Greensboro Science Center

Aug 30, 2018

Media Planning Case Study

Founded in 1957, the Greensboro Science Center (GSC) has created and maintained their reputation as an innovator. They use technology to bring a new joy and interest to museums by bringing together a science museum, zoological park and an aquarium—all at one central location. In addition to their not-so-traditional take on science-based exhibits, they’ve added other attractions like SKYWILD and the OmniSphere Theater. Learn more about the challenges they presented to Bouvier Kelly and how we helped solve them.

The Challenge:

Throughout their 60+ years of existence, GSC has continued to grow their attendance to impressive levels. But as with any successful enterprise, it’s imperative to never rest on your laurels: there is always room to grow and share the wonders that GSC offers. Their team came to us to help devise a way to continue building their visitor numbers with both new visitors and previous guests. There is always more to see and experience at GSC, and our task was to demonstrate those offerings all while making the most of their budget. Maximizing their reach within their media budget was, and continues to be, a top priority.

The Strategy:

First and foremost, we dove into GSC’s existing strategy and found that they were already on the right track. Our job would be to add bandwidth, strategic thinking and refine their existing strategies to make them even more successful. To do this, we analyzed their visitor data from the previous three years, examining geography and other patterns. We reallocated budget by geography to maximize reach in areas with the largest opportunity for quick growth at first, slowly building growth from other target areas afterwards. Then we focused on rebalancing their media mix to ensure they had a wide range of placement types. Any existing advertising outlets that remained were evaluated to ensure the placement was as high impact and visual as possible.

The Strategy:

Next, we wanted to learn more about the cycle of visits the center experienced in the course of the year. In order to best allocate their budget, we needed to know which months typically yielded higher volumes of traffic. This was to strategically use those funds to create an even larger push during these high traffic months, as well as prioritize times when they had a big announcement, exhibit opening or event. Finally, we implemented greater usage of Facebook advertising. We began delivering a series of targeted campaigns to different audiences with specific CTAs throughout the year. These campaigns were aimed at increasing traffic to specific events and exhibits, while also raising awareness and driving more visits to their website.

The Results

Overall, refining GSC’s strategy and reallocating their budget was successful, and the use of Facebook advertising helped the GSC reach a 7% increase in visitors for the year. Listed below are the total number of ad impressions each tactic produced:

439,600

2,211,627

Digital

7,015,466

Radio

3,789,081

25,081,703

Out of Home

388,537,537

Total

Case Studies

McDonald’s Hearts of Gold

February 27, 2019

Veeder-Root: Corrosion Campaign

January 21, 2019

CRH: The Madison

January 16, 2019

General Espresso Equipment Corporation

January 16, 2019

Gilbarco | Veeder-Root RFTC 2018

January 15, 2019

Ruff Housing

January 14, 2019

Greensboro-High Point

January 11, 2019

L3 Mobile Vision

January 10, 2019

Downtown Burlington

January 10, 2019

Intensa

October 26, 2018

Volvo

September 4, 2018

Pinehurst CVB Campaign

July 26, 2018

Rockingham County, NC

December 5, 2016

Ostomysecrets

December 5, 2016

GlenGuard

November 21, 2016

Coming Soon…

July 16, 2016

Pinehurst CVB Campaign

Jul 26, 2018

CVB Campaign

Pinehurst Golf

Known throughout the country as the Home of American Golf, Pinehurst (and its surrounding communities, Southern Pines and Aberdeen) boasts 40 distinct golf courses in a 15-mile radius. Designed by some of the most renowned golf architects in the business, the courses offer challenges and exciting play for golfers of all skill levels and ages. Pinehurst has always maintained a loyal following among the game’s most passionate and polished players with its lush fairways and charming small-town appeal. From historical treasures to fine dining and shopping, Pinehurst’s appeal rests with more than just legendary golf.

The Challenge:

Though the 40 courses that make up Pinehurst’s world-famous reputation still hold a powerful allure, their CVB knew it was important to stay in touch with both the old and new guard of golf lovers. In an effort to appeal to both older generations and the upcoming wave of new millennial-aged golfers, we helped craft a robust print and digital campaign.

Our work campaign would strive to lure returning golfers back to the Home of American Golf as well as entice a younger audience to discover that legacy for the first time. Lucky for us, it’s not hard to reinvigorate a brand promise that has captivated generations of golfers.

The Campaigns:

How do you convey the singular focus and dedication to golf that Pinehurst exudes? How do you make it clear that the city and its residents eat, sleep and breathe the game? First, you have to make sure you’re keeping the Pinehurst brand’s key value propositions foremost in the viewer’s mind.

Our first campaign execution, Golf In Mind, does just that. Using double exposure techniques, this series combines close-up portraits of golfers with striking images of the area’s courses inside their silhouette. It’s a visual cue that makes their value proposition perfectly clear: Pinehurst is golf.

These standout images needed bold headlines to match, which is why they’re paired with resolute words like legendary and inspiring. The taglines “Golf here is legendary” and “Golf here is inspiring” evolved out of a lengthy dive into the world of Pinehurst golf, working to identify just what made their courses stand out from the pack. Simply put, the reputation of Pinehurst’s golf community is legendary, drawing in players from around the world. It’s inspiring, pushing professionals and amateurs alike to rise to the occasion and play their best. When you’re lucky enough to have nurtured a reputation like Pinehurst’s, it’s crucial that you don’t overcomplicate the message or clutter the basic facts of its appeal and success.

In addition to the more emotionally-driven Golf In Mind campaign, we also wanted to highlight the fact the Pinehurst is home to 40 golf courses in just a 15-mile radius—an almost uncanny statistic to comprehend. Unlike more common one-off golf destinations, Pinehurst gives golfers a stunning array of courses to test their mettle, allowing for an unparalleled diversity of challenges and rewarding games. We put the number 40 front and center for this campaign, letting it do most of the talking. When you’ve got an asset like that at your disposal, it’s best not to get in the way.

The Campaigns:

The Execution:

Once the campaign’s collateral was ready to tee off, it was time to decide just how and where these ads would be seen. Combining traditional print avenues with a digitally-focused campaign allowed the assets to reach both ends of the target spectrum: older, established golfers and their millennial-aged counterparts. In addition to hitting high-traffic destinations for golfers across the internet, ads for this campaign appeared in national publications such as Southern Living, Golf Digest and AARP Magazine, as well as more regionally-focused outlets such as Our State Magazine (NC), VA Golfer and Washingtonian Magazine.

The Execution: