Vice tries to make Art Basel a hub for brands

Vice Media Group is looking to bring more brands and chief marketing officers into the art world with a pop-up experience at Art Basel Miami Beach. The U.S. leg of a massive international art fair has increasingly cemented itself as not just the largest art exhibition in the country, but a site for emerging cultural trends. “This is really one of the hotbeds of future culture and what’s going to be happening next,” said Rich Santiago, senior VP, brand and creative experiences, Vice. “This is the place to be. And it’s not really well-known in the advertising world. We thought this was an interesting opportunity to bring in brands and also have them access the potential down at [Art] Basel in terms of activating and showing a really creative point of view.” Ad Age Next: CMO Get your tickets for the Dec. 7 event in New York Register here Throughout the festival, which this year runs from Dec. 1–3, Vice will take over the Carl Fisher Clubhouse, a historic building located next to the Miami Beach Convention Center, the art show’s venue. The pop-up, called “This Is Not a Test,” will feature programming across the event’s 72-hour run, including several art galleries; a “living” art installation that will transform over the course of the fair; performances from international hip hop artists; and speakers discussing the future of art and music, Santiago said. Vice is also partnering with several brands within the pop-up space, Santiago said. He declined to reveal which brands Vice is working with, only saying they would be announced closer to the event. “It’s not about logo slaps. This is about brands that are really interested in that conversation about where culture is going and want to be part of that conversation,” Jesse Angelo, president of global entertainment and news at Vice, added. “For brands, and especially CMOs, who want to be at the forefront of culture and have their brands be ahead of what’s coming next—be that in fashion, music, apparel, film and entertainment or graphic art—this is the place where that’s happening.” Brands are no strangers to Art Basel Miami Beach. At last year’s fair, Cheetos partnered with street artist Lefty Out There to produce an art piece made from the snack food’s orange dust, while BMW revealed a new vehicle model alongside a commissioned sculpture inspired by the car’s design. Several luxury fashion brands also had activations at the fair, including Saint Laurent, Loewe and Fendi. In addition to hosting a venue for brands to get involved in Art Basel, Vice’s three-day pop-up is a kickoff for the company’s upcoming yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the hip hop music genre, which can be traced back to Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc in August 1973. Throughout 2023, Vice will be looking back on the past 50 years of hip hop and exploring its impacts on culture, both in the past and the future, Santiago said. “We really did look at this as an experiment,” he said. “We’re not trying to be definitive about the next 50 years. We’re trying to have a really good time and see what the future could hold in the hands of all of these amazing young creators.” Vice Media Group is among several partners for the event. Others include the Financial Times, BMW, Perrier and investment banking company UBS. “Art Basel Miami Beach has become an amazing cultural tentpole and it is a week like no other in the United States,” Angelo said. “You have, obviously, the very top end of the art market there, but you also have an incredible class of young creatives and creators, celebrities and people that are interested in culture. There is a buzz around what is happening in art and culture that you really don’t experience anywhere else.” ~ ~ ~Clarification: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Vice Media Group was the first official media partner for Art Basel.

Vice tries to make Art Basel a hub for brands

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