Should Art Have Brand Attributes?
Posted: 11/11/2009 9:00:08 AM by
Vinu Joseph | with 0 comments
According to this article from the Vancouver Sun, Absolut is holding a $120,000 competition for an artist to develop a work of art or project for the city of Vancouver. The effort seems like a natural fit, considering Absolut’s history of collaboration with artists.
Still the program highlights the continuing tension between artistic freedom and corporate patronage. As the Sun article points out, the artists’ proposals are expected to reflect Absolut’s brand values and to incorporate Absolut in some meaningful—though not overtly commercial—way.
Requiring that the project conform to Absolut’s brand values seems to push the effort from art to advertisement. Imagine if Lisa del Giocondo had said, “Leo, make sure to get me from my good side.” A more authentic campaign might have challenged artists to offer their own interpretations of the shared values of Absolut and Vancouver.
With efforts that involve externally-generated content, I generally find that the campaign says more about the brand than the content itself—which is generally amateurish in nature, as would be expected. With such high stakes for the winner in this competition, one would expect a high-level submission; so why is it then necessary to require the content to fit a specific brand formula? Such a constraint doesn’t reflect the understanding of artists we’ve come to expect from Absolut.
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Filed under: branded content, sponsored content, arts