Christie’s Continues to Increase Engagement & Attract New Audiences

Christie’s 3rd Art+Tech Summit: Mixed Reality to be held in Hong Kong on 21 November

[b]47% increase in Audience Engagement to Content Channels in first half of 2019[/b]

[b][b]Christie’s Global Lates program continues to welcome new art enthusiasts[/b][/b]

[b][b][b]Marketing, Content and Communications Team Win Industry Awards[/b][/b][/b]

[b][b][b][b]Christie’s leading Print Magazine celebrates September/October issue with bold new design and relaunch of subscription[/b][/b][/b][/b]

 Christie’s continues to successfully attract new audiences with 27% of all buyers new to Christie’s during the first half of 2019. Continued investment in Christie’s digital initiatives, a diverse range of programming around the world and refreshed publications and content, have helped attract new audiences to collecting, with traffic to christies.com also up 28% to date this year. 

Amy Wexler, Chief Marketing Officer, commented: “Providing engaging access to the world of collecting underpins all our activities, and Christie’s integrated marketing team is committed to reaching new audiences through innovative campaigns, unique storytelling via our content, communications and creative channels combined with personalised digital experiences.  Our role is to connect and inspire existing clients and to build the relationship between Christie’s and new or aspiring collectors and enthusiasts.”

Christie’s Magazine

Christie’s Magazine, published six times a year, showcases sale highlights from the full range of regions and categories, alongside inspiring editorial features about the arts, artists and collecting. The publication presents a range of features with the best in photography and design, celebrating cross-category collecting and engaging readers around the breadth, expertise and quality of Christie’s activities and the broader art world. Distinguished art critic and broadcaster Andrew Graham-Dixon writes a regular column and contributors have included Martin Gayford, Tracey Emin, Esther Freud and Alan Hollinghurst. Each issue visits the home of one of the world’s leading collectors from Los Angeles to Tasmania and reports on must-see exhibitions and museums. The September/ October sales season focuses on Post-War and Contemporary Art Sales in London, Classic Week in New York, and Chicago Week, our celebration of one of America’s key cultural cities. Take a look inside the issue here.

Christie’s Weekly Online Magazine

Complementing the print magazine, Christie’s digital magazine is distributed to more than 300,000 collectors each week.  Accounting for 1 in 4 visits to the website, 32% of all unique users on christies.com view editorial content. Sign up with your email address at the bottom of this page.

Art + Tech Summit

The 2019 Art + Tech Summit: The A.I. Revolution held in New York in June, affirmed Christie’s commitment to lead the conversation about the intersection of technology, art and the art market. Bringing together thought leaders, industry experts and artists for a series of lectures and panel discussions the day explored the impact of artificial intelligence (A.I.) on all aspects of the art world.  The next iteration of this event, Art+Tech: Mixed Reality, will be held in Hong Kong on 21 November. This one-day conference will be the first summit in Asia to focus on the disruptive power of technology as applied to arts and culture. The agenda will explore the role and impact of immersive experiences through augmented, virtual and mixed realities in every aspect of contemporary living. A mix of lectures, talks and panel discussions will bring together innovators and artists who adopt digital tools in their practice as well as industry entrepreneurs who design digital platforms to enhance the display, connoisseurship and collecting in today’s global art market. The continued influences of blockchain and artificial intelligence will be revisited.

Social Media

Increasing engagement with social media platforms has seen a 38% increase in visits to christies.com via our social media platforms, with organic (non-paid) social traffic increasing 76% in the first half of this year. Instagram audience engagement was up 72%, in part lifted by strategic partnerships with influencers and tastemakers. Christie’s main WeChat account has seen an increase of 28% in followers in the first half of 2019 driven by a dedicated acquisition strategy, curated content based on data insight, along with personalized notifications, an improved sales-driven menu and a new pdf download function.

Christie’s Lates Program

The increasingly successful Lates program now established in London, New York, Shanghai and Hong Kong is an important part of efforts to welcome new audiences to Christie’s. Working alongside outside partners, each evening provides entertainment, talks and workshops, enhanced by great food and drink. Attracting a younger group of collectors, these after-hours evenings in London, are regularly attracting around 1,000 people each month.

Personalised Client Experiences

In addition, Christie’s enhanced Client Relationship Management (CRM) uses personalization to drive engagement across all categories and markets. Average weekly visits to christies.com driven by CRM emails have increased over 300% across the last five years; our weekly consolidated emails have an open rate of up to 39%, nearly double the industry average. In addition, the click rate on consolidated emails is now up to 27%, nearly triple the industry average. Additional advances since May have also led to a 150% increase in auction estimate requests made online and a corresponding increase in clients creating new Christie’s online accounts.

“Christie’s global promotional capabilities—combined with relationships, expertise, passion and teamwork—reinforce Christie’s brand and leading industry status,” concluded Amy Wexler, Chief Marketing Officer.

Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, had auction sales in the first half of 2019 that totalled £2.2 billion / $2.8 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and international expertise. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery.

Alongside regular sales online, Christie’s has a global presence in 46 countries, with 10 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

*Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price - see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue.

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are reported net of applicable fees.