‘It has been a pleasure working with Midas. We really valued their input and expertise and we look forward to working with them again on future projects.’
James McCarthy, Director of Purling
The Brief
Midas was appointed to deliver a high profile media campaign for The Art of the Game exhibition, as well as generating greater exposure for Purling Ltd. in order to reach art collectors, interior designers, luxury brands, and gift buyers. Our objectives were to deliver an intelligent media campaign to increase footfall at The Art of the Game exhibition in October and grow brand awareness by positioning Purling as the ultimate brand for both lovers of art and lovers of chess.
We also aimed to develop a matrix of feature angles and talking points for the artists participating in The Art of the Game exhibition to secure coverage in art specific outlets as well as in broadcast media. Following the exhibition, between October and November, we were tasked to generate exposure for Purling’s latest Christmas offerings, and drive Christmas sales by pitching updated gift guide offerings and interview time with Purling spokespeople.
The Work
Over the course of our campaign, Midas worked closely with the Purling team to secure coverage for The Art of the Game across national outlets, broadcast and radio, lifestyle and arts magazines, and London-specific media. At the outset, we finalised a PR Plan with agreed key messaging about Purling and The Art of the Game, our overall strategy, feature angles, and target media.
We positioned The Art of the Game as an exciting new London exhibition celebrating the unique fusion of art and strategy through exquisite art chess sets by renowned artists. We highlighted its status as a ‘must-see’ experience for art lovers, chess players, and Londoners, adding a splash of colour to London’s art scene during the busy Frieze week. We drew upon the stories of renowned artists participating in The Art of the Game to appeal to art media, offering interviews with acclaimed artists Sophie Mattisse, Sickboy, and Eleni Maragaki, as well as Purling’s own creative director and artist Gosia Łapsa-Malawska.
We sent out the announcement surrounding The Art of the Game exhibition early on to raise awareness around the event and invited targeted media and influencers to attend the Private View, offering them the chance to see special edition chess sets and other works of art in an intimate setting. We also advised on and shared high-quality images from the opening night of the exhibition with picture desks and photo editors at national outlets. Following the exhibition, we reached out to attendees alongside all media contacts with whom we had been in conversation to offer them special discounts on Purling products and to encourage them to visit The Art of the Game exhibition in remaining days for those who were unable to attend the PV.
In the second part of our campaign for Purling following the end of the exhibition, we focused on raising brand awareness for Purling and driving Christmas sales by sending out a gifting specific pitch to shopping desks and shopping editors at national, lifestyle, and arts outlets. We followed up with these pitches offering new products as Purling updated their Christmas catalogue, highlighting their chess sets, card packs, and backgammon sets as the perfect gift for those with a love of games, art, and the finer things in life. We highlighted the quality of Purling’s products with descriptions of the materials and craftsmanship, while positioning them as playable art pieces.
We also aimed to appeal to chess specific media by carrying out an audit of outlets and journalists who had covered the Chess Olympiad 2024. We highlighted Zsoka Gaal, Hungarian Woman International Master (WIM) of chess, as an official Brand Ambassador for Purling. In addition, we positioned Financial Director James McCarthy as a ‘chess whizz’ and put him forward for interview on the benefits of chess on cognitive wellbeing, drawing on studies surrounding this topic. We also offered comment from Purling spokespeople on the significance of chess in the cultural zeitgeist.
We worked closely with the Purling team to advise on their paid media strategy, complementing our editorial coverage with ads and sponsored placements in a variety of outlets.
The Results
Midas secured national coverage for Purling ahead of The Art of the Game with a full page print spread in The Telegraph featuring the Noctua chess set, as well as international coverage in CNBC with an interview featuring Gosia’s thoughts on the art market. We also achieved high-quality broadcast coverage with BBC TV London, who covered The Art of the Game in a standalone segment featuring the exhibition and an interview with James, and Monocle, who ran an interview with featured artist Sophie Matisse in their ‘Monocle on Culture’ section.
We secured additional coverage for The Art of the Game in a variety of art-specific media including listings in ArtRabbit, Craft Council, Arts and Collections, and Artists & Illustrators, who included the exhibition in their ‘Sketchbook’ section. Arts and Collections also ran a separate feature on the exhibition in print. The Art Collector ran an advertorial group interview with the artists also secured by Midas and BBeyond Magazine posted about the interview on their social media.
Within London media, Londonist included a listing for The Art of the Game and Life Magazines and Mayfair Times also ran paid advertisements for the exhibition.
We secured press attendees at the PV of The Art of the Game from The Art Collector, Found_London, and Out in London at the Private View, resulting in coverage from Out in London on their social media platform. We also received RSVPs and interest from journalists at Wallpaper, SHOWStudio, Time & Leisure, BBeyond Magazine, Kensington & Chelsea Magazine, and Families SW London. While these journalists were ultimately unable to attend the PV, we are happy to have familiarised them with the Purling name and brand.
This campaign was led by Madison Sotos