Awards are always huge milestones in a profession. This Christmas, the creative and media industry gave a great feedback to the Müpa: they are on the best way with their marketing strategy.
In a book I’ve recently read, there is a professor of legal studies who hides his certificates and awards in his desk after each of the festive ceremonies. When they ask him about it, he says he didn’t want his family to identify him with the awards. He wants to separate his identities as a family father and a very successful professional who is awarded all the time.
But there can be another way of dealing with awards: the ones received by Müpa these days are so great that they could be put on the branches of a Christmas tree as ornaments. The branches symbolise the superb team who went through this difficult year with many creative ideas, not only keeping but also strengthening the loyalty of the audience, and I’m sure they also won a lot of new fans.
They had to be resourceful in a situation changing from day to day, from hour to hour, where concerts could be cancelled and institutions closed any time, under the totally unpredictable government regulations. I can say from my own experience that a marketing and communications team is on a 24-hour alert to be able to react well to the new situation.
Let’s see what these ornaments are. On the top of the Christmas tree, there is a three-pointed star, because Müpa won the silver Effie Award in three categories. The Effie, called ‘the Oscar of marketing’ since 1968, is the symbol of output, creativity and efficiency. The competition is held in more than 50 countries of the world today, and the Hungarian jury consists of 120 people from leading roles in the creative industry. The award focuses on the marketing campaign of the Christmas period. In the case of Müpa, it was a complex, multi-sided project, engaging multiple arts and a charity organisation. They also received the classification ‘RED’ in the category Event Design, making it one of the seven best works.
This being a giant competition, one can ask what makes Müpa so outstanding among Hungarian institutions. I don’t know the specific reasons of the jury, but I can definitely tell how passionate, humble and determined Dóra Juhász is. She, as the PR director of the Müpa, gave a presentation years ago which I still remember, especially the parts when she spoke about teamwork. I felt like I wanted to join this team right then, to look behind the scenes, seeing how a project is developed and executed in everyday life. I could also feel their unique perspective which makes Müpa extraordinary and special among cultural institutions.
Back to the ornaments: another nice one is the Prizma Creative PR Award, taken by the Müpa Home series launched in spring. The category was PR Communication Strategies in Connection to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and anyone who followed Müpa those days can agree with it. It made us possible to watch shows from our homes which we might have missed at their original dates – the two Bartók operas, for instance, were a wonderful experience for me. If you haven’t started to follow this series yet, it is highly recommended!
The secret recipe of the Christmas success starts with the smallest ones. Give them a colouring book that connects music with other art forms and send it to schoolchildren as part of a partner programme. Then make a short movie that lets audience peek behind the scene and feel how transformative are music and art in our life. Then add some online streams to please your guests the most.
The professional feedback shows that Müpa found the best way to feed the audience with great things and make the connection even stronger, even if we can only meet in the virtual space and concerts have to happen without audience. Check the live broadcasts of the upcoming days and let them take you away with them!
Article: Anna Rácz
Translation: Zsófia Hacsek
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