„Spirit of Mozart“ - The Brand WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006
Long before the beginning of the Mozart Year 2006, there was a lot of talk about the dangers of a “Mozart overkill” resulting mainly from the marketing machinery. Mozart sausages, Mozart yogurt and Mozart sandwich spreads on the shelves of numerous supermarkets seemed to confirm this fear. WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 proved that there was another way of doing things - not only in its programming, but also as far as communication was concerned. “No pushy advertising!” was the central marketing strategy: no kitschy merchandising, no garish events - in other words, no big, noisy fuss that would die down in less time than it took to get started. The primary focus was always on conveying information in the form of a pleasant invitation, without condescension or coercion. The best example of this is the monthly magazine MozartNow, which accompanied its readers through the Vienna Mozart Year 2006 from January to December. The 32-page magazine, with a monthly print run of 400,000 copies, appeared as a supplement in the daily newspapers “Die Presse” and “Der Standard” and was also distributed at numerous cultural venues and at various events in Vienna and the other provinces of Austria, as well as at selected locations in neighbouring countries.
In addition, some 180 advertisements and about 400 television and radio trailers provided for a comprehensive information campaign, supplemented by a series of publications, including the 432- page programme for the year, biannual leporellofold programme brochures in several languages, a book about Mozart’s complete sacred music oeuvre, and a brochure on the programme for children and young people. In outdoor advertising, too, WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 put the emphasis on the “Spirit of Mozart”: the thoughts and ideas that link people with Mozart. The classic advertising campaign showed people in everyday situations; Mozart appeared not as a cliché-ridden figure but as a human being, and the people, conversely, were imbued with the “Spirit of Mozart”. Several advertising experts considered WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006’s advertising campaign the best and most coherent communication concept presented in the Mozart year 2006. Especially noteworthy was the design competition “Traces of Mozart”, in which young graphic designers were called upon to come up with creative ideas relating to the Mozart silhouette, that wellknown icon for the commercialisation of a genius. The eight winning subjects were presented in the newspaper Falter as well as on Gewista billboards.
Altogether, WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 maintained media presence over the course of the year with a variety of subjects at 19,000 locations in public spaces.We should like to take this occasion to express our heartfelt thanks to all the partners who contributed to the intensive and effective communication of the concept and intentions of WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006. We particularly want to thank the agencies BSX, Collettiva Design, onomato and checkpointmedia for their exceptional commitment. Sincere thanks also go to our media partners ORF Enterprise, Radio Ö1, Radio Stephansdom, Gewista, Kronen Zeitung, Die Presse, Der Standard, Falter, Bühne, profil, Format, Wiener Zeitung, Die Furche and VORMAGAZIN for their excellent cooperation and support. We especially want to thank the Vienna Tourist Board, which spread the “Spirit of Mozart” 2006 throughout the world.
“Every year is a Mozart year!” In keeping with this maxim, there is no need to worry about what will happen to Mozart after WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 is over. And besides: celebrating birthdays is always fun!
The clear and lucid logo design of WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 is the result of creative playing with the graphic similarity between the initials of “Mozart” and “Wien” (“Vienna”). This, moreover, can be seen in direct relation to Mozart’s love of word games and is thus an expression of his irrepressible creativity and imagination.
The WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006 claim “Spirit of Mozart” stands not only for the focus put on Mozart’s life and works, but particularly for our everyday reflections in the spirit of Mozart, that is, our constant search for new creative resources and their release and embodiment as creative energy.
