Results
223
Collectors reactivated by Artbrain campaigns in the first 18 months. They were previously inactive for over 12 months.
$1,190,250
In bids from collectors reactivated by Artbrain, representing ~9.5% of the total bids placed during the first 12 months .
+33%
YoY growth in the number of bidders per item within 12 months of joining Artbrain .
$850,565
In winning bids from collectors reactivated by Artbrain in the first 18 months
“Artbrain has become indispensable in our marketing toolkit. Their technology consistently reactivates dormant collectors with well-matched items, increasing bids and revenues. And the fact that it is all automated and analyzed is extremely efficient!”
Nathan Martinez
Advertising & Marketing Director, John Moran Auctioneers
Customer
John Moran Auctioneers was founded over 50 years ago in California and has since sold over $500 million worth of luxury items and art, setting numerous world auction records. As a family-owned and operated auction house, they take pride in maintaining personal relationships with collectors, and offering a boutique approach with a high level of service.
Thanks to visionary leadership, John Moran is also a leader of auction digitalization. In 2005, their legendary California & American Fine Art auctions supported online viewing and bidding opportunities.
Challenge
In early 2020, John Moran’s newly revamped website provided collectors with easier access to lot information but the auction house still relied heavily on in-person previews and blanket “all-customer” marketing campaigns to attract collectors to their site.
Although a department specialist at John Moran’s directly contacted all active collectors, personalized digital marketing to a broad audience had yet to be deployed.
To augment their specialists with an expanded outreach program, that retained the specificity and personal understanding of each collector’s interests, John Moran joined Artbrain.
Solution
Artbrain set out to generate overall business growth using AI-powered personalized marketing. An emphasis was placed on inactive collectors who had not placed a bid for over 12 months.
After securely adapting advanced machine learning algorithms to John Moran’s catalog, Artbrain’s system sent unique lot recommendations to each collector. Only those with a solid match to specific items on sale received an email.
Artbrain set up live data-driven dashboards that were crucial for achieving positive results. Most traditional auction house CRM systems are not data-driven and provide little insight to guide further action. Artbrain provided John Moran’s with comprehensive behavior analyses and performance metrics on every aspect of their marketing efforts. Campaigns can be easily adjusted on the go for maximum impact on every sale.
The results far exceeded expectations.
Impact
→ Within the first year of working with Artbrain, the average number of bidders per item increased by 33%, directly influencing final hammer prices.
→ Artbrain also reactivated 152 collectors in the first year, at the height of the pandemic, directly accounting for $1.19 million, which is 9.43% of all bids placed by all collectors.
→ In the first 18 months, Artbrain campaigns reactivated 223 of John Moran’s collectors, who purchased artworks worth over $850k.