Social distancing means that many of the big-name museums are booked out months in advance, especially for favourite time slots. MullenLowe Profero saw an opportunity for smaller museums and galleries, that are still struggling after Covid closed their doors for months, to be noticed.

The agency created Art Pass Unbooked for the UK’s national art charity, Art Fund. It’s an online tool that uses ticketing data to invite users to explore museums near them that have upcoming availability. It presents people with a local, lesser-known museum or gallery and allows them to book. The tool was developed to use Art Tickets data, Art Fund’s free ticket management system designed collaboratively by museums for museums to make selling tickets simple.

Rachel Wells, executive creative director at MullenLowe Profero, stated, “As the UK started to open up, we noticed that many big exhibitions and galleries were rapidly selling out and ticket availability was hard to find as everyone eagerly got back to soaking up art and culture. Not only will the website help to solve booking frustration, but really importantly it will help to support museums and galleries that have been so badly impacted since the pandemic; directing visitors to destinations with availability, even at short notice, to maximise ticket sale opportunities.”

Art Pass Unbooked is open to everyone, with or without a National Art Pass. Art Fund’s National Art Pass offers members free or reduced-price entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic houses across the UK as well as 50% off major exhibitions (including those at Tate, the V&A and the British Museum). Many of the destinations available through Art Pass Unbooked offer free or reduced-price entry with a National Art Pass (artfund.org/NationalArtPass).

Carolyn Young, director of marketing at Art Fund, stated, “Given the huge rise in staycations this year, Art Pass Unbooked is an inspired idea to give the public a hassle-free way to find and visit local museums and galleries, shining a spotlight on less-well known venues around the UK. The project was only possible because Museums have been collaborating in the last few years on developing their own combined ticketing platform Art Tickets, through Art Fund. MullenLowe developed a fantastic tool to harness the power of that data for the benefit of visitors and museums alike, at a time when they need it the most.”

Rowan Kisby, strategy director at MullenLowe Profero, added, “It’s always exciting when an idea like this comes along: one that actively delivers on the brand’s purpose while helping fix a real, pressing problem for real people. And you can always tell it’s a great idea when everyone pulls out the stops to make it happen in such a short time frame. From agency to client to build partner, the team have really rallied to bring Art Pass Unbooked to life without compromise, despite the fast turnaround, and it’s a credit to them all.”

Credits:

Client: Art Fund
Director of Marketing: Carolyn Young,
Senior Marketing Manager, National Art Pass: Samantha Grayson 
Head of Digital Services: Mike Keating
Senior Marketing Manager, Museum Marketing: Howard Buckley
Senior Marketing Manager, Supporter Experience: Ellie Trigg

Agency: MullenLowe Profero (part of MullenLowe Group UK)
Executive Partner: Laurence Green 
Executive Creative Director: Rachel Wells 
Strategy Director: Rowan Kisby
Group Account Director: Lucy Hollingsworth
Head of Project Management: Karen Franklyn
Senior Project Manager: David Underwood 
Lead Product Designer: Elspeth Belden 
Copywriter: Becci Winstone 
Senior User Experience Architect: Jessi Tabalba

Build Partner: Online Solutions