Affordable Art Fair

Overview

The Affordable Art Fair is an international, contemporary art fair held in different cities around the world. First launched in Battersea Park, London. Looking at the current London fairs for 2023 PKC were brought in to work with AAF to focus on strategies and approaches to re-engineering its VIP engagement model, in response to the rapidly changing and economic landscape. Through the development of the VIP strategy and offer AAF aimed to grow its network of top art collectors and art buyers, who are actively engaged with the AAF London and buy art regularly at a high level. A VIP development strategy would be crucial to increasing engagement among current and future attendees and the wider community in a systemic and sustainable way, as well as an integral part of the case for further investment from those buyers.

What I Did

The aim was be to grow a network of art buyers who are willing to spend at the upper brackets of the AAF price range (£5,000 - £7,500) so that the fair continued to be an attractive option for quality galleries presenting work at this level.

PKC worked with the team, to develop an engagement framework which defined current and future collectors for the VIP offer and produce a strategy that applied across upcoming fairs and beyond, to launch in summer 2023 and developed across 2024. With an important 25th anniversary for the Battersea Autumn 2024 fair it is important that the strategy was tried and tested in advance of this.

We conducted an audit of all current data, digital community data and a deeper view of those currently considered VIP, created a competitor analysis, developed an assets and audience mapping workshop with the team, held stakeholder interviews and created target audience personas with advice on key segmentation targeting via Mosaic. We created set criteria to better define their VIPs, then offered recommendations on outreach, marketing, content and platforms. Finally we developed a brand concept for the VIP programme that was scalable and also transferable to their international fairs.

Results

The scheme launched in early September 2023 and in the first month 260 individuals had joined as members, additionally Affordable Art Fair secured key partnerships with The Ned and Quintessentially, alongside some top interior design agencies.