Louvre Abu Dhabi often gets overlooked by tourists in a city with so many attractions. So Publicis Middle East took Louvre Abu Dhabi to the streets to show people what they were missing. The art gallery transformed its artworks into street signs across the UAE’s busiest tourist hubs. Art didn’t just invite visitors in, it led them there.

The campaign reimagined outdoor billboards as an unexpected, first-of-its-kind cultural wayfinding system. Carefully selected from over 6,000 global masterpieces, each artwork became a directional cue, guiding audiences at every corner and turn, making Louvre Abu Dhabi not just visible, but unmissable. The journey didn’t stop at the city’s streets. The same art-led signs were reinterpreted as wayfinding devices within the museum itself, extending the concept beyond its walls. By bringing artworks from the galleries, and even from the storage collection, into public-facing spaces, the campaign blurred the line between inside and outside so that art accompanied visitors throughout their entire Aby Dhabi journey, transforming the path to the museum into a continuous cultural experience.

To amplify the impact, the outdoor activation was supported by digital campaign designed to remind audiences why following these directions mattered, featuring compelling reasons to visit. It used a data-driven media approach that combined telco intelligence, high-impact media takeovers, and precise audience targeting, to reach high-intent travellers at remarkable scale, turning curiosity into visitation.

Aunindo Sen, executive creative director at Publicis Middle East, stated, “Louvre Abu Dhabi is home to some of the world’s most renowned masterpieces. Yet it’s often overlooked due to flashier entertainment alternatives. This campaign turned an out-of-home execution into an out-of-museum one, showing people what they might be missing while giving them the directions.”

Anna Ferris, marketing manager at Louvre Abu Dhabi, added, “By transforming the lesser-known artworks from our collection into wayfinding, we invited people to follow the art itself towards the museum. Supported by targeted digital advertising, the campaign helped drive summer visits and encouraged deeper engagement with culture.”

Within the first week of the campaign, Louvre Abu Dhabi recorded a 37.5% increase in visits compared to the same period in 2024. Online ticket sales also rose significantly year on year, with a 79.9% increase (source: Google Analytics).