Retail As Entertainment: How Leading Brands Are Captivating Audiences

Traditionally, art appreciation has taken place in the museum or gallery settings, but these days it might be as easy as going shopping. Take Apple and Whole Foods, both of which have commissioned artists to create ambitious murals as advance marketing for about-to-launch stores. Or Uniqlo, which formed a unique partnership with the Museum of Modern Art resulting in its SPRZ NY line of artwork-inspired tees. H&M has also gotten in on the action with its limited-edition “Alex Katz x H&M” collection of wearable art. The approach seems to be working: Digital marketing agency SYZYGY Group ran an experiment in 2014 to test the efficacy of art as marketing. Titled “#20Things,” the company commissioned digital art portraying the internet’s 20 biggest watercooler moments from that year (such as the ice bucket challenge). After reviewing the data, SYZYGY found that art well-exceeded market reports, blogs and social media posts in terms of campaign reach and positive feedback. Read more at Forbes.