Getting there is half the fun.
Increasing attendance with an unconventional billboard and wayfinding campaign.
Challenge
A massive expansion needed a massive response.
The Strong National Museum of Play, located in Rochester, NY, is home to an immersive children’s museum and the National Toy Hall of Fame. They were planning a significant expansion in the summer of 2023. For this plan to work economically they needed to increase their annual attendance from 600,000 to one million visitors. But Rochester and the surrounding markets of Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany were already saturated, so the museum would need to draw visitors from out-of-state to meet their attendance goals.
Approach
A campaign for the kid in all of us.
We focused on Toronto – literally connecting the fourth largest city in North America (2.93 million people) to The Strong. And to command attention, we tapped into the power of toy nostalgia, speaking to more than just kids. After all, we also needed to get parents amped up to initiate the trip.
Solution
Your best day ever is just ahead.
In the summer of 2023, we launched “the Path to Play” campaign. Using a series of playful toy-themed OOH boards, we created a sequential path from Toronto to Rochester. To fill the gaps between billboards, we tapped into geo-targeted Waze alerts to send ads to gamify a day trip and make it irresistible fun. This potent combination of messages and tactics enticed drivers to find their “best day ever” in Rochester, NY, at The Strong Museum.
Results
A new day trip destination was born.
Families looked forward to discovering each new billboard and the campaign blazed a trail straight to the museum’s door. Bringing carloads of curious new guests in to explore everything the expanded museum had to offer with results that spoke for themselves.
Gold Jay Chiat Award
Regional Strategy
