Delevante led a landmark rebranding effort for Cheekwood, Nashville’s historic museum of art and botanical gardens, in 2006. Our creative team encouraged Cheekwood to lean into its legacy of hospitality with an identity that signaled its enthusiastic, inclusive desire to share art, gardens, and celebrations in every season.
The brand was enlivened by a series of highly popular, widely sought exhibits, including 2010’s Chihuly at Cheekwood. Delevante was honored to partner with Cheekwood to plan and execute a comprehensive campaign in support of the exhibit. We were challenged to reach diverse audiences with varying interests, from Cheekwood’s most loyal to those less familiar with the museum and fine art in general.
We leveraged the bold, colorful images of Chihuly’s awe-inspiring glass work along with familiar song titles that imbued a feel-good sensibility and issued an invitation with broad appeal.
Chihuly at Cheekwood was at that time the most successful in Cheekwood’s long history and helped to raise the destination’s appeal globally, setting it up for enduring success over the next decade and beyond. The strength of the high-profile marketing and advertising campaign was evident in the word-of-mouth buzz about town – and in Cheekwood’s incredible attendance and new membership figures: 265,000 attended the Chihuly exhibition; Cheekwood’s website realized a 230% increase during the exhibition; and attendance figures increased from 2009 to 2010 by almost 100%.
