Institution: The Newark Museum of Art
Exhibition: Art + Science + Tech gallery exhibitions
Year: 2021-2023
Background
In 2021, The Newark Museum of Art reimagined The Dynamic Earth gallery (also known as the Art + Science + Tech gallery) with a multi-year renovation that launched more immersive, bilingual, and engaging experiences for audiences in the NJ/NY region and beyond. The first phase opened the Endangered! exhibition with a series of spaces, which included Lost World: The Audubon Immersive Experience and an interactive pledge area (in English and Spanish) inviting visitors to help save endangered animals worldwide. In September 2022, the exhibition was rebranded as Animal Kingdom / Reino Animal to include additional interactive spaces featuring the project “Sketch Aquarium: Connected Worlds,” an interactive and immersive digital aquarium created by the international art collective teamLab.
Challenges
- Increase awareness about a significant science gallery revamp with exhibition rebrands across two years in an institution recently rebranded as a museum of art.
- Encourage attendance during a post-vaccination period during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Maintain engagement between closures and reopenings while communicating key values of each phase across two years.
Solutions
➛ Wrote a marketing plan that looked closely at competitive options of immersive science experiences for families in the NJ/NYC markets, target segment attendance behavior (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), and strategic channels to support budget efficiency.
➛ The marketing strategy focused messaging on “immersive experiences for kids of all ages” as a common thread in most communications across the timing of campaigns. The implementation rolled messages into a series of actionable copy and visuals that amplified the interactive nature of the spaces through play and discovery.
➛ Implemented multichannel marketing campaigns across paid advertising (social, display, email, OOH billboards, and streaming radio ads), owned channels, on-site signage (outdoors and indoors), PR, and print collaterals working closely with the marketing team and cross-departmentally with key stakeholders.
➛ Edited copy of the exhibition’s landing page, press releases, interior and exterior banners, dedicated emails, digital ads, and print collaterals, ensuring proper partners and funding credits.
➛ Launched cross-promotional campaigns to boost visitation for the final weeks of the Endangered! exhibition and during the upcoming Community Day: Earth Day event in April 2022.
➛ Managed production of significant digital and print assets to use on-site and across multichannel campaigns, working closely with the creative director, video producer, and external vendors.
➛ Ensured branding and content adherence to teamLab partnership agreements.
Results
- Attendance increased to more than 390% in 2022 compared to 2021 and over 200% in 2023 compared to the previous year. As of July 2023, over 22,000 people had visited.
- Launched campaigns on time and within the five-figure marketing budget, sharing a detailed final report with senior leaders.
Deliverables
Marketing plan (including market and competitive research); marketing budget management; collaborative communications with external partners and across departments; messaging; editing of exhibition’s landing page, press release and copywriting for welcome center banners, outdoor banners, dedicated emails, ads, and print collaterals; design, tracking, and implementation of all ads; media selection for promotions and press kits; facilitator of press visits to exhibition, and creative and editing input of video promo ads.
Sample of Deliverables
