SEQUEIRA IN IT'S RIGHTFUL PLACE

TitleSEQUEIRA IN IT'S RIGHTFUL PLACE
BrandMUSEU NACIONAL DE ARTE ANTIGA
Product/ServiceCROWDFUNDING
Category C01. Use of Digital Platforms
Entrant FUEL LISBON, PORTUGAL
Idea Creation FUEL LISBON, PORTUGAL
Credits
Name Company Position
Pedro Bexiga FUEL PUBLICIDADE Creative Director
Marcelo Lourenço FUEL PUBLICIDADE Creative Director
Pedro Bexiga FUEL PUBLICIDADE Creative Director
Marcelo Lourenço FUEL PUBLICIDADE Creative Director
Pedro Silva FUEL PUBLICIDADE TV Production
Vasco Pamplona FUEL PUBLICIDADE Tv Producer

The Campaign

Under the claim “Let’s put Sequeira in its rightful place”, an appeal was made to persuade every Portuguese to contribute to the cause. This way, everyone would be trying to help keeping the work of art in the national museum, a place where everyone could appreciate it.

Creative Execution

From the combination “a painting + the whole national population + digital channel” came the idea: a mini-site that represented the work of art, virtually, divided into 10 million pixels (the approximate number of Portuguese inhabitants). Each of these pixels would be sold at 6 cents (10 million inhabitants X €0,06 = €600k). For every 6 cents received, a pixel would light up. The pixels’ selection was based on a gamification structure, because once chosen, on mouse-over, the pixel would highlight the name and photo of the person who sponsored it (by f-connect login). Because the motive of the painting consisted in several concrete elements (mainly human figures), the motto of the communication was to ask which part of The Adoration of the Magi people would sponsor.

Results

The goal was ambitious: to raise €600,000 in 6 months. The result? It was possible to involve the whole country around the cause and raise more than €745,000! Synthesis of results obtained: • €600,000 raised in less than 6 months (something that has been tried for more than 4 years, but without success). • After the achievement of the objective, €145,623 extra were donated, which represents an increase of +25% to the desired value. • All the major (and the minor) media channels gave cover to the initiative, with 629 news and 723 publications on social networks with 91 million impressions, resulting an estimation of more than €2M Advertising Value Equivalency with a favorability rate of 4.8 out of 5. • As a final result, there was a sense of democratization of Culture, since Domingos Sequeira and “The Adoration of the Magi” became well known to the general public (and in a cross-section in sociodemographic terms). There was a massive involvement of the Portuguese population with culture in general and with the MNAA in particular.

With a budget of only €5k (the cost of the digital platform development), the idea of an original virtual crowdfunding to buy a painting, preventing it to leave Portugal, was able to thrill an entire country around a work of art. All the major (and the minor) media channels gave cover to the initiative, spontaneously. The campaign could be described as a sociological phenomenon, since it was able to involve people from all walks of life – not only the President of the Republic of Portugal was motivated to contribute with €150 for the acquisition, but also even a homeless donated €1.

The strategy had to go through trying to elevate this request to a cause of national interest, something unusual and with ingredients to be subject in the media. The strategy should be to try to involve as many people as possible, so that they, too, be the mouthpiece of this petition. In a somewhat utopian desire, we would be faced with an appeal made to ALL the Portuguese. As a matter of scarce resources for investment, which we knew from the outset that it would be a constraint, Digital was thought of as the preferred channel.