My French consideration of sponsorship…

To be honest, I have never had any experience in the sponsorship world. I only know that it exists, I only know some rudiments.

In France, most of the sponsors work with sportive events, rarely with cultural ones. Indeed, when companies take part in a cultural event by giving money, it is mainly through mécénat, rather than sponsorship strictly speaking. The difference is in line with the advantage you can get if you are a sponsor or a mécène. A sponsor invests money to be seen during the event and actually to create an image and make the most of that investment in a long term. Whereas, in theory, a mécène does not wait for direct advantages from his donation. It is a disinterested act.

I said “in theory”, because I think it is not as simple as it seems. Firstly, when you donated as a mécène, you can get some fiscal advantages (discount on your taxes on profits). Secondly, as a matter of principle, most of the cultural events organizers make mécènes visible, through logotypes, public thanks… And, in fact, company takes advantage of this communication.

I can give you a recent example, which involves the most well-known French museum : Le Louvre. In the hope of acquiring the Lucas Cranach’s painting, named The Three Graces (late Renaissance) and listed as a National Treasure, Le Louvre launched a campaign of mécénat, on November 13^rd 2010, in order to gather 1 million euros (the last sum it needed to acquire the painting. The complete necessary sum was 4 millions). Anyone was able to donate any sum he wanted to.

At the end, the million has been gathered in only one month, thanks to 26 companies and more than 5 000 private individuals.

The reason why I know how many companies participated is that they appeared on the official website of the campaign (http://www.troisgraces.fr/EN/#/home). It is already a form of communication for these companies which, in theory, did not want to enjoy direct advantages…

Moreover, Le Louvre will organize a special exhibition, for one month, from March 2^nd to April 4^th 2011, in order to thank all the contributors. The painting will be shown in a room where donors will be named and introduced to the audience.

I think the giver companies got a considerable communication and fame since they participated in this project, even if they were just mécènes.

Manolosanctis, the social network for comics enthusiasts

As the most of the exchange students know (I should say all of them), I am fond of comic books. That is why I would like you to discover a French social media completely focused on comics, not to say amateur comics, launched in 2009 and already well-known in the enthusiasts’ world. Actually, this social media is above all a participative publishing house specialized in comics and called Manolosanctis, allowing anyone to post his own comics. Thus, your work can be seen, criticized, graded, improved thanks to all the members of this specialized social network… And published, if you start to be fame to the members who make you more visible by the grade and review system ; and if Manolosanctis’ work team is interested in commercializing your comic(s).

Here is the link of Manolosanctis’ website, in its recently English version :

http://www.manolosanctis.com/

Up to now, seventeen albums have been published, some are still freely accessible on line, the others are exclusively available in bookstores. If those publications are obviously attractive for young authors, for us, speaking about social media, it is interesting to see how the passion is shared on line. Statistics can reflect the Manolosanctis’ system and success. For instance, today, 17 290 members take part in the network, there are 861 authors, 1 686 albums, 5 794 reviews and more than 1,6 millions readings.

 

More precisely, as a reader, you can create a profile in order to organize your favorite albums, be informed of your latest favorite authors’ newness, make criticisms, share your opinion on the forum, enjoy the email system…

I think Manolosanctis is the first French comic book house to test out a participative and community publishing. That is why, today, it is suffering from one’s criticisms. Indeed, some people are radically against this novelty, thinking that choosing to publish the somebody’s comic is not the amateurs and audience’s work, but the professionals’ one. Actually, they are afraid that the quality of the new wave of comics, chosen by average people, becomes to be bad.

I think that this debate concerning comic books on line applies to the global issue of social medias. They give the opportunity to anybody to behave like a professional, without really being one. It reminds me the controversy due to Twitter, allowing anybody to inform people in real time, that is to say, faster than journalists, whom the work is precisely to inform as immediately as possible. Is it a good way to vary information, news, opinions, reviews…? Is it a way to steal the professional’s work ?

The debate is open !

 

 

Is advertising an art ?

Advertising, such a big issue. Good or bad sector ? Artistic work or visual pollution ? The debate is vexed, since it refers to the conception people have about art, and to the definition they give to it. Moreover, it seems hard to see a sector whom the main purpose is to get as many money as it is possible as an artistic sector.

I would like to express my own opinion on this topic, considering my own experience that I got during my communication studies. Indeed, for three years, I have analyzed so many French posters, TV advertisements, fliers… I do not want to pretend that I am an expert, neither my opinion is the best to have. I just want you to be aware that my thoughts depend on the way I have learned advertising at university.

And precisely, I have learned advertising as an art. I have analyzed advertisements as pieces of art. I do not mean that it was necessarily considered as a noble production by my teachers. I mean that each time we analyzed advertisements, we were looking for symbols, signs, codes which made sens about the message spread by the object we were studying. After all (in France, anyway) you do the same when you are studying a painting from the 16^th century, for example. You look for all those elements the artist wanted to put in his piece in order to create a sens. It was already a form of communication.

But, can we call “Art” something that we study as an art ? Is it sufficient ?

I actually do not really know. But, I can add that, as in a painting, none of the elements that you can find in an advertisement are there by accident. All is perfectly well thought before the product is distributed in the public field. I want to come to say that there is a big work upstream. That is why, to me, some people think that advertising is a form of art. It is the result of a creation process, of a human reflexion.

During my latest studies’ three years, I have been asked to create some advertisements, imagining that they could be distributed in newspapers and other similar supports. I had to explain my technical choices, the different codes and visual strategies I was using, etc. The question is : was I feeling like an artist when I made them ? Actually, it was a form of artistic work, to me. Because of that creation process, in fact. And, I noticed that when I draw, paint, or create any illustration, for my own pleasure, the process is not so different : in the both cases, I am thinking about the final result I want to reach, about the effects on the future “readers” and it needs a lot of time to finish the work as I want it to properly be.