Awareness campaigns

A campaign starts from a finding: a behaviour to change or information to circulate. The team defines a clear message, a precise audience and measurable objectives. It then chooses the media, produces the content, mobilises relays and plans the evaluation.

Each campaign is tested on a sample of audiences before launch, to check that the message is understood and does not have the opposite effect. Content is adapted to cultures and languages.

"An object, a story" (2019) invited people to discover the story of a stolen and recovered object. "No provenance, no purchase" (2021), aimed at collectors, was relayed by auction houses. "Site Guardians" (2023) highlighted the residents who protect their heritage.

"Ask where it comes from" (2024) was aimed at the general public, with short spots and an online test: "Would you be able to spot a looted object?" More than two million people took it.

Each campaign is evaluated through indicators of audience (number of people reached), engagement (shares, visits, tests), understanding (before-and-after surveys) and behaviour (BIOP consultations, reports, training requests).

The results are published. The lessons — effective messages, high-performing channels, hard-to-reach audiences — feed the following campaigns. An external evaluation committee reviews the results every two years.

Approved auction houses, galleries and platforms receive campaign kits that they can circulate to their clients: posters for salerooms, banners for websites, messages for catalogues. Many display the "Provenance Checked" label that extends the campaign.

This involvement of the market has a double benefit: it spreads the message to buyers and it shows professionals' commitment to heritage protection.