In the summer of 2010, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
launched a contest that required a web-savvy individual to live in the
museum for 30 days and report observations to the outside world. The
Museum offered the contest winner a prize of $10,000, tech gadgets and
an honorary lifetime membership to MSI.
Before the launch of the contest, the Museum generated some
conversation on Twitter (using hashtag #MATM) and inspired bloggers
and mainstream media channels to cover this unique experiment: Boing
Boing wrote about the contest, and so did MediaBistro, PBS, The
Huffington Post, Chicago Now and other mainstream outlets and local
blogs.
The winner of the contest was Kate McGroarty, a 24-year-old Chicago
resident who lived, slept and explored the Museum for 30 days. Her first
blog post, published on the Museum‟s site on October 20th, 2010,
attracted 40 comments. Since then, Kate had been posting at least one
blog post a day, sharing observations about the Museum‟s exhibits, tour
guides, employees, special events and other activities and objects. Her
posts kept generating comments as people started reminiscing about
their childhood visits to the Museum and discussed favorite moments
they shared at this fantasyland.
McGroarty also video recorded her explorations of the Museum and uploaded the clips to her YouTube channel, which now has 240 subscribers and tons of views and comments. She also shared quick updates on Twitter and had a dedicated Facebook page called Kate‟s Month at the Museum. Full of fun pictures and “Likes,” this Facebook page lives on, even though the contest is now over: “Though Kate‟s posts here are ending, we‟ve been so bowled over by your interest in her experience that we‟d like to continue bringing you that level of behind-the-scenes access to MSI.” This page invites people to visit MSI‟s official Facebook page that is “liked” by 15,636 people. resident who lived, slept and explored the Museum for 30 days. Her first
blog post, published on the Museum‟s site on October 20th, 2010,
attracted 40 comments. Since then, Kate had been posting at least one
blog post a day, sharing observations about the Museum‟s exhibits, tour
guides, employees, special events and other activities and objects. Her
posts kept generating comments as people started reminiscing about
their childhood visits to the Museum and discussed favorite moments
they shared at this fantasyland.
The Museum‟s accomplishments resulting from this experiment definitely exceed its original investment—
the campaign generated positive buzz before, throughout and after the actual contest; it attracted the attention of mainstream media and bloggers; it excited Museum visitors and made them part of a more intimate community.
Marketing takeaway:Contests present a terrific way to create PR opportunities and to reach out to your target audience
effectively. Many companies have the chance to launch contests and should leverage them to get noticed by both customers and the media.
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