The Messenger

2015 Oil on Italian Linen 100x120cm

Those Popes knew a thing or two about marketing. As you might expect, given they lead the world’s largest and longest-running corporation. 

And what a business! Its target audience was everyone and the age demographic, one’s entire life and beyond. And because its products cost nothing to make, the corporation was able to spend a huge proportion of their income marketing the brand. 

They did this by investing in their customer interface environments (churches) and via product placement (public artworks). And then cleverly disguised this marketing by calling it art. As both head office and corporate town, Rome is full of this art stuff. 

But with the brand now on the wane, nonperforming divisions have been jettisoned and assets sold off. Unless there is a strategic re-branding or dramatic improvement in the marketing, it is likely this trend will continue.