Earlier this week, Avid Collective took over the Incognito Art Show pop-up gallery in Sydney’s Paddington for a decidedly artsy but very publisher-focused event. One B&T reporter snuck in the backdoor to hear why native content does a double-whammy of driving client results and supporting publishers.
Luke Spano, CEO of Avid Collective, started by with the bold declaration that the “standard” advertising ecosystem is broken.
Avid’s solution: its new SAAS publisher platform. The team shared a roadmap for the platform, showing what improvements and updates users can expect to see in the coming months.
The Avid team said it was keen to help publisher teams implement the new platform, but noted a major barrier to users adopting it is simply the fact that it is hard to switch from the platforms they’re used to.
“It was great to be able to share Avid’s platform product roadmap and create a collective opportunity to collaborate as a group on evolving that roadmap. We believe industry-wide innovation is vital to the media ecosystem, and digital publishers working together is a great approach to driving category growth within the broader advertising sphere. The interest and engagement from publishers in the room felt super high and we’re excited to run more publisher-focused events in the future,” said Spano.
After attending an event and hosting clients at the Incognito Art Show last year, the Avid team said they were keen to support the not-for-profit show.
Every year, the Incognito Art Show exhibits more than 15,000 original artworks in support of Studio A, which provides professional development for artists with intellectual disabilities and We Are Studios, a disability-led, inclusive studio seeking to empower artists.
The show’s unique exhibition and sales model showcases amateur and professional artists who contribute A5-sized artworks, exhibited anonymously. These pieces are then anonymously sold for $100 to the public, in-person and on a first-come-first-served basis.
The identity of an artwork’s artist is only revealed once bought, on the reverse of the artwork. By opening the registration to all, the Incognito Art Show removes the barrier to entry for aspiring artists to exhibit. In turn, the flat $100 cost lowers the barrier for aspiring collectors.
Avid ran a pro bono campaign to generate awareness of the Incognito Art Show, educate audiences about the initiative, and inspire aspiring collectors to start building their wishlists.
In partnership with publishers, Avid oversaw a mix of articles, social posts, and EDM content to support the in-person sale event currently happening at Incognito. Publishers included TimeOut, Boss Hunting, Sitchu, RUSSH, and Mouths of Mums.
