Connecting with future generations through digital storytelling
Connecting an international auction house with future generations in mainland China through digital storytelling strategy.
Challenge
Appealing to future generation’s lifestyle tribes.
Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s premier destination for art and luxury. Sotheby’s promotes access, connoisseurship and preservation of fine art and rare objects through auctions and buy-now channels including private sales, e-commerce and retail. Its trusted global marketplace is supported by an industry-leading technology platform and a network of specialists spanning 40 countries and 50 categories, which include Contemporary Art, Modern and Impressionist Art, Old Masters, Chinese Works of Art, Jewelry, Watches, Wine and Spirits, and Interiors, among many others.
Sinclair was appointed in China to work with Sotheby’s marketing editorial team to craft human-centric, creative and compelling digital content through the owned WeChat platform. To attract future generations of collectors in China and Asia, we engaged with their interest tribes as well as digital savvy facts. The key was to ensure traditional art was given a modern language and new lifestyle scenarios.
Approach
Insight: As the audience’s attention span is getting shorter, compelling visual content can really grab a readers attention.
Visual Content: Developed more than 50% of Sotheby’s ongoing WeChat content including text and graphic design to increase engagement.
Storytelling: Took a lifestyle approach for all content, leveraging interests of relevant tribes in order to bring art knowledge and auctions closer to daily life.
Future-thinking: Content selection was prioritised with a focus on inspiring or attracting a younger generation of future collectors. Topics included, contemporary art, celebrity curated auctions and comic sub-culture collections.
Engage: All content ended with a call-for-action hook to encourage audiences to either repost or comment for incentives.
Outcomes
- Over 30 WeChat posts were published in the first three months earning 300,000 impressions.
- Over 20% increase in engagements including fan base growth, likes and forwards in the first three months.
- High quality visual content was created for WeChat to attract a younger generation of future collectors.
- All content was re-edited based on auction information and art pieces materials, with an editorial lead from lifestyle inspiration.
