2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The largest retrospective of Damien Hirst’s work ever to be assembled was displayed at ALRIWAQ Doha, exhibited by Qatar Museums Authority. Spanning over 27 years, ‘Relics’ is the artist’s first solo show in the Middle East. We were commissioned to develop the exhibition identity as well as a fully integrated communication campaign designed to introduce Damien Hirst to the region, create curiosity in Art and instigate discussion on a controversial subject. Alongside the main exhibition branding we were responsible for delivering Mall & Street Activations, Exhibition booths, radio commercials, local and international print, a building wrap and flags and digital applications including: 2 website designs and iPad interfaces.

Success of the Campaign

The target given to the agency was 30-40,000 visitors throughout the ‘Relics’ Exhibition from 10 Oct, 2013 until 22 Feb, 2014. After the launch campaign and creating all the anticipation for the exhibition, approximately 10,000 people visited the exhibition in the first week; 25% of the target in just the first week. Over 3,000 video comments were recorded during the exhibition and the Qatar Museums Authority generated 7,500 new twitter followers. The exhibition closed on 62,057 visitors which is an 89% increase reflecting the overwhelmingly positive response from the public. Qatar Museums Authority stated that the exhibition was the most successful exhibition in Qatar to date and achieved the highest footfall numbers recorded for any exhibition in Qatar.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We first launched the ‘Relics’ campaign online as well as on social media platforms (facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube) to drive traffic to the exhibition website www.damienhirstqatar.qa for users to share their thoughts. Afterwards, mall activations were launched in Landmark Mall and Villaggio Mall inviting people to experience Damien Hirst's art and share their thoughts on video which is then uploaded to the website and shared on social media, generating interest for the exhibition prior to opening. The week of the opening, we launched magazine, newspaper and outdoor campaigns to stimulate discussion, whilst inviting people to go and visit ‘Relics’ Exhibition. Furthermore in support to all the on ground, online and ATL bursts, we launched a Damien Hirst Shark Trailer roaming around Doha as well as a radio campaign featuring people’s comments around the art and inviting everyone to go and visit the exhibition.