project himself and create a desire in the brand and the target audience. It must become indispensable for the brand in the same way that we understand that art is indispensable in a communication campaign.
The role of the agency in a collaboration between a brand and an artist
Collab Factory has chosen to concentrate its know-how for the benefit of a cause dear to it, that of the democratization of art. Art everywhere, art for everyone, until its presence becomes indispensable. As an expert in marketing, storytelling but also in contemporary art, our ambition is to encourage brands to work with artists to develop or consolidate their identity.
THE BRAND, THE FIRST ART SPONSOR
We work with brands that are aware of the win-win consequences that a collaboration can have. Our goal is to awaken the philanthropic potential of brands and harness it to artists. We are carrying out initial outreach work with brands to prove to them that they have the possibility of diversifying their image through limited editions, digital activations, murals in offices or tailor-made events with artists. We like to compare our clients to real patrons; we choose them because we have confidence in their artistic potential.
DEVELOP AN ARTIST CATALOG
In parallel with this business research work, we are expanding our network of artists who would be open to collaborating with brands. This constellation of artists forms our portfolio that we make sure to keep alive: we try to offer several projects to our artists, spread over a long period. The artists we work with are part of our DNA and it is in our interest to renew these collaborations.
FIND THE PERFECT DIALOGUE
Each collab is unique. When a brand gives us its brief, the agency’s teams work to find the artist and the medium that will best suit the company’s ambitions. We first communicate a moodboard with proposals for works without revealing an artist’s name so as not to influence the brand. The latter gives us a first feedback so that we can sharpen our lines of work. We then propose a selection of artists who could be in line with the constraints of the project, namely the budget, the desired medium as well as the type of art envisaged.
If an artist already in our portfolio meets the expectations of the sponsor, we encourage their application so that they can work on this project again.
PROVIDE CLINICAL FOLLOW-UP
Once an artist has been selected, the agency has a very specific primary role which consists in making the relationship between the two entities as fluid as possible. We take care of all the legal aspects so that the brand and the artist can focus on the creation. We have articles on the roles of the artist and the brands in a collab, the function of the agency is to ensure that these roles are respected. Once the project is successful, we work on another aspect of our expertise. Collab Factory offers communication activation thanks to its storytelling skills to bring collaboration to life over time and develop its visibility. We take care of proposing a coherent communication strategy by providing the supports (videos, photos, texts) to the company.
