The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York City
When this international museum for contemporary art in New York City began to experiment a decade ago with social media, BrandStories was tapped to be one of its early advisors.
The spiral ramp and glass dome of the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
(PHOTO: Dan Demetriad)
How do you help a cultural icon take a giant leap forward?
Far right:
Attendees watching a program that shared selected videos on screens positioned above the crowd
(PHOTO: BrandStories)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York City
When this international museum for contemporary art in New York City began to experiment a decade ago with social media, BrandStories was tapped to be one of its early advisors.
THE CHALLENGE
We were honored to be invited to help the Guggenheim create one of its most famous events—its first celebration of citizen video as a new art form, and a way to build expanded relevancy for its international brand.
Because the Guggenheim, at the time, didn’t yet have a digital media department, BrandStories and other early leaders in social media marketing and citizen video were invited to help the Museum achieve influence among its increasingly born-digital audiences.
OUR WORK
Attendees watching a program that shared selected videos on screens positioned above the crowd (PHOTO: BrandStories)
We helped the Guggenheim debut YouTube Play, a Biennial of Creative Video, an experimental installation in 2010 with Google and
YouTube, that set out to discover and showcase new digital storytelling as an art form. The goal was to reach the widest possible audience over five months, and to increase brand awareness and followers for the Museum’s new Facebook, YouTube and Twitter channels. Our part in helping that succeed was to co-develop video curation guidelines and social media benchmarks. We also helped the Museum identify key influencers and adjust messaging about the exhibit to ensure they were engaging and responding online.
OUR IMPACT
The Guggenheim’s event collected more than 23,000 submissions from 91 countries, and the YouTube Play channel received over 24 million views, generating 105% more likes and 81% more followers on Twitter for the Museum at the time. Also, with our editorial design help, the Museum launched its first blog, The Take, which featured experts, scholars, and artists discussing the history of video art, and the effect that online video would be having on art and life. The blog received more than 90,000 page views, and the YouTube Play video generated 10 million views globally.
The experience also helped BrandStories to establish and expand its digital storytelling and audience engagement network.
“Artists should always be challenging the status quo, and that includes museums. We weren’t searching for what’s now, but really, what’s next.”
Nancy Spector
Former Chief Curator, The Guggenheim
Video entries displayed as an exterior montage. (PHOTO: Kristopher McKay @ The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York)
CREDIT: An image from a citizen video, Birds on the Wires, by Artist/Musician, Jarbas Agnelli.