Capturing audience attention in today’s world is worth its weight in gold. We live in a rush, we are bombarded from all sides with various stimuli, messages, and notifications. Traditional marketing activities that once brought results are no longer sufficient today, because consumers want “something more.” It’s no longer so easy to make someone stop and listen to what we have to say. Brands are therefore looking for various ways to gain audience attention and gain an advantage over the competition they fight with for customer loyalty.
Brands, especially from the premium sector, readily draw from what art branding can offer them. It is a strategy that uses art in a conscious and thoughtful way to build and strengthen brand image. Art becomes for them a way to convey values, build emotional bonds and establish relationships with the audience. Thanks to art, they can tell their story and invite the audience into their world. Through such actions, the brand shows that it has more to offer than just a product or service. It offers specific emotions, lifestyle, and expresses its values.
Art branding allows connecting business goals and strategies with artistic expression and is certainly one of the most interesting tools of modern marketing communication. Luxury and premium brands handle this area exceptionally well and regularly provide audiences with new projects from the borderland of business and art. Companies that aspire to the premium level and want to implement a premiumization strategy will certainly appreciate what art branding has to offer. It will certainly add freshness to communication and introduce new elements that will surprise and interest customers.
The KPMG report “Luxury Goods Market in Poland | Edition XV” shows that interest in art is growing. According to the data presented there, “the value of the art market in Poland in 2023 reached 567.7 million PLN, of which 350.6 million PLN came from the sale of works at auctions.” This shows that audiences are increasingly well-versed in the area of art and seek contact with it.
Introducing art into brand strategy brings measurable and long-term benefits – both in building image and in achieving business goals.
In a world overloaded with marketing messages, art gives the brand the opportunity to stand out from the competition and establish deeper contact with an audience that seeks emotions. Artistic projects or unique visual concepts attract the attention of people looking for authentic values, not just attractive packaging. Art branding helps effectively express the character and identity of the brand. Thanks to cooperation with artists, a company can subtly but clearly convey its values. This is particularly important in the premium segment, where symbolism, history, and narrative play a key role.
Using art in communication undoubtedly helps brands build emotional bonds with customers. This will be a relationship that goes beyond the purely sales process. Art affects emotions, and these often determine loyalty to the brand and ultimately purchasing decisions. When a customer notices that a brand speaks their cultural and aesthetic language, they begin to treat it not only as a product supplier, but notice values and symbols with which they themselves want to be identified.
Engaging in artistic projects, patronage, or cooperation with creators shows that the brand is not limited to reproducing already proven actions, but participates in shaping trends. In the eyes of audiences, this testifies to modernity, ambition, and a visionary approach to business. It is also proof that the company recognizes its social role and cares about something more than profit, which is expressed by, among other things, sustainable development strategies or CSR activities. Companies operating in the renewable energy area can distinguish themselves in this area, because their business directly tries to solve problems from the ESG area, so a campaign built on art branding will be authentic and substantive.
It’s worth noting that art branding projects open new doors for brands, giving access to places and environments that traditional marketing doesn’t reach – such as galleries, museums, or artistic circles. Thanks to this, companies can not only strengthen bonds with existing customers, but also establish relationships with new, demanding audience groups.
Art branding can take various forms, but the most important thing is that it gives brands the opportunity to design immersive experiences in unusual spaces. Thanks to this, contact with the brand does not focus on the transaction, but on emotions. The audience has the opportunity to identify with the values presented by the brand and feel belonging to its world.
Most commonly, you can encounter such activities as cooperation with artists in creating limited product series, sponsorship and patronage of culture, creating own artistic spaces, or artistic campaigns.
The renewable energy industry encounters opinions that their products are not very visually attractive. So what can be done in this field? As part of cooperation with artists, you can release a very limited line of products that will mainly be based on the aesthetic layer, and function will be an added value here. A good idea is also financing or co-financing exhibitions, foundations, monument renovation. Especially if a given artistic form is close in theme or message to environmental issues. Another option is own art spaces. Luxury brands have their own museums and galleries. However, organizing occasionally in your space an exhibition for customers and invited guests will work equally well. At such an exhibition, you can present works by young artists who address a given topic or create an installation from recycling materials. It can also be a good opportunity to show your advertising campaign if it is designed in an artistic way, e.g., artistic photos presenting products in an unusual way that evokes emotions.
Art branding has many advantages and can be an extremely effective tool. But only if it is used properly. As with every business activity, here too, a well-thought-out and coherent strategy is needed. Otherwise, you can achieve the opposite effect to the intended one. Instrumental treatment of art, lack of consistency, and superficial approach will very quickly come to light.
Customers, especially of premium brands, are demanding and will not be deceived. They will immediately notice if art is treated only as a visual layer, without any depth, message, or values. If what the brand does is not consistent with its DNA, there will be no authenticity in it.
You also need to keep in mind that implementing art branding projects can be a significant financial investment and unfortunately you cannot predict in advance the return on this investment, or even how the project will be received. It may be misunderstood by audiences or understood in a different way than we would wish. Art can be controversial. On one hand, this is good because it evokes emotions. On the other hand, however, it can be unpredictable because of this. Art branding projects, in addition to financial outlays, will also require time. Therefore, it should be remembered that this is a long-term strategy, so it requires patience.
Art branding is increasingly boldly entering the communication of companies from the renewable energy area, which want not only to build brand awareness, but also communicate values related to aesthetics, sustainable development, and innovation. Thanks to such activities, they show their commitment to social issues and prove that their values and goals go beyond revenue tables.
Several industry examples can be cited where art branding elements have been implemented. Ørsted is a Danish leader in energy transformation that underwent rebranding and created a new visual identity inspired by Danish art and design. In cooperation with artists and designers, minimalist, moving visualizations of renewable energy were created, used among others in social campaigns promoting a “clean future.” Italian company Enel Green Power – one of the largest renewable energy companies in Europe – has taken a similar path. It engages in artistic projects such as installations on photovoltaic farms or climate-themed murals, implemented as part of initiatives like “Street Art for Rights.” Returning again to Denmark, where another example awaits us. Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer, uses the power of visual narrative. The “Wind for Prosperity” campaign was promoted through artistic films and reportage photography, showing the social impact of wind energy in Africa and Asia. This initiative aimed to provide cheap electricity to remote areas that lack access to electricity and draw attention to the problems faced by people living there. A very interesting example is the Spanish company Iberdrola. It implements an art branding strategy in the form of art patronage. The company sponsors exhibitions and artistic foundations that explore topics related to nature, technology, and climate change. We can notice that local campaigns and renewable energy startups in Poland and Central Europe are also increasingly boldly reaching for artistic means of expression. Ecological murals, recycling installations, and cooperation with local creators on “green city” type projects are appearing.
Moving to the Polish scene, it’s worth paying attention to the nationwide campaign “Renewable Energy? Everyone can!” Nickel Development, as the first developer in Poland, became a partner of the nationwide social campaign “Renewable Energy? Everyone can!” As part of this initiative, an anti-smog mural was created in Poznań, depicting a bust of a girl surrounded by greenery, symbolizing the harmony of man with nature. The mural was made using photocatalytic paints that purify the air from pollutants, acting with the power of 160 trees. The author of the work is Agnieszka Potrzebnicka-Romanowicz. The initiative was created in cooperation with Vinci Art Gallery and InRes company. The campaign aimed to educate about renewable energy and promote citizen energy and electromobility.
Graphics, source: https://nickel.com.pl/pl/artystyczna-ekologia
Art branding is slowly becoming an increasingly important communication tool for companies from the renewable energy sector that want to build an emotional message and engage society in a vision of a sustainable future. It is definitely worth considering including art in your communication. The most important thing, however, is that the company’s activities actually reflect its values and are consistent with its DNA. Otherwise, you can only get a beautiful but ineffective and quite expensive setting.
Sources:
Graphics: https://nickel.com.pl/pl/artystyczna-ekologia
KPMG Report: https://kpmg.com/pl/pl/home/insights/2024/12/rynek-dobr-luksusowych-w-polsce-edycja-xv.html
