Opening one hundredth gallery presents some immediate marketing challenges as we have at least two primary markets that we need to continually communicate with.
These are:
1. Artists
Without art, one hundredth gallery will just be a room with really good lighting. One hundredth gallery needs artists to display their art. There is no shortage of artists around, but how many of them are willing to take the next step to display their talents? I sincerely hope that they all will! Art shouldn’t be kept in private… it should be publically available for the whole world to see.
Apart from asking artists to come forward via this website, facebook, and twitter, I will be aligning the gallery with universities, TAFEs, and some high schools (especially the ones with large art departments). I will also be approaching artists directly, so look out!
2. Public
Without the public, one hundredth gallery will just be a room full of art. One hundredth gallery needs the public to come through the doors to appreciate the talent of our emerging artists; and if compelled buy a piece (or two) to take home with them.
For emerging artists to truly emerge, their work needs to be viewed, critiqued and bought.
One hundredth gallery will be going on the PR trail as soon as we have set an opening date. We will be telling our story to whoever will listen… the papers, journals, magazines, bloggers, websites, etc., etc. We are also building a mailing list and have an evolving presence on facebook and twitter, as well as the blog/website you are reading!
The next step of course, will be to explore real-world advertising opportunities such as bills, postcards and whatnot. It goes without saying that until the gallery is full of the works of emerging talent, there’s not much point just advertising the space. A little chicken and egg, for sure – but that’s half the fun, right? The point is we’re not of the ‘build it and they will come’ mentality – we’re aware that there are two audiences here that we need to attract, but for rather different reasons.