The Art Fund interview

Elen Lewis speaks with Dr Stephen Deuchar, director of The Art Fund and Lawrence Green, founding partner, 101 about the The Art Fund campaign, winner of the long-term marketing excellence prize at The Marketing Society Awards 2017

What is the most valuable lesson from the long-term success of The Art Fund’s campaign?

Stephen Deuchar: It wasn’t just a marketing campaign, it was about the identity of The Art Fund as an organisation, about gripping it and reimagining it for the present and future as oppose to something which had evolved gradually since 1903. The Art Fund is big on tradition and our longevity is a strength but when I arrived in 2010, it was an institution that was a bit hamstrung by its fantastic history.  It was important for us to be pushed by individuals [at 101] who would challenge us to look at ourselves. We came up with this idea of putting the focus on recruiting members, not on the worthiness of becoming a member but on the attractiveness of buying a cool product...