North Carolina Museum of Art selects MarketSmart Advertising to help promote Egyptian exhibit

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 03, 2007 -
MORRISVILLE, N.C. – The North Carolina Museum of Art has chosen MarketSmart Advertising, a full-service, integrated marketing communications firm and part of Think Partnership’s (AMEX:THK) Think Advertising division, to develop and implement a comprehensive media plan for the upcoming exhibit “Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from The British Museum.”  The exhibit will bring 85 masterworks and seldom-seen treasures to the Triangle area April 15 through July 8.

“Working with the Museum is an honor – especially during this time of renovation and growth,” said Jan Johnson, MarketSmart’s director of account management.  “The Museum experienced unprecedented success with the ‘Monet in Normandy’ exhibit, and we want to help them maintain momentum with ‘Temples and Tombs.’”

MarketSmart’s media department will use an interesting combination of traditional advertising, including television, radio and print, to promote the exhibit within the Triangle and interactive advertising statewide. Locally, MarketSmart will purchase interactive advertising on community-oriented Web sites.  

“Our research indicates that sophisticated travelers are most likely to be interested in Egyptian artifacts,” said Nancy Brinson, MarketSmart’s director of media services.  “So, we are also promoting the exhibit on www.Fodors.com, a Web site that appeals to such travelers worldwide, but we are geo-targeting the banner ads to reach only people with North Carolina IP addresses.”

“We chose MarketSmart because of their online marketing capabilities, and we are confident that their advertising plan will help us inform North Carolinians about this extraordinary opportunity to view some rarely-seen pieces of Egyptian history,” said Melanie Davis-Jones, the Museum’s director of marketing.

The North Carolina Museum of Art is one of only five museums nationwide featuring this exclusive exhibit.  While the Museum’s permanent collection includes pieces from ancient Egypt, “Temples and Tombs” is the Museum’s first major exhibition of Egyptian art.

For more information on “Temples and Tombs” or the North Carolina Museum of Art, visit www.ncartmuseum.org or call (919) 839-NCMA.

For more information on MarketSmart Advertising, contact Lia Luisi at (919) 463-9680 or via e-mail at lluisi@marketsmart.net.
   
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About MarketSmart Advertising
MarketSmart Advertising is a full-service, integrated marketing communications firm located in Morrisville, N.C.  Part of Think Partnership Inc. (AMEX:THK), an international leader in interactive performance-based marketing and related Internet technologies, MarketSmart Advertising has offered world-class advertising, marketing and branding services since 1991.  Over the years, the agency has grown to meet its clients’ needs by adding an audiovisual production house, a public relations department and mystery shopping services.  The advertising agency is currently ranked as the third largest in the Triangle region by the Triangle Business Journal.  For more information, contact MarketSmart Advertising at (919) 463-9680 or visit the agency’s Web site at www.marketsmart.net.

About the North Carolina Museum of Art
The North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection spans more than 5,000 years, from ancient Egypt to the present, making the institution one of the premier visual arts museums in the Southeast. The Museum uses its collection to provide educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for the citizens of North Carolina and beyond. The Museum offers a series of changing national touring exhibitions, classes, lectures, family activities, films, and concerts.  The North Carolina Museum of Art is located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh, and it is the art museum of the State of North Carolina and an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources.  General admission is free, but special exhibits require an admission fee.

About the “Temples and Tombs” exhibit
The “Temples and Tombs” exhibition includes sculpture, relief, papyri, jewelry, cosmetic implements, and funerary items, which provide a rare look at more than 3,000 years of Egyptian history. The exhibit explores four distinct themes: The King and the Temple; Objects from the Lives of Artists and Nobles; Statues of Egyptians from Temples and Tombs; and The Tomb, Death, and the Afterlife. The four thematic divisions of the exhibition allow for a specific examination of these masterworks in the context of the Egyptian temporal and cosmic worldview.  For more information on the exhibit, visit www.ncartmuseum.org/templesandtombs.