by Jade Caillot
From the Roman triumphs to the Medici's sumptuous celebrations during the Florentine Renaissance, art and events have always nourished each other. Embodiment of the social and divine link, artistic creation also served the influence of political and religious entities: Chambord et le mécénat de François Ier se veulent un outil de “soft power” au service de la puissance française tandis que Louis XIV dompte une noblesse frondeuse sous les ors des divertissements versaillais.
De nombreuses entreprises aujourd’hui ont bien compris l’intérêt que présentent les lieux patrimoniaux et culturels, à l’instar des défilés de la Fashion Week au Louvre. Au cœur de cette union entre le monde culturel et les événements professionnels, une ambition commune : briller et faire briller. Lumière sur art et événementiel : un pas de deux au service des entreprises.
"Designing a business cocktail or a conference within a cultural institution is to reinforce your brand image".
Organizing a professional event in a museum, a château, a historical monument, is to adorn this occasion with a prestigious aura. As we know, BtoB events are a powerful lever for your corporate communication: the decor, the architecture and the history of the place are all assets to seduce your guests and stage your storytelling. Designing a business cocktail party or a conference in a cultural institution means strengthening your brand image.
In this perspective, the temporary exhibitions can guide you in the choice of the place of reception for your professional event. The works of art participate in the scenology of your BtoB meeting. You offer your guests a privileged discovery while making them live a surprising and original experience.
But beyond the aesthetic dimension, combining art and events allows us to inject a nice dose of creativity into the shared moment.
"Emotions, surprise, interactivity... These ingredients offered by art are a recipe for success in the event industry".
By meeting the world of art, corporate events have a strong argument: a creative environment, itself conducive to stimulate the imagination. In a world saturated by information, it is through creativity that your event will be able to leave its mark.
Your professional event meets concrete marketing strategy objectives: make your company known, build customer loyalty, and of course, ultimately, increase your sales. In order for your BtoB event to meet these specifications, there is only one way: make it an amazing and surprising experience, in short, make it absolutely unique for your guests.
To make such an event memorable, the venues heritage and cultural institutions have more than one string to their bow. For most of them, these spaces not only offer an atypical decorum but also propose original entertainment. A first flight on board a vintage plane at the Salis Flying Museuma private visit of the archaeological collections of the Museum of Romanity in Nîmes, an equestrian show at theHippodrome of Chantilly... The artistic and patrimonial universe is an authentic muse for the organizers of professional events.
Emotions, surprise, interactivity... These ingredients offered by art are a recipe for success in the event industry. Even more surprisingly, organizing a professional event in a heritage and cultural place is a great tool for managerial innovation.
"58% of companies that fostered employee creativity achieved higher sales than the previous year."
A stimulator of social ties, creativity through BtoB events is also an underestimated productivity factor. According to a Forrester study conducted for Adobe, in 2013 58% of companies that encouraged their employees' creativity achieved higher sales than the previous year, compared to 20% among those who did not. Stimulating your employees' creative spirit is therefore closely linked to their productivity.
Here again, art and events go hand in hand. It is an opportunity to take your team out of its comfort zone to boost its motivation. Thanks to history, architecture or exhibitions, the venues heritage and cultural sites offer various managerial advantages:
BtoB events are therefore not limited to a simple "relaxing moment" outside the office. They respond to a strategy of global influence of your companyfrom your brand image to the productivity of your employees, including the development of customer loyalty.
But the relationship between art and events is a two-way street. The venues cultural and heritage sites also have everything to gain by hosting professional events.
"In the face of declining public subsidies, privatizing a heritage and cultural venue allows these unique places to secure new revenues of their own."
Today, corporate events are a formidable tool for enhancing the value of venues heritage and culture. Embodying our common heritage, these institutions must diversify in order to perpetuate their transmission activity.
Museums and historical monuments have every interest in opening their doors to professional events. Faced with the decrease of public subsidies, the privatization of a heritage and cultural place allows these unique places to secure new revenues. Art and events are thus associated to continue to promote culture. For their part, the companies organizing such events embrace a new role as patrons of the arts and artists.
"By opening up to professional events, the venues heritage and cultural events contribute to making art participatory, to bringing it into our daily lives."
The BtoB event is also a way for these venues to reach a new public, not always used to visiting museums. The privileged discovery of a work during a business dinner will be more memorable for the guest than a simple advertisement. The creation is then associated with the entertainment and the emotions it has brought to the visitor.
Besides, isn't art, in essence, event-based? Questioning, creating conversation around a subject, representing our relationship to the world are at the heart of the artistic process. By opening up to professional events, the venues heritage and cultural sites contribute to making art participatory, to making it part of our daily lives.
Many venues cultural and heritage sites are also taking advantage of the opening to corporate events to reinvent themselves. This is an opportunity to rethink the modularity of their spaces, the possibility of creating immersive experiences or offering a new grid for reading the collections thanks to technology. The Cité de l'Économie, for example, offers its B2B guests role-playing games to take part in the decisions of an international body on the issue of renewable energy.
Art and events work together to promote the influence of companies. By organizing a professional event in a heritage and cultural place, you consolidate your brand image while offering a new access to culture to your employees and stimulating their creativity. Cultural institutions can take advantage of this sponsorship to perpetuate their activity and reinvent themselves.
A beautiful pas de deux that is only waiting for your next event to enter the dance!
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