I found this piece on USBanker in March about financial institutions sponsoring the arts.
"Arts sponsorships, long viewed by financial companies as a sure bet for burnishing their reputations, may be the next victim of a crackdown on spending.
Several banking companies, especially those accepting government funds, have been criticized by consumers and politicians for sports-related marketing deals. So far financial institutions have avoided the same level of scrutiny for spending on arts or nonprofit programs. But observers are warning that any sort of sponsorship spending — even donations that have long been considered philanthropic — could generate a public backlash."
I was having conversations with major financial institutions (Lehman!) in late 2007 about their interest in exhibitions. The bottom line was that they could no longer justify spending a million dollars on blockbuster exhibitions because their financial advisors (FA's) didn't find them valuable. In fact, most of the financial advisors knew nothing about the artists and didn't care. They wanted access to target audiences, small gatherings and "money can't buy" experiences to upsell their clients. The exhibitions didn't deliver that anymore.
So rather than walking away from the conversation, we talked about ways to work together. They suggested that we put together a private family day where the FA's could invite their clients and families for a day over the weekend to participate in art programs. Apparently many of the FA's clients were so busy during the week that they didn't have time for cocktail parties or private viewings. They had to get home to the family. Because their clients such as hedge fund managers were so busy with work, they felt guilty going to a glitzy champagne event while their kids were with the nanny. This idea of a family day would 1) get the FA's in front of clients 2) get the clients out with their families 3) make Lehman look good by providing a great experience for the entire family. Brilliant.
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