Planning Book, Creative Brief and Examples
Rachel Feinberg
Fall 2012 – Capstone
Company and Brand:
The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is located on Chicago’s Museum campus and houses more than 35,000 artifacts on nearly 14 acres of hands-on exhibits. The museum opened in 1933 and has served over 175 million guests from around the world, since the doors opened. Their mission is to inspire future generations through captivating exhibits that bring real-world life lessons into the museum. These hands on exhibits help children of all ages learn about the world around them in a way never thought possible.
The main goal of the museum is to inspire children to learn about technology, science, engineering and medicine. The museum hosts not only exhibit but labs for after-school science clubs, volunteer programs, class trips and more. MSI is dedicated to bringing generations science education in a fun and meaningful way.
Facilities:
Audience:
Consumer Analysis:
Science centers tend to cater to a younger fan base. 72% of visitors are under the age of 50. Two-thirds of people who visit these museums are parents of young children, most in elementary school ("Museum audience insight," 12). . Science centers have a more diverse sample than that of art museums with 84% identifying as white, 34% identifying as a minority. Within the minority category 12% identify as Asian ("Museum audience insight," 12).
Who’s Coming Through the Doors? In 2010, 1.4 million guests visited the Museum. 54 percent of guests were male; 45 percent were female. The Museum hosted more than 322,000 school children on field trips, more than any other Chicago cultural institution. the Museum hosted more than 167,741 guests during our 52 free days.
Competition:
Chicago is rich in museums, parks, and cultural centers. There are over 150 of these institutions within the Chicago borders. However there are only seven that compete with MSI in the Science, Archeology and Natural History field. The Adler Planetarium, which is also located on Museum Campus, near MSI, boasts large telescopes, astronomy, and anything you would ever want to know about the stars and planets and space.
The Field Museum of Natural History, which is also located on the Museum Campus, is another competitor for MSI. The museum is host to 21 million specimens of which only a small portion are on display. Exhibits range from dinosaur skeletons in the Evolving Planets exhibit, to ancient Egypt, a DNA center, and working laboratories. The Field Museum is a place for families to learn about a variety of things.
The International Museum of Surgical Science is located on the Gold Coast. Features exhibit on western and eastern medicine. Was founded in 1954 and serves a large population of the Chicago-area citizens looking to learn about science and medicine. The other competitors include the Oriental Institute Museum, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of Chicago Academy of Sciences, SciTech Hands on Museum in Aurora.
CK Brief
What’s the client’s main business reason for the work we’re about to do?
The client’s main business reason for the work is to bring the Museum of Science and Industry into the digital realm. Museums have been held back institutionally, as displayed in the previous paper, from using digital advertising and digital marketing. Therefore through this work, we hope, to get the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) to have a better digital presence.
To whom are we talking to? What’s our target demographic? Is there more than one audience?
Visitors under the age of 50
Have children – that are younger (mostly in elementary school)
Are race neutral
College Educated
Married – with a young family, or recently married
Employed full-time
HHI of at least $40,000
Have Disposable Income
What about their lives, the culture or competition can help us connect with them?
Resides in urban or suburban areas
Users of technology
Have some free time – but wish they had more
High value in educating their children
Have disposable income but may be more frugal
What’s the single minded idea?
Virtual reality game meets social media, in museum experience, and perks for members
What are the two fresh human insights?
Digital lives and physical reality are no longer separate things
I want to be entertained better than the last person entertained me
How might be get there executionally?
By creating a digital campaign that focuses on social media, getting people to the website, and interaction online.
What’s the tone for the work? What do we want people to feel?
We want people to feel
What’s the proof?
The proof is that people are not going to museums as much as they should be and are focusing more on the digital and social aspects of their lives
Objectives:
The objective of this digital campaign is to create an interactive campaign. This campaign will allow MIS to capture a larger audience. This audience will be able to “visit” the museum whether digitally or in person. The vision is to brand MSI as a digital institution while encouraging customers to come into the physical building. By implementing this plan we hope to boost visitation to the Museum by 10% in the next year.
Strategies:
Listed below is the strategic approach that we will use to reach our above-mentioned objective:
Tactics: Epidemic, Operation: Save MSI
MSI has a “genetics lab” exhibit that is one of the permanent museum exhibits. From this exhibit we are establishing a digital marketing campaign and promotional game called: Epidemic, Operation: Save MSI. Through the genetics lab visitors can create their own strain of genetically mutated genes. These genes will become a virus that is dead-set on “killing” everyone in the museum. Through a series of check-ins, games, and learning experiences the patrons of MSI will be able to control the spread of their disease while captivating online audiences with their check-ins and progress.
The program we have created for MSI combines: social media, cell phone apps, online media such as video and in-person experiences. The program starts out 2 ways.
Way 1 Online: Visitors can go to the MSI webpage and the front page will be all about Epidemic, Operation: Save MSI (See Mock up 1). From this page they can navigate through the game. Step 1 is to watch the video tutorial that explains what Epidemic, Operation: Save MSI, is. The video features General Science, a hard looking man that is clearly a top military grade. The video, which is hosted on YouTube, explains that the crazy scientists at MSI have created a mutating virus that is going to take over the museum and kill everyone within if you do not help.
After this video is over it will prompt you to continue to the next page. The next page will allow visitors to create their own virus. Different molecules, strains, etc with explanations will pop up on the screen. For older children and teenagers each strain will explain how fast it can mutate, the rate of survival and other statistics. For the younger kids it will just be picking out what they think sounds cool, fun, or interesting.
After creating the strain of bacteria the patron will get to name it. Each patron (or group of patrons) will have a strain that is dedicated to them and they are following the patterns of. After naming your strain, for this model let us call it Strain-X, they will be prompted to share their strain on Facebook (see Graphic 2). The share page will allow them to say: I have created Strain-X that is taking over MSI. Follow my adventures on Facebook and see if the epidemic takes over. To start your own epidemic click here. This information will also be allowed to be shared on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Once they have created a strain the website will prompt them to download the MSI Epidemic app, which is free of charge. After they download the app they will be prompted to pick: Digital or In Person. If they pick digital then they will be allowed to play the game through their cell-phone app without having to go to the museum. These games include learning about different exhibits in the museum. For instance there will be a part of the app that pertains specifically to the submarine in MSI. You will get to read about the submarine via the app and watch videos hosted on YouTube as well as pictures of the sub. You mission is to guide the submarine to safety away from the epidemic. You will gain points by answering questions about the submarine and things you have just watched/read.
If a patrons chooses to do the whole game via their phone, not in the museum, they will have to do this for different exhibits and collect different amounts of points in each exhibit. Throughout the game they will be prompted to share and promote their mission on Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms explaining to their friends what they have done so far. At the end of the app they will “win” by taking over MSI and not letting the strain they have created out. They will get a certificate that they can share on social media platforms and will get a promotional code for 10% off their next trip.
Way 2 In the Museum: When patrons enter the museum they will go up to the T.V.s in the genetics lab and will be prompted exactly as the people online were. They create a strain and start the game, they can share on Twitter, Facebook, etc. After they create their strain they will obtain a password and user name and are prompted to download the MSI Epidemic app or ask one of the employees at the station for a rental phone. To rent a phone to play the game will be 30$ per family group.
After they have downloaded that app, put in their user name and password, a map of the museum will appear. This map will show how the strain is progressing through the museum. Patrons will be prompted to race around the museum to different exhibits and play games designed to enhance their knowledge as well as be able to share on social media platforms. For instance inside the museum is the Smart Home. Patrons will be prompted to visit the smart house. Inside will be televisions that prompt the user to do certain things. One may be a quiz about the materials in the home or how much energy they are saving. After the patron wins the quiz they will take their app and snap a picture of the certificate on the screen. The app will recognize this certificate and give the patron points. Then it will prompt you to share your success of Facebook and Twitter.
Certain areas of the Museum are only open to people with memberships. This will go for the app as well. Certain games and areas will be reserved for people who hold memberships to the museum. The app will prompt you during certain points of the game to: become a member. You can pay for a one year membership for as many people as you want by entering your credit card information and a few other things into the app. Therefore people get perks in the game as well as perks within the museum.
After finishing each of the stations and sharing your success on the app the final destination will be back at the lab. There will be T.V. viewing booths in the lab. Once inside you will enter your name and passcode into the computer screen. The screen will show a 5-7 minute mini-movie showing your progress through the museum. It will also show pictures that you have taken throughout the museum and how you saved MSI. At the end the “president” of the museum will come on and present you with a special offer. At this point the screen tells you to come together for a picture. Takes your picture and posts it on various MSI pages including: social media, screens in the museum, and a special page on the museum web page.
This picture will also be sent to your app and will allow you to share it with your friends and family members on various social media sites. At the end of the whole thing you will receive a code that gives you 10% off your next visit to MSI. This program will be connected with MSI’s digital marketing. The digital marketing will include: banner ads, YouTube commercials, YouTube videos, Facebook pages, twitter pages, Facebook advertisements, as well as advertisements and banners inside the museum.
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