Case Studies: Houston Museum of Natural Science Lord of The Rings Trilogy Exhibition

 

Summer 2005

The Challenge
The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) was one of three U.S. venues to showcase the world-famous Exhibition for The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy. While the Exhibit was expected to generate a great deal of interest among its fans, HMNS realized that the target audience for the Exhibit did not overlap with HMNS’ core audiences. The success of the exhibition would thus rest largely how well it was marketed.

HMNS turned to Spur Digital to help it reach its targeted demographic segments and generate interest in the Exhibit, which would ultimately drive attendance. The success of the marketing campaign represented not only immediate business for HMNS, but also the potential to acquire new patrons and members who represent future revenue, as well.

The Solution
Spur Digital worked with HMNS to identify the target market for the campaign and developed an integrated online media plan to reach those audiences. The campaign featured an online contest that was marketed through targeted online media outlets including relevant Web sites, Search Engines and third party E-mail lists. Viral marketing was an important component of the campaign, so Spur developed an innovative strategy to get people to refer their friends.

Campaign Overview
Spur identified the target audience to be Houston-area residents with characteristics including, but not limited to, males 18 to 34 years of age who are fans of action and fantasy films, frequent video game and movie rental stores, tech-savvy, and who generally do not hang out at museums. Based on these and other characteristics, Spur chose search engine advertisements that would accompany specific targeted search words, dedicated e-mail advertisements, sponsored e-mail advertisements, banner ads on web sites targeted toward the desired audience, and e-mails to the HMNS list.

Although a variety of media were used to reach potential patrons, all were directed to common landing pages allowing visitors to purchase tickets, view a trailer, or refer a friend. This combination of a call to action and a submission form on the landing pages made them particularly successful. In addition to generating interest through these specific media, Spur also initiated a promotion in which visitors could enter a drawing to win one of many Apple iPods. To drive the viral marketing component, contestants received additional entries for each person they invited to visit the contest page.

To further enhance the ROI for HMNS, Spur specifically capitalized on marketing strategies that would make efficient use of their investment. For instance, HMNS had previously commenced marketing efforts through more traditional media. Many of these companies and publications also maintain a presence online. Spur was able to use HMNS’ existing business relationships with these entities to negotiate advertising rates that amounted to a fraction of what would otherwise be paid. Spur was able to place many ads online at no charge.

Throughout the campaign Spur provided comprehensive reporting of key metrics on a daily basis such as visits, purchases, and viral impact. The final results of the campaign are undeniable and specifically highlight the success of Spur’s focus on viral marketing.

The Results
The campaign results were quite compelling. Most notably, the impact of the viral marketing effort was astounding - over 23% of registrants came originated from the Tell-A-Friend feature. The direct marketing efforts yielded impressive results as well. In aggregate, the 12 week, locally-targeted online campaign yielded more than 2 million targeted impressions, 40,000 unique visits, almost 12,000 and 6,000 invitations sent by friends at a cost per action of less than $3.00. These contributed to the record attendance of almost 100,000 over 3 months.

In addition to the direct financial benefits of the marketing effort developed and implemented by Spur, another highly valuable product of the campaign was a doubling of HMNS’ e-mail list. After attracting those who previously had little interest in attending museum exhibits, the appealing nature of The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy exhibit generated such a high interest level that many opted to join HMNS’ mailing list. By nearly doubling the size of their list, HMNS is able to reach twice as many potential patrons for all of its future exhibits and promotions. This undoubtedly will translate into heightened future revenue streams.