Client
Sotheby’s Institute of Art
Challenge
Build a social media campaign around faculty
Solution
Fascinating art world stories, delivered by Institution experts
Results
Sustained and Substantial Channel growth
Increased engagement
Increased conversion
Webby Award
Sotheby’s Institute of Art is one of the world’s leading institutions for education in art business, art history, luxury and the international art world. With programmes in London, New York and online, the Institute combines academic rigour with direct insight into the cultural and commercial forces shaping the art market.
TMAX partners with Sotheby’s Institute of Art to develop an ongoing content campaign that showcases the depth of the Institute’s expertise, brings the personality of its faculty to the forefront, and reaches prospective students across multiple digital platforms.
The Challenge
The content campaign should do more than simply promote courses. The aim is to communicate the quality, authority and cultural relevance of the institution by turning its academic expertise into engaging digital content.
The campaign needs to appeal to potential students, strengthen the Institute’s presence across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, and deliver consistent, sustained growth over time.
The challenge was to find formats that translate complex ideas into short, accessible videos without compromising the intelligence or premium feel of the brand.
The Strategy
Our strategy is to position Sotheby’s Institute of Art’s faculty as trusted digital presenters: knowledgeable, engaging voices who open up fascinating stories from the art world in a way that feels natural on social media.
Rather than creating generic promotional content, we focus on the expertise already within the institution. We work closely with faculty members to help them shape ideas, develop scripts, build confidence on camera and translate specialist knowledge into concise, platform-native storytelling.
The creative approach is built around high-end short-form videos that reflect the premium education Sotheby’s Institute of Art offers. Each video is designed to feel polished and authoritative, while still being immediate, entertaining and easy to engage with.
The Content
The campaign explores a wide range of topics designed to spark curiosity, conversation and debate. These include art movement explainers, hidden meanings in paintings, art crime stories, exhibition highlights, famous artists, the art market and unexpected connections between art and popular culture.
The short-form videos give audiences a regular stream of insightful, visually engaging content while also revealing the personalities behind the Institute’s faculty. This helps make the brand feel more accessible without losing its authority.
Multi-Platform content creation
Beyond social media shorts, we also develop some of the more ambitious ideas into longer-form documentary films for YouTube. These include films such as The Art Collection of David Bowie, The Incredible History of Edvard Munch’s Scream and Art Historian Reveals the Artists Behind Your Favourite Album Covers.
This allows the campaign to work on multiple levels: short-form content for reach, discovery and engagement, and longer-form films for deeper storytelling, brand authority and search-led value.
The Impact
The campaign strengthens the quality and consistency of Sotheby’s Institute of Art’s digital channels, helping the institution build a richer and more distinctive online presence.
By creating content that is both intellectually credible and highly engaging, the campaign supports sustained audience growth, encourages collaborations with other art institutions and helps drive valuable traffic to the Institute’s website and course pages.
Most importantly, the content gives prospective students a clearer sense of what makes Sotheby’s Institute of Art distinctive: access to expert voices, fascinating ideas and a direct connection to the wider art world.
Through long-term collaboration, TMAX is closely integrated with the Sotheby’s Institute of Art team, operating as an extension of the organisation rather than an external supplier.
This allows us to build a deep understanding of the Institute’s voice, priorities and audience, and to develop a content model that grows with the brand over time.
The result is a campaign that does not simply fill social media channels, but transforms institutional expertise into engaging, strategic content with lasting value across platforms.