A number of artists recently have raised their profiles by participating in promotions that support consumer products and entertainment ventures.
For marketers—which have initiated most of these partnerships—bringing in an outside artist or artists is an opportunity to give fans a fresh perspective on their brand or property and generate buzz in the media. For the artist, these types of activities provide a big boost in awareness, and may generate significant income as well.
Entertainment companies have been prominent players in this trend. The Disney XD network, for example, ran a series of animated on-air channel IDs created by a mix of in-house and outside artists and animators working in a range of styles, from street art to poster imagery. They included The Brothers McLeod, Buff Monster, Joel Trussell, Ryan Quincy, and Tristan Eaton. And, in Japan, Disney paired with the comedian-artist Tekken to create pencil-sketch animated trailers for the film Big Hero 6. Tekken is best known for his short film Pendulum, which features hand-drawn, flipbook-style imagery and has received more than 3 million views on YouTube.
Similarly, Warner Bros. is promoting its DC Comics brand starting this fall with a worldwide tour of an exhibition called The Art of the Brick: DC Comics, in conjunction with LEGO and LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya, while the producers of Doctor Who ended up using an artist’s concept for the series’ title sequence, after noticing Billy Hanshaw’s Doctor Who-themed work on YouTube and making contact with him.
On the consumer products side of things, when Unilever’s AXE body spray partnered with skateboarder Paul Rodriguez for a line of signature products, it worked with tattoo artist Mister Cartoon to create packaging artwork. And one component of the Oreo brand’s “Play With Oreo” ad campaign centered on billboards featuring 10 different artists’ takes on words such as dunk and dream. The artists, whose images were also shared on social media, were Alex Trochut, Andrew Bannecker, Andy Rementer, Brosmind, Craig and Karl, Geoff McFetridge, Jeff Soto, McBess, Ryan Todd, and Shotopop.
Art and commerce have long been linked, of course; think Andy Warhol and Campbell’s Soup. Yet the phenomenon, while growing of late, remains relatively rare, with a low percentage of artists taking part. It should also be noted that none of these opportunities are strictly licensing deals.
Still, these recent artist-focused promotions illustrate a form of out-of-the-box thinking that can help jumpstart, revitalize, or expand a creator’s commercial career.
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