Grand Basel –
18 Months In-House for a New Class of Trade Show
Digital strategy and on-site project work for MCH Group's collector-format show
MCH Group / Grand Basel
dgtl.ai's role:
Digital strategy, delivered as part of the project team on site in Zurich and Basel
The challenge
MCH Group, the organizer of Art Basel, wanted to establish a second format with Grand Basel: not an art fair, but a stage for automotive collector's items. Vehicles were meant to be presented not as products, but as cultural artifacts — curated, staged, and told individually.
For a format with no precedent, external consulting isn't enough. dgtl.ai became part of the project team: on site regularly in Zurich and Basel for over 18 months, embedded in MCH Group's day-to-day project work — not as an external vendor showing up for status meetings, but as part of the team making the day-to-day decisions.
The website and ticket shop ran on MCH Group's own systems, the event app came from a Swiss software house, and the interactive exhibit photography came from a specialized production team. dgtl.ai developed the digital strategy and served as the hub where these different disciplines came together on the content side.
Our approach
In-house, not remote consulting
A format with no precedent can't be planned on the drawing board and then simply delivered. Requirements shifted with every insight gained during setup — how each exhibit should be staged, how the sales process actually worked, what a collector audience expects from a trade show that had never existed in this form before.
That's why the way of working wasn't classic project management with delivery deadlines, but continuous presence within MCH Group's project team. Decisions on content, data flows, and collaboration with the disciplines involved were made directly within the team — not in status reports after the fact.
The disciplines involved
Discipline
Partner
Digital strategy, in-house within the project team
dgtl.ai
Lead agency, staging and design
Bluescope
Communications
Jung von Matt / Limmat
Website and ticket shop
MCH Group
Event app
Selise, Zürich and Bangalore
Interactive exhibit photography
Concept and technology: Zeitfeld (Martin Hoppe) · Production and coordination: Cinegramm
Editorial and social media
dgtl.ai
The real challenge doesn't arise within the individual systems, but between them. That's exactly where dgtl.ai was the constant.
The exhibits
116 vehicles, 354 images, a lighting technique straight out of a film set
For the show's website, 116 vehicles were staged and captured in 354 interactive LuxMatrix shots — developed and led by Zeitfeld, produced by Cinegramm.
The technique is an inverted bullet-time shot: instead of using 36 cameras arranged around the object as in film, three camera positions stayed fixed here. Around the vehicle, hidden behind scrim, 36 flash units were set up. When viewed, the image reacts interactively to this lighting — the final frame shows a composite of every exposure step.
You can experience an example of this technique here —
move your mouse over the image to see the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Coupé, 1960, one of the 116 vehicles, in motion.
The content work behind this also sat with dgtl.ai: because the exhibitors came from the trade side and weren't initially familiar with the curatorial approach, most of the vehicle information had to be researched independently and prepared bilingually.
The ticket shop
How removing one obstacle lifted conversion by 244%
Ticket sales ran through MCH Group's systems and were therefore subject to group-wide policy: anyone wanting to buy a ticket first had to create an MCH account. For an audience discovering a new show spontaneously, that was a hurdle that stretched the purchase process well beyond what was reasonable.
As part of the project team, dgtl.ai spotted the correlation in the sales data and pushed through the decoupling: ticket purchase without registration, with account setup made optional via a follow-up email afterward.
On the first day after the change went live, the conversion rate rose by 244% compared to the day before.
Implementation
at a glance
18 months of project work in Basel
In-house digital strategy
Designing the digital throughline for a format with no precedent — developed as part of the project team, not from the outside.
18 months on site
Regular presence in Basel over a year and a half. Decisions were made within the team, not in status reports.
Coordinating the disciplines
Content alignment between website, app, image production, and channels across multiple partners and countries.
Analyzing the sales process
Identifying the conversion hurdle in the ticket shop and pushing the fix through within the project team.
Content architecture for the exhibits
Research and bilingual preparation of vehicle information for 116 exhibits.
Social media
Taking over the channels after the show. Building a community of around 25,000 followers.
Social media
From a three-day show to a year-round community
After the show, dgtl.ai took over Grand Basel's social media channels. A format tied to three show days became a topic with year-round visibility.
The editorial line followed the same principle as the exhibit presentation: the vehicle as a cultural artifact, not a purchase object.
During this time, the community grew to around 25,000 followers.
The result
Grand Basel took place in September 2018 in Basel. It showcased curated automotive collector's items — from pre-war vehicles to unique contemporary pieces. The format was conceived as an offshoot of Art Basel: the same curatorial standard, applied to a different collecting field.
Months of on-site project work
18
Vehicles staged
116
Interactive LuxMatrix shots
354
Conversion increase after the checkout change
+244 %
Social media follower community
~25,000
Value for
MCH Group
A team member, not an external vendor
Continuity instead of project handovers
18 months of continuous presence within the project team meant knowledge was never lost between meetings.
One digital line across multiple partners
Website, app, visuals, and channels followed one shared content architecture — coordinated from within, not moderated from outside.
Measurably better ticket sales
Being close to the project team made it possible to spot a hurdle in the sales process and implement the fix directly. Result: +244% conversion.
Content that carries beyond the event
The exhibit editorial work and support for the photo production generated material that sustained a community of 25,000 followers after the show.
Why this model works
Continuous presence + content that does the format justice + oversight across all systems =
one voice instead of five vendors
A format with no precedent can't run on an external briefing alone. It takes someone on the team holding the digital throughline for 18 months, while the details only become clear as the build progresses.
Last updated: August 24, 2026
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