May 14, 2013

Case Study: Safar/Voyage at MOA

The Client

In April of 2013, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC launched one of the largest and most ambitious exhibitions it had ever undertaken. Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works from Arab, Iranian, and Turkish Artists brought together an enormous collection from 16 artists of Middle Eastern origin. Curated by Fereshteh Daftari, formerly of MOMA, the massive exhibition would occupy both MOA's Audain and O'Brien Galleries, an area totaling more than 8,000 sq feet.

The exhibition will be in place at MOA through to September 15, 2013.

The Campaign

Laura Murray Public Relations was hired to provide a full service marketing campaign for the exhibition, including advertising buy, community outreach, local business cross-promotions, and media relations, as well as to help develop the exhibition's visual identity with MOA's graphic design firm.

LMPR also provided promotions and publicity for a constellation of events surrounding the exhibition, including concerts, dialogue panels, and film screenings.

The Results

The Safar/Voyage opening was one of MOA's largest on record and attendance increased by 23% in the week following its launch. The excitement translated online as well, with traffic to MOA's Facebook page increasing nearly 14 times over the previous week.

The marketing campaign saw the show creative reach potential audiences members through an enormous variety of traditional, online, and unexpected channels. The media relations campaign saw coverage in The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Georgia Straight, Canadian Press, Times Colonist, CBC News at 6, Canadian Art Magazine, Canvas Magazine, Montecristo Magazine, CBC NXNW, CBC On the Coast, North Shore News, Metro News, and CBC Radio Canada, among many others.