Rippleffect gets artistic with the Hepworth Wakefield

The Hepworth Wakefield, the £35m art gallery in Yorkshire, has appointed Rippleffect to develop a multi-channel digital marketing campaign to promote the gallery ahead of its opening in spring 2011.

Rippleffect won the contract following an extensive and highly competitive tendering process involving local, regional and national agencies.

The brief will see the online marketing agency develop an interactive website, an online shop and a series of viral campaigns to raise awareness of The Hepworth Wakefield's art collections, diverse exhibitions and cultural offer.

The digital strategy, which will have a strong social media focus, involves creating a stand-out, SEO friendly and accessible website to help the gallery drive regional, national and international visitors to the Yorkshire attraction.

Andrew Binns, senior business development manager at Rippleffect, said: "The Hepworth Wakefield is one of the most significant cultural developments taking place in the UK in 2011. As the largest purpose-built gallery space outside of London, it will be a 'must visit' destination and the work we are doing will reflect this.

"We will focus on delivering an easy to navigate interactive site that will encourage visits and help The Hepworth Wakefield reach its commercial objectives and attract over 150,000 visitors to the city each year."

Hollie Latham, director of communications & marketing at The Hepworth Wakefield, said: "We are delighted to be working with Rippleffect to develop the key components of our digital communications strategy. The agency has already helped us to facilitate a number of important user group consultations, which have helped us to shape our online presence and we look forward to implementing the online campaign and increasing awareness of The Hepworth Wakefield in the forthcoming months."

The Hepworth Wakefield capital project has been made possible with support from Wakefield Council, Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire Forward, the European Union, and English Partnerships.