Social networks become the essential part of the human life. Having a profile on Facebook is not enough. To stay updated and to be aware of trends people draw the attention towards Instagram or Twitter. Taking into consideration art, it should be stressed that it has already shifted from the position that art is not for everyone to be closer to people. Art and social networks are connected. The major purpose of the paper is to evaluate how the Russian Instagram channel can develop in Phillips Auction House using the SWOT and PESTLE analysis.
Instagram emerged in 2010 as a platform for sharing photos and small videos. The users of Instagram can discover art from this mobile app. Mr. de Pury once stated:
When you see something on Instagram that is hanging in a gallery somewhere and you want to acquire, you can instantly call up the gallery. I am sure that a number of transactions are taking place as the result of works being shown on Instagram. I am sure it is a quite common law (Siegal 2015).
Phillips Auction House is famous for their focus on the emerging art. The priority receives contemporary and modern art. The major idea of the Phillips Auction House is to draw the attention of the audience to what is going on as art reflects all the burning issue and feeling of the society. Taking into consideration the possible development of the relationship between Russia and Phillips Action House the relevance of the Russian contemporary and modern art should be examined through the prism of Instagram.
The pivotal strength of using Instagram to promote the Russian art is that the posts are easy to share on every social network (Twitter, Facebook). More than 400 million of people access the network daily; the ‘discover’ function will help the piece of art to reach as many potential customers and Phillips Auction House managers as possible. However, it should be stressed that to develop certain plan one should take into consideration possible weaknesses of the Instagram platform. First and foremost, it is the privacy of users. In addition, there are too many similar contents. It might be very difficult to promote the Russian contemporary art as there is a great number of people working in the similar sphere.
Despite the weaknesses, Instagram offers some opportunities, namely the highly professional management can increase the popularity of Russian art in a significant way and make it possible for the art to be presented in the Phillips Auction House. Nevertheless, threats also take place. Tense competition is a barrier to success; however, it can be overcome with the continuous development of the exceptional product and constant innovation.
To get better involved in the issue and evaluate the development of Russian art in Phillip Auction House with the help of the Instagram channel political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental aspects should be taken into consideration. The president of Russian Federation has an impressive influence on the society. Social media is strictly controlled. Art and politics have always been highly connected in Russia. Moreover, most of the time those artists who criticized the government could have been arrested. However, in case the artist contributes to advocating of the governmental objectives, he will not face difficulties. Russian art Instagram channels are supported by the public, and that is, have big chances to become popular and be added to the ‘discover’ list of users. This way the Phillips Auction House will turn attention towards the Russian contemporary art.
Despite the fact that not every Russian citizen can afford to buy pieces of art because of economic crisis, there are still a lot of wealthy people who are interested in art. In addition, sanctions influenced the art market in Russia in a significant way. However, it should be stressed that the vast majority of billionaires do not suffer from sanctions and still can promote Russian art in the Phillips Auction House. The Instagram posts have already increased the popularity of the Russian modern art. It is worth stating that some works are sold for millions of dollars despite the crisis (Mance 2014).
Instagram is popular because it allows to stay tuned, keep touch with friends and follow the trend. The modern art content enjoys a great popularity. People subscribe, like photos. However, to improve the tendency artists should always be in progress and master their works. Instagram helps the art industry to grow and develop. It is a perfect tool to increase the popularity of the Russian modern art.
Mobile app allows millions of people to see the post in one minute. The more likes the post gets, the bigger chances are to be on a top list. The technological side of the issue is not a problem as the vast majority of people have smartphones and the Internet access. The government strictly controls the spread of the information in Russian Federation. The art is not the exception. According to the government, there should be no message for the illegal activity, intent to riot, or governmental critique.
Sometimes people think about quitting the usage of the social networks. However, it will have no side effect on promoting Russian art on Instagram as the vast majority of the users stay online, and, in addition, thousands of users register in Instagram daily.
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the Russian Instagram channel have chances to draw the attention of the Phillips Auction House, however, a number of aspects, namely political and economic can be an obstacle on the way. One of the ways of solving the problem is to change and improve the political and economic environment.
Reference List
Mance, H 2014. ‘Ukraine tensions cast shadow over art world – FT.com’, Financial Times. Web.
Siegal, N 2015. ‘Instagram Takes on Growing Role in the Art Market’. The New York Times, The New York Times, Web.