In life there are two things I am quite passionate about and intrigued by: marketing and art. And so, in my mind, when those two facets of life come together, magic happens!
With that said, one can imagine my excitement when seeing Andy Warhol-inspired labels on Perrier bottles this year, in stores everywhere and beyond. Not only can one see the Warhol influence on the Perrier brand offline, everywhere Perrier products are sold, but people can also see Perrier’s Warhol-loving efforts online in a big way. This is a perfect example of a brand taking the offline and online marketing approach to get their message out to the people!
Everybody’s an Artist: The Art of Marketing Art
An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have.
-Andy Warhol
Interestingly enough, an artist can be defined as “a person skilled at a particular task or occupation,” which, if you ask me, includes everyone, whether they’ve tapped into and perfected their skills or their skills are untapped at this particular moment in time.
So, let’s be real honest with ourselves right out of the gate, shall we? Companies make products and provide services that people don’t need and marketers market those products and services to people that don’t need them. But, something important to understand is that just because someone doesn’t have a need for what you’re putting out there, it doesn’t mean that they don’t want it. As a company or a marketer, you know that it’s all about tapping into that want to make consumers feel like they need the product, even if they really don’t. We’re all like, “I know you want it,” to get consumers to be like, “I know I really want that.” Queue: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke… (Since I love EDM, you’re getting a remix for this reference!)
Now, I’m not saying that getting a consumer to say, “I know I want that” is an easy feat. In fact, just as Warhol challenged the world to see art differently, marketers must constantly break through the ever-present noise out there to get consumers to see the exciting, differentiating factor in a product, brand, company, etc. that they’re representing.
Art in Marketing Campaigns
There are a number of exceptional elements going on when it comes down to the Perrier by Andy Warhol integrated marketing campaign that should be realized:
- An artistic looking microsite was set up as a subdomain on perrier.com, to highlight the campaign and provide information to consumers: http://warhol.perrier.com/
- Perrier does an exceptional job of leveraging a historic fact, alongside the celebration of their 150th anniversary, to create a connection between the brand and Andy Warhol that consumers can sink their teeth into, or sip easily on rather. That fact is that Warhol created 40 works of art inspired by the iconic Perrier bottle in 1983. Now, Perrier has been inspired to feature Warhol’s work on its bottles.
- The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is involved and highlighted on the micosite in a tasteful way. By doing this, Perrier is able to add credibility to the campaign and bolster a sense of goodwill in the consumer’s mind.
- A “take home a WARHOL” sweepstakes was incorporated into the campaign, encouraging consumers to enter for weekly Warhol-inspired prizes (i.e. plush, foam poufs, representative of Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box sculptures) and a chance at snagging the grand prize (Andy Warhol’s “Space Fruit: Lemons” screenprint, executed in 1978 and stamped with stamps of legitimacy).
- Perrier’s creation of “The Social Factory,” playing off the name of Warhol’s notorious art studio, The Factory, in NYC. This element persuades consumers to utilize the #PERRIERWARHOL hashtag in an effort to tag and share their creative and social moments. This of course is the perfect place to plug Perrier’s “Societe Perrier,” which is dubbed “the global enthusiast’s source for engaging content and great events” and essentially a very robust, content-rich blog!
- The microsite’s finale boasts a “Share This Quote” function so consumers that loved Warhol’s words as much as his art can share their fave quotes on Facebook and Pinterest.
This, my friends, is The Art of Marketing at its finest, combining the offline with the online to make a colorful splash in the mind of consumers!
We know marketing is everywhere, so if you’ve seen any other companies out there doing a standout job of catching your attention, like Perrier, please be sure to leave a comment below to let us know!
Or maybe you’re feeling inspired to incorporate art in a marketing campaign to promote your product, service, brand or company? Simply fill out this form, provide some info and we’ll be on our way to creating artistic marketing magic!