Meet Mathilde Mazuranic

Pioneer of the perfect marriage between art and marketing

Meet Mathilde Mazuranic - illustration 1

NBA 2K X Jo Di Bona

Art lover Mathilde Mazuranic is the founder of Collab Factory, the first marketing agency to specialize in partnerships between brands and artists, finding one another's “artistic soulmate". Since the agency's beginnings in 2018, it has moved from strength to strength, working with huge brands such as Mastercard and with iconic artists such as Vahram Muratyan. Discover her most compelling campaigns and her personal art collection…

1. Hello Mathilde! After 12 years in marketing at L'Oréal, you decided to launch your own agency specializing in collaborations between brands and artists. Why make this move? What inspired the creation of Collab Factory?

As both a “marketer" and an art lover, I paid close attention to artistic collaborations; and sometimes found them to be incomplete. I then realized that there weren't any agencies which specialized in that area.

I come from an artistic background and I had wanted to work with visual artists for a long time. As a result I combined my love of art and my experience in marketing to create the first agency specializing in collaborations between brands and artists. I was joined very quickly by Laetitia Troussel-Luber, an artist, storyteller and member of a digital art collective.

Collab Factory offers to manage the collaboration from start to finish : from the conception to finding the most appropriate artist, then to the management of the project, the contractual negotiation, but also all the promotion of the collaboration through producing content for social media, print photos and videos. That's our expertise and our passion.

2. How do you choose the artists that you work with? What's the secret for finding the perfect artist for each brand campaign?

Our obsession at Collab Factory is to find the artistic soulmate for each brand. The first step of the process is to understand the DNA of the brand and their goals: what is their current positioning, what values do they champion, what message do they want to get across? 

I'll take as an example the limited edition Suze x Vahral Muratyan. Suze is a French brand anchored in neighbourhood life. Who better than Vahram Myratyan, a big French artist in love with cities and keen observer of neighbourhood life and the magic of everyday life, to represent the iconic aperitif?

Meet Mathilde Mazuranic - illustration 1
Meet Mathilde Mazuranic - illustration 1

Left: The Collab Factory team / Right: Mastercard X Les Folies Passagères

3. Why in your opinion are brands today all interested in becoming involved in the art world and collaborating with artists? What can a contemporary artist bring to a brand?

There is first of all obviously the aesthetic side of it: an artistic limited edition run allows the brand to differentiate itself and to add some creativity to its image.

The most important point in my opinion is the unique perspective of the artists which allows us to see things differently, more deeply. They know how to share a view of the world with more meaning, more emotions, and in a more striking way, which allows for the affirmation of the identity and core values of the brand. Throughout their creations, the artist creates a dialogue, a rich storyline that the brand can use to express a potent and authentic message. 

For example, Mastercard wished to promote the launch of TrueName in Europe, a payment card which respects the identities of transgender and non-binary people. We have selected an artist sensitive to the LGBTQIA+ community, author and illustrator of the Folies Passagères, Maude Bergeron, to create both artistic and educational content. Working with a committed artist allowed Mastercard to bring fairness to their message and to communicate their sincere, creative values. 

4. Can you tell us about the collaboration that you are most proud of?

I love them all! Recently we undertook a mural project in the new offices of the company Bacardi-Martini France. It was an ambitious project: 64m2 of murals divided into 14 panels in order to best represent the 3 brands of the group.

We called upon 3 artists for the job who painted their pieces together over 2 weeks: Polar (Olivier Kenneybrew), Caroline Derveaux and Deborah Desmada. Each artist had a great affinity with the brand they were representing, Barcadi, Bombay-Sapphire and Martini respectively. The team and I were extremely moved by the reaction of the employees when they discovered the murals: they recognised their brands all while in turn discovering new elements of them. 

Meet Mathilde Mazuranic - illustration 1
Meet Mathilde Mazuranic - illustration 1

Left: Barcardi X Polar / Right: Limited Edition Suze X Vahram Muratyan © Ronan Le May

5. You are a great lover of art yourself, what pieces can be found in your home? Also which works would be your dream to own?

My collection is primarily made up of living artists who are committed to conveying a powerful message. I have a realist painting by The Kid, a young self-taught artist who criticizes social determinism. And just in front of that, I've put a monolith by Vhils (Alexandre Farto), which represents an eye.

Equally, I am set on promoting diversity among artists, particularly women, who are always underrepresented in the art world. I have a work by Miss Tic, one of the first women in street art. My last acquisition was a participative piece by Clémence Vazard. It's a part of her series “Reflections", the theme of which is giving women a voice. It was a very powerful experience. 

My dream would be to acquire a photograph by Zanele Muholi. I'm very frustrated to not be able to go to see her exhibition currently at the Tate Modern.

6. What is your favorite cultural site or museum in the world?

The 104 in the 20th arrondissement of Paris is one of my favorite cultural spaces. It's a lively place, to meet up and discover their extensive and diverse programme. As well as that, I very much like the Pompidou Center; their permanent collection is continually shifting, and so there are always new discoveries to be made.

7. Lastly, which artists inspire you on the daily, whether it be through their talent, their achievements or their life philosophy?

I discovered Prune Nourry while I was living in China (I lived in Shanghai for 4 years). She had buried an army of young girls, the “Terracotta Daughters" to raise awareness of the imbalance of births between boys and girls in China. I really love her work “L'Amazone", which aims to raise awareness on the topic of breast cancer.

JR is also an artist whose projects move me. In particular, “Women are Heroes", which serves as a reminder that women are the number one victim in times of conflict around the world. And more recently his exhibition Tehachapi, a collage created in a maximum security prison in the United States.

Finally, I find the sculptures of little girls by the young Julia Haumont hugely moving. 

Thank you!


Auswahl von Kunstwerken

Fotografien, Red No 1, Liu Bolin

Red No 1

Liu Bolin

Fotografien - 135 x 180 cm

Verkauft

Drucke, Les seins miraculeux, Sophie Calle

Les seins miraculeux

Sophie Calle

Drucke - 70 x 50 cm

360 €

Drucke, WCYS ?, Tania Mouraud

WCYS ?

Tania Mouraud

Drucke - 40 x 40 x 3 cm

3.500 €

Gemälde, Mangrove, Sifat

Mangrove

Sifat

Gemälde - 75 x 100 x 2 cm

Verkauft

Gemälde, Midnight blue, Romain Froquet

Midnight blue

Romain Froquet

Gemälde - 92 x 73 x 2 cm

2.500 €

Drucke, Follow the Line, Chiharu Shiota

Follow the Line

Chiharu Shiota

Drucke - 80 x 60 cm

1.000 €

Gemälde, Turkiss Heron, Jo Di Bona

Turkiss Heron

Jo Di Bona

Gemälde - 80 x 80 x 3 cm

2.800 €

Drucke, 28 Millimètres, Women are Heroes, Eyes on bricks, New-Delhi, India, JR

28 Millimètres, Women are Heroes, Eyes on bricks, New-Delhi, India

JR

Drucke - 37 x 112 cm

1.180 €

Skulpturen, Il est des refuges, Madame

Il est des refuges

Madame

Skulpturen - 75 x 62 x 16 cm

2.850 €

Gemälde, Lost in the City Paris Stone 1, YZ (Yzeult)

Lost in the City Paris Stone 1

YZ (Yzeult)

Gemälde - 210 x 160 x 3 cm

Preis auf Anfrage

Gemälde, Solstice 12, Fabienne Verdier

Solstice 12

Fabienne Verdier

Gemälde - 17 x 24 cm

20.000 €