A bedroom is a person’s most personal place. Entering someone’s bedroom provides a voyeuristic experience, placing you in their physical, emotional and mental space.

So, to connect people with Van Gogh we gave them the ability to experience his bedroom. Now for the first time, instead of just looking at a painting, people could live inside one.

To help people immerse themselves into the life and art of Van Gogh, we brought his 1888 Bedroom painting to life. Then, through a first-of-its kind partnership with AirBnb, we invited people to book a night inside it. AirBnb became a promotion tool as it became a way for everyone around the world to interact with the exhibit, trying to book a night in the bedroom.

The campaign started with a single social media post from the museum, announcing that the first block of nights would become available the next day. The reaction was immediate and the post was shared around the world.

AirBnb also featured the room prominently on their blog, pushing it out to their followers. Blogs, newspapers and TV stations picked up the story and amplified it. The amplification continued exponentially around the world, bringing word of the room and the exhibit to a huge audience.

Because of demand, guests were limited to one-night stays. Rooms were made available three or four weeks at a time, with each of these blocks selling out within minutes.

Online pre-sale tickets for the exhibit were up 250%.

On average 4700 people visited every day over the first six weeks. Total attendance during this time was more than 200,000–beating business targets by 73%.

“Van Gogh Bedrooms” was the Art Institute of Chicago’s highest-attended exhibit in 15 years.

The room cost $31k to build, and generated over $6M in earned media.

By leveraging AirBnb, we amplified our paid media reach by 950%, scaling it globally.

Van Gogh BnB has been covered in more than 100 countries, gaining 623 million earned media impressions.