When Worlds Collide

This week Hendrick’s Gin is bringing NFTs to the Saatchi gallery — bringing together the digital, the physical, and the branded.

This year NFT news has been everywhere — bringing people closer to art when they were physically very far from it. In previous articles, we’ve covered the use of NFTs by Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics for example, letting fans experience buying souvenirs like they would at any other Olympics other than one taking place in a pandemic.

In this week’s branded content news, Hendrick’s Gin isn’t just using NFTs to mimic the real world, but rather bringing them into the real world, producing an exhibition of NFTs at the Saatchi gallery where guests are invited to enjoy works aimed at commemorating “this most unique of summers”. Work by sculptor Polly Morgan, spoken word artist and commentator Raven Smith and digital artists Ray Caesar and Jake Elwes is due to be displayed, bridging the gap between the digital and the physical. It’s also available to view (and bid on) online.

“In 2021, digital, mixed media and conceptual art is the means of creation — from the ephemeral, the live, to the immersive, the virtual and the online. Since the inception of Hendrick’s Gin, we’ve always been close to and involved in the arts,” Ifan Jenkins, marketing director at Hendrick’s owner William Grant & Sons UK, explains.

This focus is something we have seen throughout branded content trends this year — NFTs and other innovative digital projects are booming and, as the world largely comes out of lockdown, OOH advertising has seen a rise too — especially anything a little strange that gets viewers talking. Bringing together those two concept then, may be an extremely smart move for the Hendrick’s Gin brand — tapping in to two hot trends this year, as well as showing a dedication to the arts; an industry that has suffered significantly over the last 2 years.

“As proud purveyors of the peculiar we are passionate about the collision of curiosity and creativity, and creators that we admire are now producing work that doesn’t fit in a traditional gilded frame. By commissioning these one-of-a-kind NFTs, we are supporting a format which gives digital artists more protection over their work and rewarding those curious enough to seek it out.” Jenkins added.

The proceeds from the sale of these NFTs will go towards learning programs at the Saatchi Gallery, further showing that the aim of this project, other than to get art lovers and NFT enthusiasts sipping Hendrick’s Cucumber Lemonade, is rooted in promotion of the arts and artists.

While creating NFTs, or hosting them in a gallery, may be a little beyond many brands and individual artist/designers, the concept is an interesting one for the future of advertising, and branded content experiences. Creating an event or feature that audiences can participate in — competitions, exhibitions, artistic displays — rather than being passive consumers, seems to be the way to capture attention in modern campaigns. Even if they don’t have thousands to shell out on newly minted limited edition NFTs…