How could we get national coverage for a Bournemouth-based art gallery?
Most independent galleries are lucky to get regional coverage, we weren’t content with that. We wanted to get both regional and national coverage for our client, Ambassadeur Art, as the resident artists are of the calibre to draw collectors from all over the UK. The gallery, which we launched in May 2017, needed some new news to speak to press about since the hubbub of the launch had died down.
That’s when the idea of a giant street art project was born.
The resident artists at Ambassadeur Art found the spot they wanted to paint, one of Bournemouth’s busiest tourist spots, Pier Approach. The first step was to get the council onside, without them this project wouldn’t have been possible as it’s council land we wanted to paint on. As Bournemouth is a family holiday destination, the image of Spiderman holding an ice cream was suggested to tie in with the summer blockbuster.
Once terms had been agreed with the council we needed to source enough artists to complete the project in record time causing minimum disruption to the thousands of holidaymakers on Bournemouth pier. The team used social media to source these volunteers and also worked with the Arts University Bournemouth inviting their students to work on the project as well.
The project took three days to complete with the third day culminating in ‘The Big Reveal’ where the supersized painting would be officially finished. We organised The Big Reveal to invite the public, local dignitaries and most importantly the media to the site together. To encourage as many people as possible to come down for The Big Reveal, the team arranged free ice creams and face painting to anyone that came down in superhero fancy dress. Paid for social media was also used by the Sunny Bird PR team to promote the event to key demographics ensuring maximum attendance on the big day.
To give media the best assets we arranged for a professional photographer, a time lapse video and drone footage of the Big Reveal. To ensure media attendance on the day, Sunny Bird PR called all the broadcasters and regional press to book them in for the big event. To tie the supersized superhero to the gallery, Sunny Bird PR ordered Ambassadeur Art branded balloons and flyers to be handed out on the day.
The whole event was managed from start to finish without a hitch, the Big Reveal was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth who shook hands with an artist dressed as Spiderman as he arrived via the pier zip wire to deliver the final flourish to the painting. The supersized superhero was surrounded by families and children all dressed up as superheroes making for great photos and video footage.
The meticulous execution of this supersized event led to over 20 pieces of coverage in just two days with a reach of over four million people, an advertising value equivalent of over £300,000. This heroic coverage was achieved across the BBC, radio, online and in print – all of which either used our press release or credited Ambassadeur Art for the photography and video footage.
The success of this project relied on the collaboration of so many people and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the following for their help and support on this, Bournemouth’s Biggest Ever Street Art Project: Michael Corica, Matthew Corica, Iain Alexander, Callie Onslow-Bartlett, Miroslav Lucan, Dairo Vargas, Julian Butterworth, Christian Lawson, Grace Lovelass, Sian Ferreira, Nicola Goode, Nick Maguire, Lois Clark, Morven Shortt, Emily Knights, Neil Woodman, Jenny Thorne, Sam Spinks, Thao Nguyen, Alice Burrett, Ibi Azab, Joshua Moseley, Jessica Russell, Jago Cremer-Roberts and Natalie Carr.