Body painting in Marketing & Advertising

The most common question people ask me when they hear I am a body painter, is what body painting can be used for. The list is almost endless - performances, events, parties, fashion, trade shows, music videos, photoshoots etc. On this post I'm now concentrating on one of the most interesting uses of body painting - advertising and marketing. 

I'll start with this example.

​Body Crash created by my collegue Emma Hack for Motor Accident Commission (MAC) of South Australia.

Image source: http://www.mac.sa.gov.au/media-packs

What do you think? In my opinion this is by far the best advertisement I have come across that uses body painting. It is clever and the message is obvious. Emma has done an amazing job in this, these kind of multi-body installations are very difficult to create. I've never done one but I hope I will get a chance one day.
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This ad is a perfect example of the effectiveness of body art. The painting can be done on one body or 15, it can be beautiful, shocking, objective or abstract, and the reason why it's great in advertising - It's art used as a messenger within a cleverly built concept.
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Why does it work so well?
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​There are plenty of other ways to get the message through, right? It's very simple - body painting always attracts attention. Yeah okay, but why? 

Us humans we are naturally intrested in the human body. We all understand human body - we all have one ourselves. We are also interested in art, one way or the other. So when these two interests are combined, that's where the magic happens. When the human body is dressed in paint, it becomes an art form that is easy to comprehend, and what makes it exceptionally interesting to look at is that the canvas is like you. Be it a still ad, a video commercial or a live promotion, body painting catches our eyes. It's fascinating and it often tricks the eye. It's art that breaths.
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The Process

​Body painting artist is usually booked to the project very early on. Often the idea and the concept is already done, but as there are many things to consider when using body painting, I recommend idea swapping and open & honest conversations with the artist and other team members before putting the stamp on the final goal.

​Advertising projects focus on delivering the best result for the client. Therefore depending on the project, sometimes the body painting artist can have more responsibility in the artistic direction of the process and sometimes they work more as the technician. All artists are different too so it's good to do some research and look for the one you feel would best suit your project. If you are unsure about how to use body painting in your campaign, contact the artist beforehand and ask questions. We are all passionate about our work and always willing to tell more about it and discuss ideas.

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Other examples of great marketing concepts using body painting:
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BODY TELLS THE STORY - Client: Pfizer - Agency: AC-Sanafor

Body painting artist: Riina Laine - Copyright: AC-Sanafor

This was a non-smoking campaign for Pfizer in Nov 2014 and Jul 2015. The goal was to show the dangers of smoking in a new and shivering way in which the visuality and the storytelling quality were the keys in creating high impact.

This campaign has now been praised internationally - the campaign won Silver Stevie Award at the 2015 International Business awards and it received Honorary Recognition of Excellence at 2015 Pharmaceutical Information Act of the Year. It was also short-listed at SABRE Awards EMEA 2015 and IPRA Golden World Awards.

This campaign received plenty of media attention and is the most commented/liked on my social media too.

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MINNA PARIKKA - Design & Production by Janine Rewell

Body painting: Riina Laine - Photo: Jonas Lundqvist

Body painting: Riina Laine - Photo: Jonas Lundqvist

​These pictures for shoe designer Minna Parikka show how perfectly body painting can be used within fashion advertising to support the original designs. This campaign has been shared in numerous blogs around the world and it received the Golden Prize at Vuoden Huiput (The Best of Finnish Advertising and Design competition).

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EFIMA EVOLUTION - Agency: Nordeswan & Siirilä

Body painting: Riina Laine - Photo: Marek Sabogal - Copyright: Efima Oy

Body painting: Riina Laine - Photo: Marek Sabogal - Copyright: Efima Oy

Efima Oy is a rapidly growing  IT company that develops and implements digital business and financial management processes. Their visual look has always been different than usually in their industry. Since 2010 they had animals representing the strengths and the features, the characteristics and the values of their company. With their rapid growth, the visual look also needed renewing. Nordenswan & Siirilä designed the natural evolution to them - Efima Evolution.

This project produced the company the branding visuals for their website, brochures, press materials, in-house & client magazine as well as their job advertisements. Combined with great copywriting the company stands out in their business field like no-one else. 

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MR DREAM - Client: Taiga Colors

Taiga Colors is a Finnish design studio specialized in pattern design. Taiga Colors has its own bag and interior design collection, and a flagship store in Helsinki. They also provide custom designed corporate gifts and interior design products for companies and public sector. Taiga Colors commissioned this painting to promote and celebrate their 'Daydream' print. The project combined a live body painting session for the visitors to watch and a photoshoot to capture the image for their social media campaign. Mr Dream invited people in the flagship store very successfully and the project itself works as another great example of collaborations between different design arts.

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And the latest example of body painting in advertising...

​One of Finland's most well known companies is soon launching a big campaign with body paintings... Can you guess the brand? ;) Follow my Facebook-page to find out... 
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Wanna see more examples of body paintings in advertising and marketing? Have a look at my Advertising, Events and PR portfolio. :)