Venice: Financial Drought Causes Ad Flood

Usually, the city of Venice is partially flooded by water a number of times every year, courtesy of its slowly sinking foundation.  However, these days the city called "La Serenissima," or most serene,  is facing a different kind of flood -- one it is much less prepared to stem.  

In short, tourism is down, money is tight and the city's world-famous architecture is crumbling, literally threatening lives, such as a German tourist's who was hit by a piece of marble that fell from the Doge's Palace last year.  For Venice, drastic times call for drastic measures. City officials have resorted to turning their prime real estate, the city's famous facades, into gigantic billboards for national and international brands.

No question the move is crude and greatly damaging to the city's cultural brand capital.  But not because the city sold out -- rather because of the way it did it.  To me, it is mostly about lost opportunities.

Venice was built on commerce, and its architectural splendor is the result of it.  At the same time, Venetians have always been protective of their city, particularly Piazza San Marco, the center, banning all free-standing representations of human beings with the exception of the patron saints, Theodore and Mark.  Bringing together these two diametrically opposed facets of the city's brand narrative calls for more than the most traditional of advertising forms.  Let's face it, art and commerce have always gone hand in hand, but times are changing, and so are the ways the two work together.  Others, such as Good Magazine and Monocle, have already chartered the way. 

The answer: branded content.

Venice missed a magnificent opportunity to set new standards for outdoor advertising and, ultimately, fundraising.  Instead of doing the obvious, it could have leveraged its world-renowned Venice Biennale, which in itself is dedicated to art, architecture, film, music and more.  It could have brokered partnerships between the artists who participate in the events and the brands who currently turn Venice into a brand Disneyland.  The result could have been site-specific art works (branded content) as stunning as the solar-powered Night Garden in Jerusalem, which was developed by artists in cooperation with the Israel Electric Corporation earlier this year. Instead of being intrusive, it would have enhanced visitor experiences and enticed them to engage more deeply with the city and the "advertising" brands.  Such displays might attracted additional tourists and more advertisers.

In addition, the installations would have provided content fit to be shared and distributed through social media, thus reaching more than those physically in Venice. The city could have further leveraged social media by inviting people to help fund restorations of specific buildings and track the progress made, just as the Jolonka Foundation does so masterfully.

Moreover, the appeal of the Biennale could have been extended beyond the exclusive art world.  Venice could have turned itself into the biggest open-air cinema, placing screens throughout the city to allow the public to be part of the nightly viewings.  Again, the screens could have served double-duty, projecting movies and event-specific advertorials. 

Too bad Venice didn't recognize the signs of the times and continue its history of commercial innovation.  Instead of turning a negative into a positive, Venice managed to do the opposite and look old for more than one reason.