Housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry was established in the year 1933 in a sprawling 14 acre campus in Jackson Park, between Lake Michigan and the University of Chicago, and is one of the finest Museums in the world. Notwithstanding how good the Museum is, it needs to be marketed and promoted amongst the people and this is where the Museum came up with a brilliant campaign, which inspired me to write this post today.
The Motivation and the Idea
‘Night at the Museum’ a 2006 film which featured Ben Stiller as guard Larry Daley, who helps avert a robbery at the Museum in one hell of a night, was a huge box office success and could have been the motivation behind the promotional campaign designed by the Chicago Museum. The Museum threw a question to the public ‘ How a month in a Museum could change or transform a person’s life ‘ and invited answers. They received about 1500 applications and from amongst those, 24 year old Kate McGroarty was selected to stay in the Museum for not just a day…but 30 day
Kate’s Experience
Kate McGroarty spent 30 days inside the Museum and had total freedom to move in the Museum with every nook and corner accessible to her. She could explore the entire museum. Her food was catered and she could even move out of the Museum to buy things if she wanted. Everyday in the morning she had to post a blog on her activities the previous day and what all she had encountered.
The Impact
As it was a very novel idea of someone staying Day and Night in the Museum for so long, the blogs from Kate McGroarty started gaining popularity and reached such a degree that people used to wait for her posts everyday. She was also asked to interact with visitors who came to see the Museum. Her first hand experience of the Museum made for some interesting sessions with the visitors and as it turned out, people started visiting the Museum to meet Kate. She became an added attraction in the Chicago Museum.
Objective Achieved
This one month long Campaign by the Museum gave excellent results. The blogs and the personal interaction appealed to the general public. The intrigue regarding Kate’s stay at the Museum added a bit of curiosity too. The Museum was able to engage the public and draw their attention which resulted in a major increase in the visitors to the Museum. The campaign was a successful one and fulfilled its objective.
Kate McGroarty, post her 30 day stay was rewarded with $10,000 in Prize Money. Kate’s life changed as she had witnessed a completely different world. She proved to the public at large that Museums have a lot to offer rather than just lifeless artefacts. Her stay and the extremely well thought of campaign brought the Museum into daily reckoning and made people realise that there is ‘ Life ‘ in a Museum too.
A Lesson in Marketing
A well thought of promotional exercise banking on the strengths of your product with an objective of Customer engagement, drawing their attention and holding on to them is the key to any such campaign and a big lesson from The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
The writer of the blog has intriguingly researched on the subject.He has shown how a novel operation to attract the visitors made so much of a difference in adding to the popularity of the famous museum.It also transmuted the life of the chosen participant who became the winner after staying …spending …writing. and interacting with the visitors.It was truly an enriching experiencing for Kate.
Yes absolutely