Championing public art in Hong Kong

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Activations, Art & Culture, Public Relations, Storytelling

Championing public art in Hong Kong

Event Horizon (British Council)

Challenges

Event Horizon was presented in Hong Kong by British Council for six months (19 Nov 2015 – 18 May 2016). It was the most extensive public art project ever to be installed in the city.

The work of British artist Sir Antony Gormley, Event Horizon encompassed a collection of 31 naked, life-sized sculptured figures, with 27 installed on rooftops and four on street level. With limited marketing budget, Integrated PR was the key tool for driving awareness and understanding of the project. A strong Integrated PR strategy and carefully considered stakeholder management plan was critical to gain massive local media coverage as quickly as possible. The key challenge of the project was to encourage discussion and advocacy of public art in Hong Kong.

Approach

Created community awareness for the artist’s vision of Event Horizon prior to installation through selected media interviews focusing on why Hong Kong is ready for public art of this scale
False or negative media stories were approached with press statements that gave necessary information to allow for balanced reporting
Approached project advocates, business owners, artist and influencers, to speak about the installation and public art in the media
A mini-site was created to give the public all necessary information about the project. This was also a platform to showcase social media conversation, as well as links to the pages that allowed Hong Kongers to communicate with the event organisers
Created awareness and interest in the education objectives, an integral part of the project, and highlighted the education programme for teachers, students and the community
Media were invited to engage through a series of events and interactions so that they felt a part of the project
A strong public outreach campaign was created including social media, direct mail, marketing collateral and personal outreach and stakeholders engaged to amplify all messaging

Outcomes

+60

stakeholders continuously engaged in the communications process

+350

media clippings in local and international publications

PR industry awards won for Sinclair's work on the project

Awards won

Mumbrella Award for Bravery 2016 – Winner
The Stevie Awards 2016 – PR Campaign of the Year – Arts & Entertainment (Silver)
PR Awards 2016 – Most Effective PR Campaign (Silver)
Best PR Campaign Public Awareness (Bronze)

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